✅ DRM Free ✅ This game simply shouldn't exist. For 3 years I've contemplated how exactly I should even write a review for Spark 3 simply because of that alone. (And I'm sure my words won't be able to properly express how I feel or do this game justice.) Games nowadays are made by huge teams, with massive budgets, cost absurd prices and take forever to come out. Only for them to be some open world, generic game bringing nothing to the table. And in the end they also somehow end up buggy and unfinished with them only being fixed later on. Even some indie games can take forever to come out now, although they usually still end up being great games. Somehow, LakeFeperd must be channelling some special powers because not only did Spark 3 come out 3 years after Spark 2... It improved on it in every way, expanding on what's established and pushed it to become one of the best platformers ever released and easily one of my favourite games. The Electric Jester Spark controls... Perfectly. The easiest way to explain this is by comparing Spark to his obvious inspiration, Sonic. It's like if you mashed the controls of Adventure, the speed and thrills of World Adventure and parkour and ability of exploration of Lost World into one and it works perfectly. The base controls feel so incredibly refined with the perfect amount of weight that doesn't feel too much or too little. When you jump and move everything feels as expected, it's natural and feels grounded but it gives you enough to be able to perform tricks around the levels. The sense of speed and thrill gained from using Sparks moveset and momentum with the level design creates this feeling of accomplishment for pulling something off with the reward of your speed being kept. And unlike Lost World the Wall Running in Spark 3 carries your speed and you aren't locked to a wall like glue, you can hop on and off whenever and however you see fit. This makes for a very fun platforming experience and absolutely smashes past how Spark 2 and other 3D platformers feel. When I say perfect I mean it, I honestly can't see anything that needs improving. Sparks moveset is also fairly large and only grows throughout the game. At the start you have what feels like standard with the "Stomp" (which carries momentum!), Charged Jester Dash, the Jester Dash (instant speed push), wall jumping and wall running. Great for starting out. Most things added (which you unlock throughout the shop) is in aid to keep your speed going. You can unlock natrual moves to Spark such as a rail boost (which uses energy) or the Jester Swipe (which is the light speed dash but can be used anywhere and properly increases speed and momentum). Or energy moves such as the Energy Dash which can give you a needed boost to get you back going or if you just need that extra push for something. Inside the shop are the extra forms Spark has access to. Gone from the stages and it's fairly limited this time round, from the get-go you now only have the Reaper Jester and as for Sparks forms that quite literally it this time. However there are still more characters you can use which you unlock as you go through the game so if you're looking for the same variety of moves and powers as before they're technically still here, just now unlocked through the shop rather than levels with the forms being less for more characters. Other things in the shop are in aid to other things which could be for exploration and for- Combat Something effectively overhauled from Spark 2 and is one of the things to make Spark stand out from the rest of the usual platformers is the combat system and it's very solid now. In Spark 2 combat felt very basic where you could just mash moves over and over and easily win any fight with the broken block but now the block is a safety measure that can block 1 hit or a perfect parry (that gets you energy) The bigger change is the combo meter, you're incentivized to stray away from spamming the same moves to win to instead utilize as much of Sparks moveset in combat as much as possible. Bigger your unique combo the more damage Spark does. Each one of Spark's moves also feels impactful, when you're landing hits on bosses everything feels like that's your doing and achievement. No automation. It feels thrilling to execute complex moves to achieve a fast boss defeat instead of pressing one button and watching a mini cutscene that pauses the game over and over like some other "fast" "platformer" that released later in 2022. More to the shop is the combat upgrades you can get falling into the same categories as platforming moves. Natural moves that get added onto Spark which you can use at any time. And energy moves which are fairly special here as they can change how you fight, these include giving you some extra health, an explosion, extra damage etc. Much more in depth than Spark 2 which is just a big damage attack for getting energy. And right, energy. Energy is gained through successful combat skills. You can use the finger blaster on weaker enemies or by collecting capsules while in platforming to not remove your speed and while in combat you can gain a lot of energy through just playing successfully and not getting hit. It acts as a risk/reward system where the better the player, the more advanced they get. (There's also a rail change move that can store up energy at the cost of speed.) My only issue with the combat is that I wish there was more moves and there isn't enough boss patterns as once you learn both you know how to handle that boss perfectly and it no longer feels challenging. It basically becomes a one sided slam rather than a fight. (Although bosses are very fun to speedrun and in challenge mode still manage to make me trash.) I honestly wish there was more bosses too in place of mid level fight segments in the sub stages. More unique bosses would be fun seeeing as Spark himself is insanely fun to control. Oh right, Levels Large, made for gaining momentum and exploration. These levels are really really good. They're large in length with the average run time of a level at least being 2-3 minutes and don't feel long, they feel honestly perfect in length and made to just want to speed run over and over. It's a great balance. Momentum in the levels feels like a key factor, at the beginning of the game you won't notice everything but as you progress and get more used to Spark and return to start speedrunning levels everything clicks. Every level feels like a playground made to take advantage of and go fast. And exploration is everywhere, you're constantly shown alternatives routes in front of you and it blends into the levels but simultaneously stands out. It feels meant to be there and gives you reason to explore and explore you can. Nothing feels restrictive, you have the levels and the moves to perform tricks and skips impossible in any other platformer, these levels are your playground and they feel ever so satisfying to learn and play in. However my major complaint is the Car, it's not great. A few levels including the opening one use a car which honestly feels fairly bad to play. It's only mandatory for the opening level and the other car stages you can just run (it's actually faster) but that's the only complaint I can give for levels. Oh and all the stages of Spark 2 are included for free. Music Absolutely phenomenal. Every main stage and boss track is full of a great amount of energy and exhilaration. The standouts here being Tudd and Paul Bethers. With Alpine Carrera and Protest City being 2 of my favourites from each artist respectively. It's not the usual or what I'd typically expect from something like this but that's what makes it the extra bit better and more special. Closing This is what surpassing inspiration looks like. I can come back to this over and over again and it feels fresh every single time.
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