Spark Demo

Bringing new ideas to the shoot ‘em up genre is not an easy task in the year 2017, given the fact that you are basically competing with everything that came out since Space Invaders. However, it’s certainly not impossible, especially if the developers are creative enough and not afraid to try some interesting stuff. In the case of Spark, there’s a new combo system that challenges both your reflexes and your problem-solving skills at the same time.

In essence, Spark looks and behaves like your average shmup at first, maybe with slightly simpler graphics and not much of a background story. However, there are some interesting developments in the gameplay department, and they should be enough to rekindle your passion for the genre. Hence, you have to work a lot harder in order to defeat your enemies.

To begin with, the whole concept is based on combos, but the way you achieve them is slightly different than what you may be used to. As such, you have to combine four different types of bullets (or sparks) in order to take down enemies and other obstacles. There are many such combinations, and each one of them is best suited to handle a specific enemy.

To keep your interest peaked, the full game promises multiple game modes, so you won’t get bored quite as fast. Besides a standard campaign mode that has you advancing from one level to the other while the difficulty level is increased, you can also participate in a survival mode, which has you stand your ground against more and more enemies in an attempt to nail a high score. There are also a few puzzles that challenge your quick thinking abilities.

As mentioned before, the graphics are nothing to write home about, and they can actually be a bit underwhelming at first. The enemies are basic, the special effects don’t impress and the backgrounds are non-existent, but you rarely have time to notice these shortcomings. Thankfully, the controls are very smooth and responsive, exactly as they should be in a game that rewards good reflexes.

Spark might prove to be a tad too tough for newcomers, especially since the enemies flood the screen after only a few minutes of gameplay. However, the combo system is definitely innovative, and we can only hope that the full game offers more of the same in this regard.