Do you remember the joy of collecting marbles? A lot of people collected those back in the days. Before kids played video games, collecting marbles was one of the most popular things to do without a doubt! Collecting was fun, until your OCD kicked in. Arranging your marbles by color wasn’t that fun in real life, thank god it’s a lot more fun in Sparkle Unleashed.
Unleash the marbles
Sparkle Unleashed is a classic puzzle game where you need to shoot orbs into a moving line of different orbs. If you’re able to match three orbs of the same color, they’ll disappear. Once disappeared, the line will get smaller and smaller until it’s gone. The goal of the game is easy; try to stop the line before it can sink into the dark hole at the end of the stage. If this happens, you’ll need to start from the beginning once more.
It isn’t a new concept but Sparkle Unleashed gives its own twist to the genre.
Power-ups
This twist comes in the form of power-ups. When you’re able to complete three waves of orbs, you’ll see a power-up appearing on the field. If you manage to shoot it, you’ll activate it. There’re two types of power-ups. One is for attacking, the other is for defending. One power-up will unlock a missile to shoot down any orb you want for example, while the other will push all orbs back in the field. Using those power-ups is fun and rewarding at the same time.
The game goes even further with the power-up mechanism. After you complete a certain amount of normal levels (mostly four or three), you’ll unlock a so-called brazier. Braziers give you keys to unlock an extra power-up. This one will replace the old one but is an improvement nevertheless. Switching between power-ups during your game really gives this puzzle game an extra layer of strategy. It really works, as it should.
Watch out, it gets difficult
The game sounds as a game that anybody could play and that’s kind of true but don’t underestimate the difficulty. The game introduces important new elements on a regular base. Later one, you’ll face blocks are chained orbs in your line. Both demand a new strategy to take down. Those little changes to the core mechanic make it more interesting to play. It starts rather easy and straightforward but the more you play, the bigger the challenge will become.
One extra mode
Aside of the traditional mode, the game also offers a second one called ‘Survival’. In here you’ll need to survive as long as possible. Combining the orbs without stop is truly addictive and challenging at the same time. Survival can be played on several maps and is a great addition to the standard mode.
It’s a shame that the game doesn’t offer more modes besides Survival and Regular play. Regular offers a fun ‘story’ on a mini-map but is nothing more than a collection of small levels to complete. The more you advance, the more difficult it all gets. More modes wouldn’t hurt the game on the other hand, it would really make it last longer.
| The good: | The bad |
| + Great design | – Only two modes |
| + Power-ups | – Nothing new |
| + Story mode | – Too short |
Sparkle Unleashed offers a great marble game but offers a lot of the same. We’ve all seen and played this before in another version. Sure, the setting and power-ups are great but the lack of modes and variation really kills the vibe. It’s a perfect game to play from time to time but it isn’t that type of game that you’ll want to play for days. If you’re looking for a short and fun puzzle experience, you should consider getting Sparkle Unleashed.
