Sparkle Unleashed is a new take on the match-three marbles shooter game. It’s similar to games like Zuma. The title originally released on numerous platforms including mobile devices and now has been reworked and released on the Xbox One. It brings a multitude of environments in which the aim of the game is to hit balls of the same colour against each other in order to get three of the same colour in a row.
The game features a progression system, where you will work your way through the various levels, going through different braziers each four or so levels. Each level provides its own environment–some of which make the game more challenging by delivering two trails of balls rather than a single trail.
At first sight, you may see the game as being quite simple and basic, however, the developers have put a fair amount of work into this. Power-ups drop after some marbles are matched in succession. The player can unlock more power-ups after gaining a key for completing each brazier.
It’s best to play this game in short bursts–completing one or two braziers per session—so that the game has a long lifetime for you. Experiencing the title in bursts is also important so that you continue to enjoy the varying difficulties as well as avoid getting burnt out.
The graphics of the game are basic due to it being a matching game but that doesn’t mean it looks dull. The visuals provide a good depth of colour which certainly improves the overall aesthetics to the eye. The colour gives it a more pleasing look, which entices you to play longer. On top of this, you can become quite addicted if you’re into the whole gamerscore system. Sparkle Unleashed provides up to 1000 G, with most achievements offering around 20 G, 50 G or 75 G. There’s certainly a lot to get you going and keep you playing for hours.
If you do complete the sort-of campaign mode, there’s also a survival mode in which you aim to smash as many balls as you can before you die. This can be quite a difficult mode to get to grips with as the difficulty does certainly ramp up after a while. Despite its difficulty, it’s a great mode to unlock some of those achievements for sure.
For the type of game that it is, a simple marble shooter, it does do its job exceedingly well. The controls are definitely easy to use once you get your aiming on-par. We found ourselves trying to push the limits of how fast we could aim and shoot when playing the game.
The key feature we felt was missing is some way of seeing how your friends stack-up against you. Apart from that, a leaderboard system and some way of showing off your progress would be welcome additions to the title. The stats system is also hard to find so displaying it prominently would be a helpful change. Those additions would definitely increase the amount of playability you get out of the game because you would be trying to beat your personal best and hit milestones. It would also make the game more social and competitive because you would want to beat your friends.
Overall, Sparkle Unleashed is a fun and casual title that provides a lot of enjoyment through its addictive gameplay. Fans of games like Zuma will love this title on Xbox One. It’s always hard to rate such games but based on the fun it offers and the unique twist to the marble shooter mechanic, we think it deserves a lot of praise. Be sure to check this one out if you’re looking for a casual experience between all those other action titles coming out in the next few weeks.
Jack contributed 16 articles to ICXM between 2014–2015, covering game reviews, and Xbox news with a focus on hands-on impressions and verified-source reporting. Their bylines on the site span the Xbox One’s first full year of post-launch coverage, including the early days of Backwards Compatibility and Windows 10 gaming. They post on X as @Jack_XboxMAD.