Star Splash: Shattered Star Review
Star Splash: Shattered Star
Publisher: Snails Animation
Developer: Snails Animation
Genre:
PEGI: E
Comments:
As we near the end of the Wii U’s life, we would hope that any Indie games still coming to eshop would be good. Star Splash: Shattered Star is a brand new game for the Wii U. Is this game any good or is it a Wii U game to avoid?
In Star Splash: Shattered Star you play as a dolphin who has to save the world by collecting stars. The story is very simplistic and very boring. It is presented in a crudely drawn cutscene too. Though, as we know, games don’t always have to have a good story to be good. What matters most with any game is the gameplay. So does Star Splash have good gameplay?
I’m not a huge fan of runner games, however I have played some really good ones such as Wind-Up Knight 2. Star Splash is not a good runner game.
As with all runner games, you do not control the main character’s forward movement. In the case of Star Splash, you only control the dolphin’s jumping, up and down movement, and sonar. The controls on this game are so basic that it doesn’t even have analog control. The d-pad controls jumping and up and down movement. The jumping in this game is not very accurate and makes the already tricky gameplay even more difficult. The camera movement in this game is so fast that is almost impossible to get enough stars on these levels. You’ll be repeating these levels a lot.
Up and down movement seems to work alright in this game though. The sonar ablity seems ok too. It should also be noted that this game takes advantage of the Wii U’s rumble feature, but it can be very annoying because the rumble will go off if you hit the smallest thing. Overall, none of this game’s controls are awful, although they lack any originality or unique Wii U features. This game is not orignal or interesting at all.
The main problem with Star Splash is that you are basically doing the same thing over and over with each level. There isn’t too much variety to this game. There are a couple of powerups and extra enemies/challenges that try to make things interesting, but don’t pull it off. The only thing that this game has going for it is that it is challenging. Some people really love hard gameplay and they might like this game for that. Star Splash also has off-tv play, so it’ll be easy to avoid showing people what you’re playing! The graphics in this game will not impress you on the television set or the gamepad.
Star Splash looks like a cheap mobile game that someone threw onto the Wii U. The graphics in this game are very bland and lack visual variety. The backgrounds of each set of levels change some, but not enough to make this game look interesting.
Likewise, the music and sound effects in this game are dull. The sound in this game isn’t the worst I’ve ever heard, but nothing stands out. And that sums up Star Splash: Shattered Star very well: the game doesn’t stand out.
Thankfully, Star Splash: Shattered Star will not be the final game released on the Wii U. What an awful way for the system to end that would be! Star Splash is a game that should have never come to the Wii U. If this game isn’t a mobile game already, it really should be. Star Splash is clearly not a Wii U game. I do not recommend this game at all.
Snails Arcade provided a copy of this game for review. Star Splash: Shattered Star is currently available on the Wii U eshop.
Positives
- Challenging Gameplay
- Off-TV
Negatives
- Bland Visuals
- Dull Audio
- Boring Concept
Trailer
Article By Daniel Fugate
Daniel Fugate has wanted to be a writer since he was seven years old. He has a bachelor's degree in English and he's a huge Animal Crossing fan. The Wii U and 3DS are currently his favorite video game systems!
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