‘Twinkle Star Sprites’ Review – Like a Shooting Star
If I had to say what all of the most popular NEOGEO games have in common, I would say that they are "games you can enjoy playing with a friend." Some of these games were played with other people, like Metal Slug and Sengoku 3. Some games, like King of Fighters and Samurai Shodown, were played against other people. Of course, some types of music work better with one style or another. Co-op beat-em-ups make a lot of sense. One-on-one fighters who are competitive are another good fit. Twinkle Star Sprites ($3.99) is a rare shoot-em-up that chooses violence between players, and that's what makes it so great.
Unlike many of the other ACA NEOGEO games we've seen so far, Twinkle Star Sprites came out several years after SNK's console was released. It came out in 1996, and it was the last game that developer ADK made for the system before they switched to making games for SNK's handheld NEOGEO Pocket. It's a strange game, but it's not hard to see where it came from. Shoot-em-ups have always been a good way for arcades to make money, and competitive puzzle games have become very popular since Puyo Puyo came out. Why not try to bring them together?
So, the shoot-em-up game with multiple players was born. At least, this is where I think it started. It's the first one of its kind I can remember seeing, and it took me a while to get used to the idea. In most shooters, you move through stages that have been carefully planned out, picking up power-ups, shooting everything in sight, and taking down big bosses. Sometimes the goal is to get to the end, but most of the time it's to get a high score. If there is support for multiple players, it usually means that another player can jump in and help.
Each player in Twinkle Star Sprites gets their own half of the screen. The players have to blast away the enemies in the usual way, using the basic shot, the charge shot, and a limited number of bombs. But there is no boss at the end of the stage or a way to finish the level. No, the other player is your enemy. You can send attacks to the other field by killing enemies in chains. If they hit the player, that person will get hurt. Of course, the enemies can also hurt you. Whoever runs out of lives first loses, but only the other player can deal the last hit.
The most fun part is that you can hit the attacks your opponent sends to your screen and send them back with a little extra mustard on them. After a few attacks, the attacks get much worse, spawning enemies that can't be killed and even bosses. Death will show up if you take too long to win, but even Death can be sent to your opponent's side of the screen. It's crazy, and if two players are a good match, the games can get very chaotic in all the best ways.
And therein lies the problem, my friends. Twinkle Star Sprites has single-player modes that are as big as those in any head-to-head arcade puzzle game. But the multiplayer mode is where the game really shines. Playing against a computer can never be as fun as playing against a real person. The mobile ACA NEOGEO games can be played by two people, but it's best to use two separate controllers to do so. There is no way to play with other people wirelessly or online, and you can't both use touch controls on the same device. It really takes away from how fun this game is.
In other words, it has the same options and extras that Hamster always has. Touch controls are pretty good for the type of game this is. Those who want to and have the means to use an external controller can do so. You can change the video, sound, controls, and level of difficulty to your liking. There are more game modes that let you compare your skills to those of other players on online leaderboards. You can play the game either in Japanese or in English. This cute little game has a solid package all around, and the price is more than fair.
Twinkle Star Sprites works well in terms of how it works on mobile. The controls work fine, it runs as smoothly as it ever has, and you have a lot of options and features to choose from. Still, like the fighting games that have been made for the mobile ACA NEOGEO line, the complicated and specific ways to play with another person really hurt the appeal of this game. Can Twinkle Star Sprites still be fun to play by yourself? Sure. Maybe even enough to be worth the few coins you'd have to spend to buy it. But this is definitely not the best way to get the most out of this game.
