TWINKLE STAR SPRITES

About

Twinkle Star Sprites is a competitive 2D shooter game featuring cute characters and intense battles. Play in Arcade mode with 9 different characters, or embark on a journey with Lord Ran in Story mode. Challenge friends in Versus mode, or compete with players worldwide through Steam. The game also includes leaderboards and customizable settings for an enhanced experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Local Multi-Player Play with friends in the same physical space using split-screen or multiple screens
2-Players Play with one other player, either online or locally, in a cooperative or competitive game mode
Multi-Player Compete or cooperate with other players online
Co-Op Team up with friends to complete levels or missions together
Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo
Split Screen Play with multiple players on the same screen, often with divided or shared screen real estate

68%

Audience ScoreBased on 120 reviews

gameplay12 positive mentions

optimization10 negative mentions

The game is fun, challenging, and features great character designs with a charming aesthetic.
It offers a unique blend of puzzle and shooter mechanics, providing deep gameplay that is enjoyable, especially in multiplayer.
The nostalgic value and replayability of the game are significant, making it a favorite among long-time fans.

The port suffers from severe performance issues, including massive slowdown, input lag, and audio problems, making it nearly unplayable.
Many users recommend avoiding this version and suggest using emulators or other platforms for a better experience.
The multiplayer experience is lacking due to a dead online community and poor local multiplayer performance.

gameplay
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
53%
9%
The gameplay is described as a unique blend of classic shoot 'em up mechanics and action-puzzle elements, reminiscent of games like Puyo Puyo and Dr. Mario, which adds depth and strategy to the experience. While the game can be incredibly fun and engaging, especially in multiplayer, some players have noted significant slowdowns that can hinder playability. Overall, the mechanics are praised for their creativity and the rewarding nature of skill development, making for a challenging yet charming experience.
- “Once you understand the game mechanics, and have someone to play with, it's super fun, and escalates quickly.”
- “The addicting gameplay can get some people hooked, and it did for me, and I expect long play sessions soon.”
- “A frantic and very unique vs. bullet hell that's charming, and actually very challenging with deep gameplay despite its cutesy demeanor.”
- “But the slowdown during gameplay makes it unplayable.”
- “You need fighting mechanics with an idea similar to Puyo Puyo!”
- “Gameplay: as a shooter, you have your standard and charged shots, which can be upgraded by killing enemies, and you have screen-bombs when things get dicey.”
music
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
65%
12%
The music in the game is generally upbeat and fitting, contributing to an enjoyable atmosphere; however, it suffers from significant playback issues, including choppy sounds, syncing problems with the framerate, and instances of stuttering or doubling. While the soundtrack has moments of epicness and a colorful aesthetic, the overall audio experience is marred by these technical flaws, making it less favorable compared to previous versions like the Dreamcast release.
- “The music is good too, just an overall fun time!”
- “Sound and soundtrack: there is a very happy soundtrack that is upbeat and fitting to the game's style and mechanics.”
- “Heck, the OST even goes epic when needed.”
- “The music in menus and cutscenes will also slow down and start back up and sounds very choppy.”
- “Music plays poorly due to being synced with framerate (which never is stable even in the original game but works well there).”
- “You'll face slow downs that weren't in the original, odd speed ups, the music is off in many places as a result and even the intro has glitches in it.”
graphics
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
44%
19%
The game's graphics are characterized by a charming, overly cute, and colorful aesthetic reminiscent of old-school anime, which enhances its appeal and frenetic gameplay. Players appreciate the delightful character designs and vibrant visuals, contributing to an overall satisfying experience. The combination of these elements makes the graphics a standout feature, adding significant value to the game.
- “Graphics and presentation: wow!”
- “The cute and colorful graphics and characters really give the game its charm.”
- “Funny, lovely aesthetics and characters, and of course really frenetic.”
- “It's a combination of puzzle fighter and a vertical shooter that has an overly cute and nonsensical graphic style.”
- “The graphics and presentation are underwhelming and fail to impress.”
- “The art style feels outdated and lacks the polish expected from modern games.”
optimization
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
83%
The optimization of this game has been widely criticized, with users reporting severe performance issues, including stuttering and audio glitches. Many recommend purchasing alternative versions from GOG or Humble Bundle, which utilize emulation for better performance, rather than the poorly executed native port available on Steam. Overall, the lack of testing and optimization in this release has left players frustrated.
- “Whoever ported this game to Steam clearly didn't test it because it has horrendous performance issues.”
- “No game this old should have stuttering.”
- “Sure, the game is adorable and entertaining, but it has paid for itself so many times over since 1996 that releasing a digital-only straight emulation of the original with poor performance and without extra content, even extra content that was already made for previous remakes, is straight up hungry ghost levels of greed.”
story
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
50%
30%
The story mode offers a basic narrative experience, but players noted a lack of polish in its execution, as it simply loops back to the arcade's main menu after completion. While there are achievements tied to replaying the story mode, the overall replayability is limited, with few incentives beyond high scores in arcade mode.
- “Replayability: now with this game, you can go for a high score in arcade mode, and there is a story mode, and online, but besides that, there isn't much reason to go back.”
- “Also, after I beat story mode, I watched the credits and the game continued on back to the real arcade ROM's splash menu where you choose between character mode, story mode, and vs.”
- “Also, after I beat story mode, I watched the credits and the game continued back to the real arcade ROM's splash menu where you choose between character mode, story mode, and vs, exposing just how this port works and how it lacks any kind of polish.”
- “I had to beat the story mode a couple of times for the achievement to unlock.”
- “Replayability: now with this game, you can go for a high score in arcade mode, and there is a story mode and online, but besides that, there isn't much reason to go back.”
replayability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
38%
38%
The game's replayability is primarily driven by its arcade mode and online leaderboards, offering players opportunities to chase high scores and achievements. However, the lack of active multiplayer options limits its long-term appeal, making it less engaging for solo players unless they have friends to join them. Overall, while there are some enjoyable single-player elements, the replay value may diminish over time.
- “So many hours of replay value.”
- “Replayability: now with this game, you can go for a high score in arcade mode, and there is a story mode, and online, but besides that, there isn't much reason to go back.”
- “Since multiplayer is dead, the game has little replay value besides achievements unless you have a friend to play.”
- “Replayability: now with this game, you can go for a high score in arcade mode, and there is a story mode and online, but besides that, there isn't much reason to go back.”
- “Other than that, you get Twinkle Star Sprites, an old versus-shmup from the NeoGeo library, which despite its genre, does serve us some chunks of single player hours thanks to its replay value, which is even enhanced with the added online leaderboard.”
stability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is severely compromised, with frequent freezes causing players to lose progress and experience disorienting glitches. Many users report that the port is riddled with bugs, including issues with achievements, slowdowns, and audio problems, detracting significantly from the overall experience. Overall, the stability issues make this version feel like a poorly executed adaptation of a classic.
- “Half of the time you lose is because the game froze for a second, making you appear somewhere else when it unfreezes, usually in the way of projectiles.”
- “The game itself is a classic, but this is a very shoddy 'port.' It's basically just the arcade ROM wrapped in a fancy menu and is very buggy.”
- “You'll face slowdowns that weren't in the original, odd speedups, the music is off in many places as a result, and even the intro has glitches in it.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by its frenetic pace and messy, chaotic action, complemented by charming aesthetics and lovable characters. Players find the experience to be consistently hilarious and enjoyable, enhancing the overall fun factor of the gameplay.
- “Funny, lovely aesthetics and characters, and of course really frenetic.”
- “Versus shmup action that is messy, hilarious, fast-paced, and most importantly fun.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
While users appreciate the fun and challenging gameplay, they specifically highlight the great character designs, suggesting that character development is visually appealing but lacks depth in narrative progression.