Sparklite Reviews
Sparklite has all the ingredients required for a great game but fails to brew them into something memorable.
It’s easy to pick up and play, and just as hard to put back down.
The randomization is a blessing and a curse. Early on, the ever-changing world map allows for a real sense of discovery as you relearn where everything is, but it doesn’t take long before you begin to recognize how empty and featureless areas tend to be as a result.
Charming and quirky, with a great soundtrack, Sparklite will hit gamers who grew up with 8-bit and 16-bit games with a giant shot of nostalgia.
One indie gem that I thoroughly enjoyed was 2018's Moonlighter. Sparklite is the "outdoor" version of that game, but doesn't succeed as well as it. This is a 2D Zelda roguelike that implements so much for its own good that it turned out a bit underwhelming in the end. The pixel graphics hit the spot, the music is soothing and evokes previous eras of gaming, and the controls are responsive. There's so much here, however, that no one particular element feels exceptional to another or as a whole, leaving many features of Sparklite feeling like they can be ignored. Red Blue Games is talented and sparked something good, but one should take the "lite" for its word.
From the cog-shaped screen transitions to the endearing melodies, Sparklite is a delightfully well-crafted rogue-lite indie game with charming 2D pixel art and meaningful progression.
Sparklite is an awesome pixelated adventure for fans of Link’s Awakening or those of the top-down genre. With its soothing and upbeat tunes, this is an amazing game to vibe out to with a dash of challenges.
Sparklite is one of those games that can take you an hour or a year to complete! If you are a fan of the top-down action games of old, then you’re going to especially love this game! The joy of it as I said in my intro, is that it is clearly inspired by but not a gimmicky copy of the classic Zelda games.
Overall, I did enjoy my time with Sparklite. It’s a lovingly crafted game with buckets loads of charm. However, it just doesn’t have enough variety to make it stand out from its peers. That said, Red Blue Games have shown a lot of promise here, and I truly look forward to whatever they do next. For now, though, I’d recommend Sparklite to fans of the genre looking for a short game to play over a weekend. Just don’t expect something you’ll keep coming back to. With this in mind, I award Sparklite a Thumb Culture Silver Award!
A roguelike, very beautiful, very funny, very easy to play but difficult to master and with mechanics that mix the pleasant playable flavor of the great classics with the most current formulas
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Sparklite has several aspects that are quite enjoyable and well made. The soundtrack is delightfully happy and well composed, the world can be a pleasure to explore and the gadget crafting system in the workshop provides you with so many cool things. All of these are held back by an endless grind for money. The 2 hours of content are padded with hours upon hours of painful grinding that will poison the experience resulting in a game you will loathe rather than enjoy.
Sparklite struggles to find its audience and its pacing. Sometimes relies a bit heavy on exploration, sometimes the boss fights feel like they’re the only redeeming quality. The end result is a game that is way less than the sum of its parts.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Sparklite is a fun Indie title by Red Blue Games that I found enjoyable from start to finish. I loved discovering new areas along with new characters in the game. The core part of the game does present a decent challenge with monsters and obstacles. Finding all the necessary items to progress had me searching like a hound dog hot on a trail. It’s cute, it’s well thought out and it’s very much what I expect from a good Indie title. The gameplay is addicting even when it feels like a grind at times. There are plenty of awesome things to discover, most I didn’t even talk about because it’s fun finding them for the first time. You can’t help but want more Sparklite so you can help Ada grow in skill and also upgrade other areas of the floating hub. The game does fall short with the Titans and the Baron. It’s painful to say when the design of them works so well for this game. In the end, Sparklite is a fun romp through Geodia with well-crafted areas and a cool upgrading system. Indie fans should find delight in this game.
Sparklite is a fascinating and enjoyable rogue-lite adventure title ripe with nostalgic elements for 2D Zelda fans without feeling like a rip-off. Geodia’s world maps are stunning, and the time-loop mechanism allows for almost infinite exploration without boredom setting in. Sparklite carves its own place in the rogue-lite genre and offers an almost perfect balance of gameplay.
Sparklite is a fun rogue-like, yet feels like it's missing a small piece to make it truly epic. Hardcore rogue-like fans will grow bored quickly, but newer rogue-like gamers may fall in love with Sparklite. I hope to see a sequel in the future!
The Legend of Zelda's inspiration, which developers don't hide, definitely benefits Sparklite. It's a fun 2D pixel game with a retro soundtrack that evokes a pleasant feeling of nostalgia in the player. It just definitely deserves a better local multiplayer.
Review in Czech | Read full review
Sparklite is a fun and visually beautiful game, but it lacks content. I'm sure they'll add to it in the long run, so I'm left with the good things about the title, a very solid playable base and a game that's a pleasure to play. And it's fun, which is what matters.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Sparklite is a fun little game lifting inspiration from games like The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past and Rogue Legacy. It’s not a particularly hard game unless you’re not strong enough for something just yet. After a while, you’ll have seen most of the screens the game can generate in the world, and then the world will start to become a bit less interesting and repetitive. I’ve had a fun time with Sparklite anyway, though. It is an interesting spin on Zelda-esque gameplay. I say Zelda-eque, because this is not really a Zelda clone. It just borrows a few core design ideas from that series rather than trying to be that series. It basically melds some bits of the classic Zelda formula with a bit of rogue-like and other elements. I’ve spent nearly 20 hours in Geodia at this point, and have mostly completed the game (minus a few side quest things and achievements). Sparklite is available on Steam for $24.99, or you can get the Deluxe Edition for a little more if you want the soundtrack and digital art book. You can also get Sparklite on Switch, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. This review is based on the PC version. Can you overcome the obstacles ahead and save Geodia from the greedy baron?
Sparklite is a beautiful game that will attract same players who love games like Moonlighter. It's repetitive as you explore ever changing worlds, unlock new skills and push further into unknown.
Review in Polish | Read full review
A journey to salvage a scintillating steampunk world from the clutches of a man hellbent on seeing its destruction? Sign me up.