Sparkle ZERO
- March 13, 2016
- MMEU
- 5h median play time
Get on SteamIn Sparkle ZERO, players create and customize their own magical creatures, known as "Sparks," to explore a mysterious world filled with challenges and puzzles. Fight enemies, solve puzzles, and uncover secrets in this unique action-adventure game. With a variety of abilities and items to collect, players can build their Sparks to suit their playstyle and navigate the ever-changing environments. Engage in battles, complete quests, and unleash spectacular abilities to become the ultimate Spark.
Mac OS
Nintendo Switch
PC
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- The game features stunning graphics and a mesmerizing soundtrack that create a unique and immersive experience.
- It offers a relaxing gameplay style, making it suitable for casual gamers looking for a mindless distraction.
- The game allows for easy achievement hunting, with many players able to complete it quickly and collect all achievements.
- The gameplay is repetitive and lacks depth, with no real goals or missions, making it feel dull and unengaging.
- There is no tutorial or guidance, which can lead to confusion for new players trying to understand the mechanics.
- The game suffers from performance issues, including lag and bugs that can disrupt the experience, particularly towards the end.
- music37 mentions
- 22 % positive mentions
- 62 % neutral mentions
- 16 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its relaxing and ambient qualities, while others criticize it for being repetitive and lacking variety compared to previous installments. Technical issues, such as audio bugs causing music to cut out or behave erratically, have also detracted from the experience for many users. Overall, while the soundtrack is noted for its calming effect, it falls short in innovation and consistency.
“The stunning graphics, coupled with a mesmerizing soundtrack, create a unique gaming experience.”
“This is an ideal relaxation/distraction game, no stress, just enjoyable music and creation.”
“I enjoyed the ambient music that came with the gameplay.”
“However, I would not recommend this game. The reasons being I had a bug with the audio; when some background music started, it would seem to be stuck to the location on the map. As I moved away, the music would stop, meaning that for most of the game I had no music.”
“The music is rather weird: it came and went as if someone was slowly turning the volume of my speakers all the way down and then back up to where it was, and repeated this the whole time.”
“The music is boring and the three different sound samples in the game get annoying really fast.”
- gameplay36 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 75 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The gameplay is described as immersive and relaxing, offering a chill experience as players swim, eat, and evolve their creatures in a visually appealing environment. However, many reviewers criticize the repetitive mechanics, long cooldown times for eating, and lack of tutorials, which detract from the overall enjoyment and coherence of the game. While some find it enjoyable for short sessions, others feel it lacks depth and variety, leading to a monotonous experience.
“Its immersive gameplay takes you on an intriguing journey through the depths of space.”
“Short and sweet, about two hours of relaxing gameplay.”
“The gameplay is more like Sparkle 2, very chill, no real danger, just eat jellyfish and pretty much any other creature you meet, with the ultimate goal of evolving your creature to become bigger.”
“These would've been more than fine if Sparkle Zero hadn't suffered from the exact same mistakes of Sparkle 3 Genesis: an incomprehensible cooldown time for eating, and intolerable movement mechanics haunt you in your every step.”
“The cooldown is unacceptably long: it interrupts and even breaks the coherence of gameplay to the extent that it's simply unplayable.”
“This, combined with the questionably brusque movement mechanics, takes all joy out of eating, rendering the whole point of the game meaningless.”
- graphics30 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the stunning visuals and unique art style that enhance the gaming experience, while others criticize them as uninspired and lacking variety, particularly in comparison to previous titles in the series. The aesthetic ranges from colorful and fun to monochromatic and dull, with some players appreciating the darker tones that are easier on the eyes. Overall, while the graphics are often described as beautiful, they are also seen as a step back in terms of innovation and depth.
“The stunning graphics, coupled with a mesmerizing soundtrack, create a unique gaming experience.”
“It's quickly distinguished from its siblings by its monolithic, black & white aesthetic.”
“Fun and colorful, and the art style is good.”
“Another uninventive, mundane, and shallow game in the series, this time stripped of even the small variety the prior game attempted, in exchange for translucent, colorless visuals.”
“The graphics are not good.”
“Sparkle Zero is a step backward in this genre; there are no missions at all, no tutorial or evolution statistics (unlike its predecessors), worse graphics, and awful sounds, with no cool music like Sparkle 2 and 3.”
- story16 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the Sparkle series has received mixed reviews, with Sparkle Zero criticized for its lack of quests, narrative, and player input, marking a regression from its predecessors. In contrast, Sparkle 3 offers a more linear story but sacrifices some of the immersive experience found in earlier games. Overall, players express a preference for the previous systems that included missions and a more engaging narrative structure.
“Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
“I largely preferred the ancient system of levels and missions, mainly because you can come back to them and keep growing in beautiful landscapes.”
“Sparkle 3 stripped away some of that feeling in favor of a linear story.”
“Sparkle zero, in contrast to its siblings, has no quests or levels, lacks a macro narrative and its evolution is completely automated with zero input from the player.”
“There is no story, no purpose, no evolution, no tutorial, no achievement tracking, nada.”
“Sparkle zero is a step backward in this genre, there are no missions at all, no tutorial or evolution statistic (unlike its predecessors), worse graphics and awful sounds, no cool music like Sparkle 2 and 3.”
- grinding10 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 80 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, as the heavy and imprecise controls make chasing food a chore. Completing maps requires extensive coverage and waiting periods that lead to boredom, with many players feeling unchallenged and resorting to grinding for achievements. Overall, the grinding experience detracts from enjoyment, with some players finishing the game quickly due to lack of engagement.
“There are no grindy achievements that require you to play the whole game four times over, which is a refreshing change from other titles.”
“It's not predictable nor precise; it's heavy, thick, dense, and hard to control, which makes chasing food a tedious and irksome task.”
“Also, if you want to complete each map, it gets very grindy as you have to cover large spaces, and the time between each time that you can eat something makes the large clusters of food boring as you sit on a piece of the food waiting for your mouth to open.”
“Overall, I never felt threatened and got bored, and ended up just grinding to get all the achievements. It only took me just under 80 minutes to complete the whole game, and 20-30 minutes in, I was over it.”
- replayability8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Overall, the game suffers from a significant lack of replayability, with multiple users noting its minimal value in this regard. Performance issues further diminish the experience, contributing to a consensus that the game offers little incentive for repeated play.
“However, the limited replay value and occasional performance hiccups slightly detract from the overall enjoyment.”
“I think they called it sparkle zero because of its zero replayability.”
“- no replayability value”
- atmosphere6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is praised for its beauty and appealing graphics, creating an enjoyable visual experience. However, this positive aspect is overshadowed by a lack of engaging gameplay, leading to a sense of boredom shortly after starting.
“The atmosphere is nice with beautiful graphics.”
“The atmosphere is visually appealing and immersive.”
“The game's atmosphere creates a captivating experience.”
- stability4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent bugs and a frustrating freeze at the end, where the screen turns white and becomes unresponsive. Additionally, players have noted the presence of irritating spike enemies that contribute to a negative experience. Overall, the game's stability is a major concern.
“The game is buggy, with super annoying spike enemies, and it's extremely short.”
“When the game ends, the screen becomes white and freezes like that.”
“The game is buggy, with super annoying spike enemies, and it's extremely short.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is hindered by occasional performance hiccups, which can detract from the overall experience, alongside limited replay value.
“However, the limited replay value and occasional performance hiccups slightly detract from the overall enjoyment.”
