Sparkle Unleashed

Genre: Match-3 Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

Some Puzzle game formulas are so well-crafted that they have created entire multitudes of imitators. Tetris, Puzzle Bobble, Bejeweled. As a reviewer, there’s something almost relaxing about picking up a Puzzle game only to go, “oh, it’s one of these“, and then immediately shift into comparison mode, because the core gameplay is so well-worn that the question isn’t “is this a good game?” so much as “is this a good version of this type of game?”

One such repeated Puzzle formula is Zuma, which has you aiming colored balls at a snaking line of balls to make matches and clear them to keep the line from reaching an end point. To be fair Zuma was not the originator of this style of Puzzle game – that was most likely the 1998 arcade game Puzz Loop. However, Zuma refined that formula, added a few genre conventions that have become staples, and now it is Zuma that most games in this style copy.

As I have often lamented, Zuma is not available on Nintendo Switch. Nor is Puzz Loop, for that matter. Which means that players seeking out that sort of puzzle game have to be content with one of numerous copycat games, which vary in quality. Some are lazy cash-in games, while others, such as Zumba Garden, are surprisingly good to the point where they actually manage to rival Zuma itself. However, perhaps I have been remiss in my approach to this corner of the Puzzle game genre, because until now I have not turned my attention to the first and likely most prominent series of Zuma-style copycat games, the family-friendly Sparkle franchise.

Starting with a simple mobile game in 2010, Sparkle soon spawned a sequel or expanded version of the game on PC in 2014 under the name of Sparkle Unleashed, adding a better presentation, additional features, and a… story? Yeah, the story is completely disposable, but anyway, after this, Sparkle Unleashed was ported to numerous platforms – back to mobile devices in 2014, then to PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Xbox One in 2015, and then to Nintendo Switch in 2017.

The core gameplay here is all extremely familiar – shoot colored balls at a line of balls to make matches and clear them. The main way Sparkle sets itself apart from Zuma is that rather than shooting out from a stationary position, players move a device that fires the balls along a horizontal axis, and are limited to only firing directly up. However, while functionally different, still this works out to play fairly similarly.

One other feature that sets this game apart is its RPG-style upgrade system, a feature I lauded in Zumba Garden, and it works just as well here. In short, as you play through the game’s primary campaign, you unlock new bonus abilities, and can even gradually power-up those abilities to be stronger, giving you a real feeling of progression beyond just reaching the next level.

Another area where Sparkle Unleashed really excels is its presentation, making use of some beautiful, detailed 2D visuals with some really nice detail in the little balls as they roll along, backed by an excellent orchestral and choral soundtrack that actually makes this game seem a lot more epic than a Match-3 Puzzle game has any right to be.

While overall I think this game is excellent, there are two areas where it sadly falls flat. First, the multiplayer – there isn’t any. And second, this game completely misses the opportunity to provide score-chasers a compelling reason to keep coming back – there are no scores in this game, and while there is a survival mode to see how long you can last, you’re not actually shown a clock to gauge your results against, only a nebulous star rating.

Overall, I still think Sparkle Unleashed is a superb family-friendly Match-3 “Zuma clone” Puzzle game, and probably the most polished game I’ve yet seen in the genre, possibly even including Zuma. I still give the edge to Zumba Garden because that game’s $3 price tag is almost one-third Sparkle Unleashed’s $8 price. However, this is still an excellent take on the formula, and fans of this style of game will likely find this to be a superb substitute for Zuma on Nintendo Switch.

tl;dr – Sparkle Unleashed is a family-friendly Match-3 Puzzle in the style of genre classic Zuma, and it is mostly an excellent take on the formula, with a wonderful presentation and some nice RPG-style mechanics. Unfortunately, its lack of scores limits replay value, as does the lack of multiplayer. However, it is nevertheless one of the best games in this style to grace Nintendo Switch, and well worth picking up for any Puzzle fan.

Grade: B

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