XP Arcade: Twinkle Star Sprites

A shooter that is designed like a versus puzzler is a cool idea that should exist some more.

This column is “XP Arcade,” in which I’ll focus on a game from the arcades, or one that is clearly inspired by arcade titles, and so on. Previous entries in this series can be found through this link.

I love a shoot-em-up. I love a falling blocks puzzle game where two players can go head-to-head, slinging attacks at each other until one side is clearly the victor. Twinkle Star Sprites, then should be perfect for me: it is a shoot-em-up that is designed with the head-to-head puzzle intensity of something like Puyo Puyo, except, unlike with Puyo Puyo, I might actually be able to win in a match-up against my wife thanks to the whole shmup thing.

You might think there is a “but” coming, but there isn’t. I should love Twinkle Star Sprites, and I do. Sure, it’s short, with the single-player campaign not taking very long at all to complete on the standard difficulty, and sure, even being able to play the game as a number of different characters outside of story mode doesn’t necessarily heap on a whole lot more to do, but still. The concept is really good, and the execution is right there with it: it’s the kind of game that’s fun to go back to sometimes for a run through its story or with someone besides the starring character, and it’s definitely a game that’s fun to keep in your back pocket for when you want to pit two players against each other.

Twinkle Star Sprites got its start in arcades on the Neo-Geo MVS back in 1996. It was developed by ADK, a studio close enough in their relationship with SNK that, after ADK closed in 2003, it sold off its holdings to the company whose arcade cabinets and console they devoted most of their efforts toward. Twinkle Star Sprites is far from “just” an arcade game: you might not have heard of it, but it’s not locked back in 1996 or in need of emulation to play in 2021. Twinkle Star Sprites was widely available back in the 90s, on not just the different Neo-Geo platforms but on the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast as well, and now you can find it on Windows, Steam, and as an Arcade Archives release on the Switch, Xbox One, and X/S consoles. (I can’t find evidence of a Playstation ACA release in North America, even though it exists in other regions and on other North American consoles. So, sorry?)

As the above banner should make you realize in a hurry, Twinkle Star Sprites is definitely more cute-em-up than shoot-em-up, which, as we’ve discussed before, does not mean it lacks difficulty or excitement or challenge. It’s just adorable while it’s shooting fireballs at you or attempting to crush you underneath the weight of an enormous rabbit.

And you will be singed with fire or crushed under cuteness if you don’t plan out your shots accordingly. Twinkle Star Sprites is a shoot-em-up, yes, but at its heart it is a puzzle game. I mention Puyo Puyo as a comparable above because they have the same basic premise for how to play: it’s not about clearing your screen of everything as fast as possible, but instead is about setting yourself up to set off a massive combo that will make life impossible for your opponent. Sometimes it’s worth waiting a moment to let enemies pile up on screen, so that you can start a chain reaction that not only fills your power meter up and allows for the possibility of a stronger future attack, but also sends much more for your opponent to contend with than some piddly little fireballs that need to merely be shot at or dodged to avoid taking damage from.

I don’t have the patience or foresight to thrive in Puyo Puyo — I just don’t see the possible formation of combos fast enough to survive against anyone who knows what they’re doing, and God forbid I’m playing Puyo Puyo Tetris where you’re switching back-and-forth between the two classic puzzlers — but I absolutely have the patience and foresight for a shmup, especially a vertical one. I can put myself in precarious situations I know I can get out of in those! It’s exciting to do so! Twinkle Star Sprites is basically just that, all of the time. You have to let enough enemies build up on screen that the chain reaction combo you set off is going to mean a significant attack on your opponent that will throw them off of their game and potentially to their doom. But you also have to dodge or attack whatever your opponent is sending your way, so it’s not like it’s as simple as just saying “be patient,” either.

Enemies come in different colors, which tell you how much you need to shoot them to blow them up. It’s worth aiming for the more difficult enemies, as you don’t need to mow them all down individually: blow up the toughest one, and its explosion will take out the weaker enemies around it in conjunction with your continued fire at any possible stragglers, setting off a combo that will then send an attack at your opponent and fill your power meter. You have a standard shot at your disposal, but also a charge shot (which differs in what it does depending on which character you’re using), as well as two screen-clearing bombs. Don’t just use the bombs all carefree-like: they’re going to be vital for surviving chaotic situations you otherwise would not.

If you are struck by a standard enemy that the game itself sent to you in a standard wave, then your character will be briefly stunned, and will only take a minimum of damage — you actually can’t be killed by these standard enemies, just stunned. You have five hearts, which can refill through causing damage to your opponent, so a little bit of damage is no big deal. If you’re hit by one of your opponent’s attacks instead, though, you’ll lose most of your life bar, and your foe will be alerted that they have a chance to K.O. you if you’re down to your final heart. So, if you can’t avoid getting hit, always choose to be struck by something the game sent your way, even if it briefly stuns you. It’s better than being dead.

While the single player mostly teaches you how the game works in a judgement-free environment, the multiplayer is pure chaos since someone else thinking strategically is on the other end. A combo sends over fireballs to your opponent, but they can shoot down those fireballs, which will redirect them back from whence they came. It's a shoot-em-up with versus puzzle mechanics that lets you basically bounce attacks back-and-forth until someone slips up or simply cannot handle the onslaught, and takes all of the damage that’s been building up in the process.

While this constant ping-ponging is occurring, you’re also building up your power meter, which will unleash a boss attack when filled — think the giant rabbit I mentioned earlier. This, obviously, does a ton of damage, and is a lot harder to get rid of than even the most well-armored of whatever enemies the game itself is sending at you. To earn the right to unleash this attack, you’ll have to balance sending out your charge shots, as, once you reach level two of three on your power meter, where three gets you the boss attack, using your charge shot actually slightly decreases your meter. You have to balance that while avoiding enemies and fireballs and setting up everything for the perfect chain reaction that’ll harm your opponent, recover your health, K.O. them, whatever. It’s a lot, but that’s what makes it work.

The matches aren’t meant to last long, either: this is supposed to be, at most, two minutes of chaos with a brief breather before you dive in for some more. About one-third of the way into the expected match time, a blue orb appears: successfully blow it up, and earn Fever status for a few seconds, which basically speeds up the creation of combos that can devastate your opponent. Matches can be won with this if you go into Fever at the right time, since you can, sort of out of nowhere, overwhelm your opponent with fireballs or better fill your power meter. If a match goes for over 100 seconds, then Death appears: if you are struck by Death, you lose. Death can be destroyed like anything else in the game, but will then be sent to your opponent for them to contend with. They can destroy Death and send them back, too, now more difficult to destroy, and so on. The matches will end, is what I’m saying.

The various characters have slightly different skill sets, with some shooting faster or slower, some with more range or less range than others — one character just punches out at enemies, for instance, when you charge up their “shot,” which has little range but can be devastating if you’re brave enough to get up close and personal with a wave of foes. While you just use Ran in the story — seen above in her Twinkle Star form, and in the banner earlier on in the article in her pre-transformation form — for the story mode, you can use whomever in the other single-player mode that is exactly the same as the story mode otherwise, just without the little between-level story bits. So if you’ve got a particular style you want to work on or practice with in preparation for multiplayer bouts, that’s where you’d do it.

The best version of Twinkle Star Sprites is up for a bit of debate. The Sega Saturn version has the most extras — a bonus disc full of additional art made by both official artists and fan ones, extra cutscenes and voice work and such — while the Dreamcast version lacks all of that, but also doesn’t have the slowdown that is extremely present in other versions. You can turn off the slowdown on the Dreamcast version, or keep it: some shmups actually benefit from some slowdown, since it’s maybe the only respite you get, and Twinkle Star Sprites certainly qualifies as one of those games thanks to its inherently chaotic nature. The Arcade Archives version is built off of the original MVS arcade edition, but, as the ACA games tend to be, is also full of some modern quality-of-life perks and options. So it’s really up to you and your tastes, which version would best suit you, but the good news is that, unlike far too many other games, you do actually get to consider that instead of just nabbing a 25-year-old game on Ebay or illicitly or what have you.

Throw down the $7.99 for the Arcade Archives edition of Twinkle Star Sprites. If you have anyone to play it against, it’ll be worth it to you, even if it’s just something you play occasionally. It’s bright, colorful, and chaotic, and while the single-player mode might not stick with you much, the multiplayer is worth revisiting again and again. Who doesn’t have two minutes for pure, brightly colored chaos?

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