Symbian megastar Sparkle hits Windows Phone

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Now this is noteworthy. One of the biggest and most polished games from the large Symbian smartphone ecosystem, now available for Windows Phone 8. Sparkle presents the archetypal coloured orb shooter, but in an Aztec environment, with powerups and bonuses galore and with such lovely visual and audio effects that you'll be drawn in, as I was.

Here's what I had to say about Sparkle on Symbian:

There comes a time when you encounter something perfect. Think Dudley Moore encountering Bo Derek in '10'. Think lying on a sun kissed beach with cold beer on tap. Now think of a mobile game so perfectly executed, so perfectly drawn, so perfectly planned, so perfectly soundtracked, that there is, literally, nothing that can be added or improved. Nothing. What you have is Sparkle....

...As mentioned in the help screen above, 'power-ups' are important. In fact, they're not only important, they're a whole heap of fun! Fire an orb at a powerup that appears on screen and you then 'have' that power for a few seconds or throws. There's a wide range of power-ups, from slowing down the advance to reversing it, to turning all balls within a certain radius to the same colour as your projected ball and thus blasting them out of existence. And much more besides. All the power-ups are 'good' though, so you've little to lose by hitting and claiming them...

...In terms of difficulty, Sparkle is perfectly pitched again. Slow players will still get a fair way into the game, while those with lightning reflexes will also face a challenge just a short while after. In addition to the main game mode, which you'll finish at some point in the distant future, there are 'challenge' and 'survival' modes, taking levels from the main game and seeing how quickly you can complete them or how many balls you can blast away before you're overwhelmed (building up different 'ranks' in the meantime).

And here's Sparkle in action on Windows Phone 8:

Screenshot, Sparkle

A pseudo-RPG quest packages this arcade classic....

Screenshot, Sparkle

Standard orb shooting and matching is made far more interesting with a variety of powerups and wizards...

Screenshot, Sparkle

Screenshot, Sparkle

Bit by bit, you reclaim the land and complete the quest. Each new level has slightly different textures and shapes...

Highly recommended. You can try or buy Sparkle here in the Windows Phone Store.

Source / Credit: Windows Phone Store