Review: geoSpark - Plus Video Review
by Staff Writer
December 7, 2009
Update
geoSpark just got it's first update, 1.1, and it seemingly took all of the things in the bad section, and fixed them. First off there is a brand new spark spawning mechanism that doesn't have any real patterns or rhythm. Playing through the update it's much more random leaving you never knowing what's coming next, and requiring you to be even more attentive. Every single game you play is different.
Also with the update comes four new sparks with new behaviors and a special one up spark allowing you to live through a collision. OpenFeint achievements are now included too, so the game truly does have OpenFeint. Achievements include making certain chains, and reaching certain score plateaus. There's a new leaderbord too for longest chain, and a separate leaderboard for version 1.1 as it's much tougher.
A wonderful update that fixes the few problems with the original release making it a must buy. It is officially the most addicting game in the App Store, and maybe any game I've ever played.
Overview
geoSpark is a brand new game that is a collaboration between Imangi Studios (Harbor Master) and Critical Thought Games (geoDefense). The game has the casual addictive gameplay style of Imangi combined with the visual style of geoDefense. The goal of the game is combining same shapes, and not to let any different sparks collide. You can tap on a spark for it to disappear, and you can drag the spark into other same sparks to build a chain, and increase your points. When you build a chain it increases the gravitational pull towards your finger, and the incoming sparks speed up to that point.
Features
You goal is to score as many points as you can, and there’s a delicate balance between risk and reward regarding score. Do you choose to just tap incoming sparks, or go for chains, and then how long do you decide to keep the chain going? One spark is worth 10, the second spark in a chain is 20, then 30, etc. If you just tap, you only get 10 points each time. Three special sparks are included to help you for the most points. A 2x spark multiplying each spark in your chain, bomb which explodes s every spark on screen, and slow-mo which slows all of the sparks for a certain period of time. Open Feint is included for online high scores for total score.
The Good
geoSpark has the shiny graphics of geoDefense, but it’s all about the gameplay. It’s so easy and fun to just drag sparks together for as long as you can. Always keeping in mind the delicate balance of length of chain. It’s just so much fun with the quick pace to pick up all the like shapes while avoiding others. It could be compared to other games on a basic level, but the actual gameplay is completely unique in the App Store. This game is super addicting, and may be the most addicting in the App Store. It defies logic to just keep playing over and over, no matter what else you have to do. After each loss you always feel that you think you can do better, as it was a correctable error the previous time. Also you always want to go back in, and change your technique, as there are an infinite number of ways to play the game.
When I first launched this game, I said “Wow, Wow, Wow!” It is absolutely perfect for the iPhone, and controls so smoothly that you could be physically drawing with your finger. Even the quickest motions it picks-up for pinpoint accuracy once things get really hectic.
The graphics are simple 2D, but so brilliantly colorful it seems to pop out of the screen. It seems there are even more particle effects occurring than in the geodefense games. Then the background jiggles as you build up chains, and the gravity increases.
Everything flows smoothly despite all the action occurring on screen. There are the obvious particle effects, but even the simple +points and sayings are nice.
The soundtrack is very well done, and fits really well with this game. It’s kind of a slow techno mix that I could listen to for as long as I play this game. The sound effects are a little annoying and repetitive with a whir with each spark tapped or collected.
The Bad
I had high expectations for this game, and it was disappointing in more ways than I expected. The main problem is that though the game is initially addicting that wears off quickly. The game is pretty much the same every time rather than having complete random spark generation. After you’ve played a few times you’ll see quite easily that as your progress it goes in waves so the double green circles come, then the purple stars, then the green pentagons, then the melded orange circles, etc. This leaves you knowing exactly where you are in the game, what’s coming next, and what waves of sparks will come in. That's not to say the game doesn't have any randomness. Each game is unique, as the sparks fly in from different locations and in different numbers each time. It's just there is an overall pattern to the game that I wish was more random. This really is the main problem with the entire casual game category though. A few games have broke free with varying maps in Harbor Master and other path drawing games, as well as quick play mode in Run! The game is high score based, and you’ll always know the score you’re around based on the current shape you’re on. Not only that, but you monotonously go through the game through all that you’ve seen before to make it to where you last lost, and you lose shortly after that.
You end up playing the same game over and over, and one mistake you start at the beginning seeing the same waves. Random generated sparks would leave you guessing, and would present a different game every time.
Though it states it has Open Feint, a game doesn’t really qualify unless it has high scores and achievements in my opinion. Just one set of online high scores are included for total high score, but it would be great to see online tables for multiple things like what’s given in Hippo High Dive. Achievements feel like a must for this game, so there’s more to do than play the same game every time going for one type of high score.
Despite the logic I just presented of why not to play the game over and over, I still find myself doing just that.
