Just recently realizing that this game was a cross buy, it was one of those duh moments that I sometimes have, I decided to load it onto my PS Vita and give this version a try. I mostly did this because I really enjoyed the PS4 version, you can read my full review on that version here. After spending a decent amount of time playing and getting through everything the game had to offer, here’s what I thought about the PS Vita version.
Like the PS4 version, Sparkle 2 isn’t just a match game like Zuma, there’s an actual story to the game. There are five different keys laying around a forest that you just happen to be exploring and gathering all five keys will unlock a mysterious portal at the end. While it’s not much of a story it shows that effort was put into the game to make it more interesting then just match a bunch of same colored balls so they don’t fall into the hole. This game gives you a purpose to continue to play through all 92 levels.
Even the second time around I really enjoyed playing this game and played longer then I had planned to each time. Being the portable version this time it was easy to get caught up playing while doing something else like watching TV. As with the PS4 version there are a bunch of different things to do that will keep you occupied for hours upon hours. Not only are there different difficulties to master, but there are also survival levels and challenge levels. As with the PS4 version, I did become frustrated at times when playing the harder levels. Since the balls are randomly generated, both the ones that are in a line and the ones that you have to use to match, sometimes the balls just don’t fall in your favor and you can lose. A lot. There’s nothing really you can do about it and even changing which enchantments you use doesn’t work. This at times becomes frustrating and at that point it’s usually good to put the game down and just walk away for a few moments.
The playability is pretty simple for this game, as it should be for a game like this. All you have to do is match up 3 or more of the same colored balls in order to clear them from the board. It’s not hard, but on the harder difficulties it sometimes requires more planning then just shooting off a bunch of the balls at random. The PS Vita version makes full use of the touch screen which was surprising. Tapping on the touch screen gives you the same output as using the actual controls on the Vita. While I preferred using the old fashioned controls, the touch screen controls worked just fine and were extremely responsive.
I really enjoyed the graphics on the PS4 version and was hoping that it transferred down to the PS Vita version just as well. I’m happy to report that it did just that. Having the graphics become smaller didn’t in any way change what the original graphics from the PS4 version. On the PS Vita, the graphics were just as crisp and as detailed as the PS4 which doesn’t happen very often but it’s a nice bonus when it does.
The trophy list for the PS Vita version is a separate one and it has 14 trophies to it. All of the trophies are the same as the PS4 version and are pretty easy to get. The trophies for playing on different difficulties might be a little challenging, but once you know what combination of enchantments to use for certain levels you should be able to get all the trophies without a problem.
Yay for no multiplayer, especially on the PS Vita.
Overall I give this game a 4 out of 5
What’s Great:
+ Having a small story to accompany this game adds to the overall game making it more interesting.
+ Graphics transferred nicely from the PS4 to the PS Vita.
+ Addicting. Be warned, you cannot just play this game for half an hour no matter how hard you try.
What’s Not So Great:
– The game can become frustrating at times when playing on harder levels.
If you enjoyed the PS4 version of this game, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t enjoy the PS Vita version of this game. If you haven’t played either yet, then why not? Not only is this game a good value since you’ll get a lot of play time out of it, but you’ll also get it for all three consoles. It’s a win win situation. Also, if you have both the PS4 and PS Vita, I would say to give the game a try on both versions since they basically match up and are pretty similar.
1 Broke Gamer Girl 