Sonic Adventure-Like 3D Action Platformer 'Spark The Electric Jester 3' Coming To Switch

Well...it certainly has those "Sonic Adventure" vibes in some way. But I'm not impressed enough to get me to buy it. So it's a hard pass for me...

Copying the modern sonic gameplay this blatantly is a bit of a turnoff, as well as the name “electric jester”. Like I know the guy is known for sonic clones but for his own game, l couldn’t they have thought of a more unique take on that style of gameplay?

Why not give us the first two as well? I want those before the 3rd one.

I've vaguely seen some gameplay of it some time ago, and does seem to have Dreamcast/GameCube Sonic game influences. It kind of makes me wish Sega would port the Sonic Adventure games over to Switch, PS4 or PS5 though. I'll look into Spark 3 once it releases.

That's a boost game, alright.
They couldn't even have the enemies inhabit the levels. Yeesh.

@Strictlystyles What's interesting to me is that this also seems to suggest that the boost formula was the natural progression for Sonic, which...no, lol. Just no.

@Strictlystyles Being blatant Sonic clones is the whole reason the Freedom Planet games were as popular as they were. That alone should tell you that as long as a game plays exactly like Sonic, the Sonic fandom WILL play it no matter what.

@Strictlystyles These games were originally fan made Sonic games before they become their own original game. It's the same for Freedom Planet. The thing is since they can't make money on Sonic cause Sega own that IP, they replace him with whatever original character they had and this is the result. They also don't want to work with the people at Sega.

@Serpenterror first game is 2d and 3rd includes all the levels of 2

I had originally made it my mission to purchase and play through every 3D platformer that releases on Switch, as it's my favorite genre. But there's beginning to be too many. I think it's time I give up on that ambition. Lots of Sonic clones as of late, too, and I've never been the biggest fan of Sonic gameplay.

Looks cool for what it is, though. I don't want to trash it because I'm sure it was made by a small indie team with a lot of passion who spent a ton of work porting it to Switch. I like the design of the main character, jesters in video games are cool but I have yet to see one before now that isn't the antagonist. Maybe I'll get it at some point, but I don't think this is a high priority right now.

Corn Kidz is another 3D platformer that just doesn't really look like it's for me. Nitro Rad praised it as like one of his favorite games of all-time now, but I don't always see eye-to-eye with Nitro Rad when it comes to his gaming takes.

Huh, I wasn't expecting to be the only one on here actually looking forward to this. I've heard nothing but praise towards Spark 3 specifically and was always rooting for it to get a Switch port.

@Not_Soos Since you've played so many 3D platformers on Switch I'd like to hear your input on maybe your favorites on the system. Mine are probably Bowser's Fury and Tinykin.

I'm playing Corn Kidz 64 right now. Barely started but I have very high hopes so far.

Balatro platformer?

Been hoping this trilogy of titles would find its way to Switch eventually. Sonic Adventure 2 vibes is right on the mark indeed.

I think it is a little bit misguided to just throw the 3rd one out there before the other two (even if it includes of all the 2nd games levels as free DLC), I don't quite understand the thinking behind this. At least put the first entry on Switch as well, surely?

It also looks like the conversion was a rough port to get working on Switch. Commendable job that is IS working... but based on the proof of concept video this has actually put me off for the time being. Unless they can get it up to scratch with the Steam version I'll wait and see if they can do a suitable port for next gen.

@sketchturner

Most of my favorites are the remakes of the kinds of 3D platformers I grew up playing during the N64/PS1/GameCube/PS2 era. Crash N. Sane Trilogy, Spyro Reignited, Pac-Man World Re-Pac, SpongeBob Rehydrated--those sorts of games. I have a lot of nostalgia for Ty the Tasmanian Tiger as well, but I wouldn't put it in the same league as the others.

I agree that Bowser's Fury is excellent! I was never a huge fan of 3D World and actually found myself a bit disappointed with Odyssey, but Bowser's Fury was pretty much perfect in every way except wishing there was more. I also really love A Hat in Time, though it (and SpongeBob Rehydrated) are better on other platforms. I also love all the games in 3D All-Stars, although I think the overall collection was a pretty lazy effort on Nintendo's part. Super Mario 64, Crash 2, and Super Mario Galaxy, are all in my top 5 list of favorite games of all time.

Of the Spyro trilogy, my favorite is and always will be the original. This may be a very hot take, but I honestly consider Spyro 2 and 3 to be a bit mediocre, in my opinion--I really wasn't a fan of how they changed up the formula in those games.

There's a few I've purchased but haven't had the opportunity to beat yet. I've played very little of It Takes Two and Blue Fire, for example, but hope to change that in the relatively near future. I actually didn't realize Tinykin was a 3D platformer. I knew it was a Pikmin clone and have it downloaded on PS5 since it's free with a PSN subscription but haven't tried it out yet.

So yeah, those are probably my top picks. Sorry, I know this is a long reply, but I could go on forever about this stuff, haha! If you have a PlayStation, some of my favorites there are the original Jak and Daxter, the Sly Cooper franchise, and Psychonauts 1 and 2. I never had the opportunity to play Sly or Psychonauts until I bought my first non-Nintendo console about a year and a half ago, and I absolutely fell in love. They're definitely two of my favorite game series of all time now.

Oh I am very very into this. It's gorgeous and it looks like it's running very smooth. I understand it's not everybody's thing, but I'm totally a mark for it. Only thing I didn't love about the trailer was the music. Minor quibble. Sign me up. That looks Day One for me.

@Toshiro_Baloney Yeah why was it set to like elevator music??? It was like putting me to sleep

Looks like a 1$ cell phone game.

I'm a big fan of the Spark Trilogy and love the series to death. Spark 3 is a really good game but this trailer is a failure.

First of all the whole trilogy should have been released on console so people can experience all of them (plus Spark 1 is personally my favorite).

Second the trailer doesn't showcase what makes the game good. It seems like they treated it as if Spark the Electric Jester is a household name which it is not! Ever since getting into the series, I've never met anyone that knows what it is. Yet they just show it off like "Look! Everyone's favorite game of the year Spark 3 runs well on Switch plus boring music and that's all." Sure it captures the excitement of those who have already played the game but as seen in this very comment section, this is WILL NOT excite people who have not heard of the game! When I saw the announcement, I was like "Yay, Spark 3 is coming to Switch!" And then when I saw the trailer, I was like "Oh no! This game is going to fail!" They treated it as if it was an announcement of GTA5 for Switch which is a game that is big enough that a trailer like this would excite everyone. Plus to show a boss fight in the Cyber themed level on the specific part of the level that looks like a checkerboard test area is just preposterous. It makes the game look unfinished to those who haven't played it because what else do you think when seeing something like that with no prior context of the levels or the story of the game.

Lake Fepard is notoriously bad at marketing and people don't know these games despite being made by the creators of Sonic Before and After the Sequel. Two very well known and beloved fan games.

It really breaks my heart that it had to be this way as people are writing off this game before it releases because of this trailer so they'll never get to experience the really fun Sonic esque level design, quirky characters and cutscenes, and the stellar soundtrack that these games have. Just listen to them on Spotify or Apple Music, just about every song slaps. It still baffles me that they chose to put super boring stock music that's not even from the game when there's so many great songs to choose from! Like Spark 1 has one of my favorite soundtracks in gaming yet the trailer has ***** music that makes me just want to fall asleep into a coma! Please for the love of God release a better trailer guys! I really love these games and this does them no justice at all.

I really want people to give Spark a chance. These games are really good but I don't really blame anyone because if I saw this trailer plus it only being the third, I wouldn't want to go anywhere near this game!

PS. How dare they not show scene where Spark eats a massive hamburger! Also, down with the Fark Force!

@Not_Soos Thanks for the response!
Yeah it's unfortunate that Tinykin gets commonly labeled as a Pikmin style game. Despite appearances, it shares almost no DNA with that series and is a 3D platformer through and through. Can't recommend it highly enough!

Also, It Takes Two is fantastic but I recommend playing it on PS4 or PS5 if possible. The graphics are genuinely wonderful but take a huge hit on Switch, both in resolution and frame rate. I don't normally care but in this case it does make a difference.

It's always these animal mascots. Never hunan characters like from Games like Stellar Blade the game Sony censored.

I recommend everyone to watch the trailer called Spark The Electric Jester 3 Gameplay & Story Trailer on Youtube. Cool vibe, cool music, cool gameplay.

Looks like a must have to me. Now I want to play the whole series.

@Serpenterror @SailorShulk9 the first game is made in Clickteam Fusion which is very difficult to port from so unless that game gets remade in a different engine it will remain as a PC exclusive

quite a lull we're in.

@LikelySatan Have you played this game? It's definitely not just a copy of Boost formula. It has a few of its own mechanics that play well with its level design. It also controls much snappier than most Sonic games. Definitely don't be too quick to judge this one.

Makes me hope there's a Radicalsoda video on it

Saw this on the last AGDQ and thought it looked quite cool. Nice to see it coming to Switch.

I mean if Sega doesn‘t make a new adventure game the fans will step in and make one. That‘s much better than games like Enchanted Portals where they basically copied a game and made it like a sequel to a popular franchise so they can make money off of it.

FreakZone games, huh? I've only played the Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures game that they developed about 10 years ago. I did enjoy that game, so it will be interesting to see if this will be any good.

And for those saying that it copies an established gameplay formula, a lot of games do that. No one complains when Shantae clearly borrows elements from Metroid and Castlevania (exploring the world to find upgrades and defeating enemies by whipping them). No one complains when Call of Duty, Halo, and Battlefield take a page from Doom and Wolfenstein 3D by being first-person shooters. No one complains when Assassin's Creed borrows stealth mechanics from games like Metal Gear Solid.

Even Nintendo has borrowed elements from other game franchises: Breath of the Wild took the element of climbing towers to light up portions of the map from games like Assassin's Creed and Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. And the Color TV Game 6 (their first-ever video game console) is basically just Pong.

So honestly, I'm not too worried about this game borrowing elements from other games. As long as the world they create and story they tell are unique, I'll be happy. I think those are the most important elements to any game, more so than the gameplay: the worldbuilding and storytelling.

It's so weird, a trailer without sound effects.

Don't sleep on this game. I played this game on pc and it's great!

Looks good but not seeing the Sonic Adventure comparisons. Looks much more like boost era Sonic to me, Generations, Colours and Forces gameplay of running fast on a road. There's Sonic Heroes vibes too. But not so much Adventure in my opinion.

@JohnnyMind Yeah, I don't mind it being an alleged clone either. After all, many games copy other elements from other games.

As I said in my previous comment, Shantae takes elements from Metroid and Castlevania (exploring the world to collect upgrades, and defeating enemies by whipping them). Halo, Call of Duty, and Battlefield all take a page from Doom and Wolfenstein 3D in being first-person shooters. And games like Assassin's Creed borrow stealth mechanics from games like Metal Gear. Undertale (considered to be one of the greatest indie games of all time) is obviously inspired by the Mother series.

And heck, Nintendo has done it, too. Games like Mario Kart and F-Zero take a page from other racing games like Pole Position, the original Zelda is similar to Hydlide, and Breath of the Wild has climbing towers to light up parts of the map, like Assassin's Creed and Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. And the Color TV Game 6 is basically just Pong.

For me, worldbuilding and storytelling are the most important aspects of any video game, more so than the gameplay. If you can create a unique world and story, I don't care if the gameplay is a carbon copy of another game. It's probably why I like games like Genshin Impact so much: despite the similarities to games like Breath of the Wild, it has a unique world and story, which I am now thoroughly invested in at this point.

I'm with the 'This is a terrible trailer' crew. These guys need to watch the Super Monkey Ball trailer. Sound design is a massively important part of a video game and this trailer tells me the publishers don't know what they're doing, which sends the message that the game is probably not worth my time.

Looks very promising, I'll be keeping my eye on it

@Inc
It has the wide open level design of Adventure that lets you take advantage of your moveset without scripting forcing control away or invisible walls limiting aerial movement but it lack real equivalents to the spindash, spindash jump and bounce attack unfortunately, it does let you cancel a homing attack into a massive air dash like in Frontiers.

Played a bit of the demo on Steam a while back and was very impressed.

I'm very excited this is coming to Switch because I've been wanting to try out the series at some. Honestly surprised people here are turned off from the game though, considering I've only seen praise for it, I guess to be fair the Switch trailer didn't have the as amazing music as the announcement trailer did lol

I've wanted to give this series a try for awhile, I'll definitely pick it up when it releases.

Eh. It looks decent enough. Visually It looks kinda nasty tho (that pop in, sheesh!)

Probably won't be picking up. The Sonic clone im looking forward to is Rollin Rascal by the Curiomatic team. Really enjoy the visuals in that and had a fun time with the demo, even tho it's still a bit far out. That one had some unique ideas presented in it and is far more momentum based rather than just "Hold X to Boost".

@tabris95 I have played the first two, but not this one. I enjoyed the first game a lot, as it was more focused on different abilities. The second was a boost game. I don't like those.

Looks fantastic!
(reads comments)
Okay then!

Unless they include 1 and 2, they should not sell this at full price.

im shocked that this reception is this cold! If the concept of boosting is whats holding you back then i highly encourage you to try sonic generations. Modern sonic games, despite what the fandom and forces would like you to believe, are not boost to win. It's a meter management mechanic cleverly implemented to fit within the sonic formula that rewards good management with faster times and more exhilarating runs. Seriously, when sonic x shadow comes out (if they dont screw up the port at least) give it a go! That game is the reason ive put up with sega's ***** all these years, its that good

Doesn't look like Sonic Adventure to me, looks more like the nonstop speedy gameplay sega has been pumping out since 2008 (I suppose 2007 if you count Secret Rings.)

Is it really that easy to mistake them?

@JohnnyMind Maybe not until the successor to the Switch comes out, assuming that it is technical issues like they claim it is.

As it is, come Version 5.0 or so (around August), they'll be raising the hardware requirements for the game, considering that's when Natlan will be releasing. Even the PS4 will be affected by this. So my guess is we'll just have to give up on it ever coming to the Switch. More likely it will come to the Switch's successor, whatever it will be called.

But personally, I have an inkling that it's more about legal issues. After all, I bet you anything that Nintendo would want a Nintendo character in the game, like how Aloy from Horizon: Zero Dawn was available for a time. But they might not want that character on other platforms.

And since the servers are mostly multiplatform (so you can play the game on PC or PlayStation, and then pick up where you left off on iOS or Android), Nintendo might be reluctant to allow you to play as someone like Link or Zelda on the PlayStation, one of their rivals. That's just my guess, though.

They copied everything but forgot a cool name, and added ***** music .. that tune really gets energy pumping.

I mean, the names this easy part.. here’s me coming up with something better without trying :

Graham the Gnu

Guys don't judge this game too early. Yeah the trailer's not great, but many people say this game does 3D Sonic better than Sonic. Check out some speedrun gameplay videos on Youtube, they look insane. I hope the Switch port will be good.

@LikelySatan what?

@Not_Soos Nitrorad is just not reliable when it comes to looking for how good a game really is. He basically makes reverse rant reviews, he's just too positive about games, so he makes a 7/10 game sounds like a 9/10 game.

@JohnnyMind I think my question is, though: did those texture packs come to Minecraft on other platforms? Or were they exclusive to Nintendo consoles? Granted, I play the Java Edition on PC, so I don't know if they are on other versions of the Bedrock Edition.

But as to why I say it's legal issues, again, Nintendo and Sony are rivals, so I doubt they'd want to have their characters appear on PlayStation. As it is, assuming that HoYoverse keeps their existing servers running for Nintendo if and hopefully when Genshin comes to a Nintendo platform, it will be interesting to see if those of us who got Aloy in the game will be able to play as her on Nintendo.

@_Figo_ Yeah it must be very difficult to port from, I guess the nine other games (Freedom Planet, Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures, Five Nights at Freddy's series) that also used Clickteam Fusion engine on Switch got lucky and manage to pull a miracle then.

@Serpenterror I said very difficult, not impossible dimwit
yes it does happen but not every developer has the time and/or resources to do it, otherwise we would see a lot more games made in Clickteam on consoles

@LikelySatan who's pushsquare . And what do you mean by go over there?

@JohnnyMind Yeah, Aloy came out in Version 2.1, so a couple years ago. She was only available for a limited time, however. But still, for those of us who do have her, we can play as her on PlayStation, PC, and mobile. That being said, her signature weapon is more useful when playing on the PlayStation versus other platforms.

So even though Sony might be okay with Aloy on PC and mobile (emphasis on the word "might"), I doubt they'd be okay with her being on a Nintendo console. I'd figure it would be the same the other way around, a Nintendo character appearing on PlayStation.

@WhyYouLie Push Square is the sister site to Nintendo Life, and covers PlayStation news. There's even a site for Xbox and retro gaming.

I'm aware that the Sonic the Hedgehog series is extremely popular. Unlike other game series known for their outstanding gameplay, Sonic's success always depends heavily on its characters. The personality and appealing design of Sonic and his friends are the cornerstones that have led to the success of the series. It's hard to imagine that any of these Sonic clones could ever be successful. Freedom Planet is perhaps the series that could most easily be considered a success, but even that series remains quite small and insignificant compared to the behemoth that is Sonic.

@_Figo_ Chill gramps, don't want you to have a heart attack there. Now go take your pills, I was just giving facts that's all.

@LikelySatan clearly you haven't played either of the games. Sonic boost gameplay is significantly different.

@Serpenterror lol, "gramps"
saying "these way more popular and successful games can get a console port so why this much less popular and successful game can't?" isn't a rebuttal you think it is

@WhyYouLie ...I'm not sure I can help you if you can't understand what I meant from my comments.

@Chunkboi79 lol. Okay bro.
You should tell the devs they failed then, since the entire point was definitely to make a boost rip-off.

This games very good I have it on steam. I highly reccomend it. Its so good that I might double dip just to have it on the go with my switch

@LikelySatan So boost button means it's a boost formula game? like push boost to win? Like the boost button completely invalidates every obstacle in your path?

The gameplay of Spark is drastically different than what you'd come to expect from a sonic generations or forces type of game.

@Chunkboi79 no, the fact that they purposefully made a game that is a boost formula game makes it a boost formula game.

@LikelySatan explain what a boost formula game is then.

@Chunkboi79 oh, just see the above trailer.
If you don't think this is a boost formula game, where do you think this game is getting inspiration from? Do you think they made Spark, a 2D Sonic like game, and then had the exact same moment of enlightenment SEGA had when bringing Sonic to "3D?" Completely divorced from those games? Even the aesthetic is similar. Do you think the implementation of homing attacks is due to this developer having a revelation that will turn 3D platformers on their ears, or do you think they played boost games and said "oh yeah...why don't we just do that to keep the momentum going and because the platforming is sloppy?"

@LikelySatan I only ask because I need to know what your perception of a "boost" formula game is to understand where you're coming from as I am trying to reach an understanding. But you still didn't answer my question.

Is the boost formula a result of homing attacks in your opinion? Or is it sloppy platforming as a result of the speed in which you're moving?

My understanding of boost gameplay came after sonic adventure and unleashed came out. Where it was one button to win (being the boost button) and it just obliterated everything and the only time the game felt good was when you were running really fast because the game didn't feel good when it came to platforming.

@LikelySatan I'm not asking you to help me