Video Game Review: Twinkle Star Sprites

Hello, gamers. It's been a while, hasn't it? Don't worry, my gaming prowess hasn't diminished completely, although when I do try new games, it takes a while to get used to. Recently, I've been trying a lot of new things, as I have come across a lot of Dreamcast games that I haven't played before. Yes, this is a Dreamcast game, but it was released in the Arcade and also on the Playstation 2.

Now understand this. This game was made by ADK. Don't know who ADK is? ADK was a company that created a lot of Neo-Geo games, but are mostly known for the World Heroes series of fighting games. And I didn't even know about World Heroes until recently, so it shows how much I know about it. It obviously wasn't successful, and ended up being a part of SNK, which went under a couple years later.

Twinkle Star Sprites was released in Arcades in 1996, and was re-released in Japan for the Dreamcast and Playstation 2. It's also on Gametap, for those of you that have that. It's a Shoot 'Em Up, and I'll try to string the story along from what I read on Wikipedia... or well, lack thereof. Wiki only tells me that it's a concept/parody of Sailor Moon. Good enough for me.

And then, there's the gameplay. Now, I'll tell you the truth, I'm not a big fan of Shmups (Shoot em Ups). Well, some games I make exceptions to (Galaga if you can count that, Raiden, and games of the like), but the side-scrolling shmups I have a problem with (Parodius, Gradius, games of the like). Luckily, Twinkle Star Sprites is a game working vertically, not horizontally.

As is the case with many shmups, you have to shoot things. However, there's a twist added on here. Not only are you shooting things, but you're shooting to make combinations, needed to attack your opponent and deplete their health to 0 hearts. Yes, you have an opponent. Either way, you have to attempt to defeat that person, which is where I start to have problems.

The higher the chain, the more you can attack. However, it's hard to see if the attacks will land, considering you're concentrating on your screen. Take your eyes off of it for one second, and you'll pay the price, considering that most of the attacks they launch at you shave about 3 hearts off of your 5 heart gauge. But you have more to worry about than incoming attacks. You also have to watch out for the enemies that you're shooting at, but don't worry too much about them, as they take about one-half of your hearts.

There are also boss attacks that pop-up for you or your enemy if one of you does well. Generally, these boss attacks will destroy your opponent or you if you're not skilled. Yours also has a side-effect. You generally want to look at it, and like I said, you can't look away. In addition to your normal fire, you also have a charge attack, and bombs that do attacks as well. Be careful, as many times, bombs don't give you any chains.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of this game. Sometimes, the shots are too slow for the enemies, and not all the enemies go in a formation where they curve back up at you. Also, there's almost no guarantee that the attacks actually hit the opponent. Like I said, boss attacks generally do damage, but the CPU has a tendency to well, not only have better charge time than you, but to also be better at dodging and attacking than you are as well, making the game a bit unbalanced.

Obviously, many gamers would feel like this isn't a good game for them, considering the cutsey graphics. It still works pretty well as a shmup, but the general competition part of it is a bit tampered with. Still, it's not really my type of game, but you as the gamer may have better luck with it than I do.