Rinse and Repeat | Sparkle 2 Review

If you have a pulse and a smartphone or a computer, you’ve likely played Sparkle 2 before.

Well, you might not have played this game specifically, but Sparkle 2 is now among hundreds of match three games available to play. More specifically, if you’ve played Zuma before, you’ve definitely played Sparkle 2. Basically, a line of orbs runs through a path trying to fall into a hole that you must prevent them from entering. You control a orb shooter that will carry an assortment of colored orbs that pop up randomly. It’s your job to shoot a colored orb to two matching colored orbs or more. Doing this will cause all of those touching orbs to be destroyed and will make the line of incoming orbs either stop momentarily or retreat a little bit.

Welcome back to a match three game.

Adding a little change-up to the tired formula, Sparkle 2 introduces power-ups that you can shoot orbs at to obtain and use. These range from shooting a giant light beam that destroys all orbs in its path, to a power-up called “fireflies,” which are a group of little lights that change the colors of orbs to better suit your current orb ammunition. These little boosts were a lot of fun to use, and getting one when there isn’t any other moves can be a nice savior if you’re stringing together a long combo.

Sparkle 2 introduces a quest mode to try and add some meat to the game, but it ends up feeling forced and unnecessary. You’ll play a handful of levels to reach a monument, some dialogue will pop up and describe a scene, and that’s about all there is to it. Trying to add motivation to a match three game other than, well, just matching three would be a really great addition, but it doesn’t feel completely thought out or well developed whatsoever.

There’s actually a pretty nice soundtrack included with Sparkle 2. It reminded me a lot of the soundtracks in the Harry Potter films, because it has a nice mix of mystical and mystery. Starting levels has a more fast paced soundtrack that increases the tension, and it provides a more atmospheric tone and setting – more so than the story the game tries to tell. Even navigating through the level selection screen has a ominous enchanting chorus that was absolutely beautiful.

The story of Sparkle 2 is forgettable and unnecessary.

Besides the basic match three quest mode, there’s also a couple of other gameplay options to change things up a bit. There’s a survival mode for those who want to test how long they can destroy orbs before they get overwhelmed, and there’s also a couple dozen challenge levels to will increase the difficulty more so than in quest mode.

When I first received Sparkle 2, I played it on PlayStation 4, but once I tried it on PlayStation Vita, it was hard to even think about playing it on PS4. Using the touch screen on Vita isn’t just easier to aim, it’s also easier to plan out faster moves and strategies for chaining combos. The PS4 version can be played by either using the analog stick and buttons, or by using the touch pad. To make things a bit easier, there is a aiming reticle to counter any the hike in difficulty, but playing on the Vita is so much easier and more precise that going back to the PS4 wasn’t even on my radar.

Sparkle 2 doesn’t do anything new for the genre that makes it stand out as the next great match three game, and the new additions it does bring to the table is hit and miss. Great in bursts, Sparkle 2 is nice to play when the on the go on Vita, but playing it for long sessions at home reveals the same weakness most match three games suffer from: repetitiveness. If you absolutely need a match three game on your PlayStation hardware, Sparkle 2 is a solid game to get, but you could just download dozens of the same games for free on iOS or Android and save yourself a bit of money.

This review is based on a review copy of the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita versions of the game Sparkle 2 by 10tons Ltd.