Sparklite Shines at PAX West
I had the opportunity to check out this delightful little game at PAX West, and if I had to describe it in a sentence, its what would happen if Zelda and Harvest Moon had a little sprite baby. Combat was quick and snappy, and I enjoyed the bright pixel graphics and light crafting elements.
Sparklite is a brawler-adventure with procedural world generation featuring a pixel art aesthetic inspired by retro classics and an original Gamecube inspired soundtrack by composer Dale North (Wizard of Legend). Along each unique journey, the player will befriend the people of Geodia and help build The Refuge, discover collectibles scattered throughout the world and use them to invent gadgets to solve puzzles and defeat enemies. After rescuing Ada’s robotic sidekick, the player has the option to play local assistive co-op with a friend as they take on the Baron Mining Corp and its formidable gremlin Titans.
Everything in the world is tied together by Sparklite… it’s the life force of the planet, and the inhabitants have learned how to channel it for their own gain. It can be harnessed, or it can be consumed for a surge of power with grave consequences.
The Baron has devised a plot to mine the world’s Sparklite core. He mines Sparklite and burns/consumes it to fuel his powerful war machines, but the pollution from the consumed Sparklite is corrupting the world. Animals have turned to violent monsters, and the environment is rotting away. But the world has a natural defense in its Sparklite core. Periodically, the core causes a Disruption which rearranges the world, setting back the Baron’s efforts. If the Baron can obtain the core, he will gain the power to create a new world where he has ultimate power.
Sparklite is Red Blue Games’ first major title and has been in development for four years. They are a studio of three based out of Durham, NC, founded in 2013 by twin brothers Edward and Lucas and later joined by Kevin in 2015. Edward and Kevin both came from Vicious Cycle based in Raleigh, where they worked on third and first-party games like Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon, Eat Lead, and Kung Fu Panda. Lucas came from the web industry, leaving his job as QA Engineer at Lulu.com to start Red Blue Games.
