In a slew of mascot platformers that came out during the 8 and 16-bit era, I'd like to think that Sparkster was pretty good. It had a lot of charm and personality, it looked nice, and the music rocked. It had a unique gimmick in going fast and while it was hard as hell at first, gaining a grasp of the rocket mechanics was a core part of the game I enjoyed.

That being said, the game has a slew of old platformer crust to it, like randomly spawning enemies (sometimes cruelly), drab or repetitive boss fights, and level design that often is on the fringe of greatness but borders on frustrating more often than not with a lot of gimmicks that involve waiting around. Sparkster it at its best GOING FAST.

This game is fine. I have a lot of fond memories of it smashing my face against it as a child, but it's rock solid. A shame we never got any more games in the franchise.