 Let's get something clear right off the bat, so we're all on the same page. Sparkster for the Super Nintendo is not to be confused with Rocket Knight Adventures, or Sparkster Rocket Knight Adventures 2 for the Sega Genesis. The latter was made at the same time, and while they share the same cover art, the same characters, and the same name, they are completely different games. The Genesis did have Rocket Knight Adventures first, and those games are very good, but Sparkster for the Super Nintendo was its own game, not a sequel. So, now that that's out of the way, Sparkster is yet another great platformer from Konami. It's fundamentally solid with fine hit detection, tight controls, and quality jumping mechanics, and the special attack is very well done as well. You can really tell this game's origins are with the Genesis hardware, because it's very fast. Sparkster definitely has a Sonic the Hedgehog kind of vibe. Just for a quick comparison, here's how the Genesis games look and sound. And here's how the Super Nintendo version looks. And yeah, of course I'm going to be partial to the SNES version, duh. But really, you can't go wrong with the Genesis games either. Now, back when this game first came out, it was very easy to be cynical about a game like Sparkster, because the publisher's intentions were pretty transparent. Pick an animal out of a hat, give it a quirky name, and some kind of gimmick, and boom, instant franchise. Hey, it worked for Ninja Turtles, right? And don't forget SWAT Cats, Bubsy, Biker Mice from Mars, Battletoads. Anyway, we're far enough removed from that era that it's much easier to look at Sparkster objectively. And be thankful for that, because this game is good. It has a storyline, of course, and like most platforming games of the era, it just doesn't matter. The Kingdom is under attack, and Princess is kidnapped, blah blah blah, who cares? What matters here is the level design, the weapons, and great sound. And I want to stress great sound, because it's arguably the best part of the game. The explosions really sound great. And everything sounds really clear. That's a big difference from the Genesis games, which often produces a dissonant grungy sort of sound. And yeah, Sega programmers often use that to their advantage and do some quality sound design and music with games like Kid Chameleon and Gunstar Heroes, but the Super Nintendo always had better sound, and Sparkster is a good example of that. The only real negative I can come up with for Sparkster is that it's pretty dang easy, even on the hardest difficulty mode. There's certainly nothing wrong with being able to breeze through a game in less than an hour, but it kind of dampens the replay value just a little. Don't let that stop you, though. Sparkster on the Super Nintendo is well worth playing today, even if you played through the Genesis games.