I'm just shocked how good this game is! After kinda disappointing predecessor (no bad by any mean), author took notes, analyzed what didn't work there and put a lot of work to improve everything. This is still not a masterpiece or game changer, but still one of the best 3D platformers of the year!
Spark the Electric Jester 3 is a high speed action platformer which hits all the marks of what makes a game fun. Spark the Electric Jester makes huge improvements since the previous game in the series by fixing a lot of its many flaws. For example the combat has vastly improved since the last game has a bit more depth, however it isn't too complicated and is complementary to the meat of the game (the platforming.)
The game is split into multiple areas with 1 main stage each and with 4 or more side stages. The main stages are quite lengthy and usually take a good 5-10 minutes to complete on average. These levels are very well designed with tons of routes to take and quite a few collectables to find which is great for those who want to take the time and explore. This is a very cool feature as it lets players play the way they want, however one or two of these exploration medals are in absurdly hard to find places which feels like you are trying to break the game and go out of bounds. The side stages you would usually expect to be weaker and not as well designed as the main stages, but that is actually not the case. These stages have just as much care put into them as the main stages (For the most part.) Each of the main stages feel unique in design and no 2 stages feel the same which stops the game getting repetitive. I did notice the quality in the level design begins to dip in the final 2 stages of the game with levels that are a bit too long and could definitely be shorter if some of the repetitious areas were cut as well as some segments where I feel you are just running on a single path for way too long.
The game also includes some vehicle sections, firstly we have the car sections which frankly is the game's weakest sections. Don't get me wrong it is a lot of fun zooming around at high speeds, the issue is the wonky physics of the car which usually ends up with you flinging and falling out of the road which usually ends up with me just running to the end since there is no option to respawn inside the car, fortunately there is only a couple of these levels in the game. On the other hand we have the plane sections which are a lot better despite the uncomfortable control scheme.
The bosses and the combat in general has vastly improved since Spark the Electric Jester 2 giving a lot more needed depth to the combat. Bosses have been improved too no longer being about how good are you at parrying. Not all attacks can be parried which is indicated by a yellow flash forcing you to get away to avoid the attack. Parrying is still here but it much more difficult to pull off a parry which is a good change.
The music in Spark the Electric Jester 3 is absolutely fantastic with banger after banger. In some stages I just had to stop playing for a second and just listen to it.
Controlling Spark in this game is a ton of fun and feels great to play once you get past the complicated control scheme. I can't stop replaying these levels trying to get the best times. Spark the Electric Jester 3 is a perfect example on how to do a sequel and it addresses a lot of flaws of Spark the Electric Jester 2 had. This game is really close to being something incredibly special, however due to some unenjoyable vehicle stages and a couple weaker stages at the end it pushes it back
being as good as it can. Despite Spark the electric Jester 2 being a very average game, it had a really strong foundation which Spark 3 did a lot to build on. If we were to get a Spark the Electric Jester 4 that fine-tunes what we have here, we might have something very special in our hands.
SummaryContinuing directly from where Spark the Electric Jester 2 left off, join Spark on his mission to overthrow his rival once again. Blaze through fast action packed stages and experience a new and improved combat system.
The gameplay is a mix of action and platforming in a clever way, taking elements from many games of both genres. You ar...