PixlBit

Well I messed up on the penultimate day. No matter I'll review two games today! I may have failed at BaD, but that won't stop me in my descent into madness! You know I never thought I would do this again. This review is the 2nd I've done of this game and the 3rd time playing it. That my friends is dedication...or insanity. I'm still trying to figure out which one. I mentioned this game back when I reviewed Flip's Twisted World as a 3rd party title that took a Mario concept and screwed it all up. Before Flip tried to copy Galaxy, SPRay took the first step in trying to copy Super Mario Sunshine...the result is a mess. 

I first have to tip my hat to developer Ekosystem. There is a fun concept in SPRay. Of course they were probably to busy being extreme by spelling eco-system with a ''k'' that they failed to do that little thing called quality and polishing. One of the most extreme things about SPRay is the acronym I have been using. That's right Spirited Prince Ray or SPRay is just as zany as a bag of rocks! Watch out now! We're gonna start wearing sunglasses at night!

The story takes place in the land of Ecoia, hidden in the clouds as the land is full of villagers who worship the Crystal Sun. One day the evil Queen Mordack arrives, shatters the sun, and kills the king. You play as Ray who inherits the throne because his dad died, but the world needs saving first before he can go taxing peasants. He does this with the help of two spirits.  The first is Liad-your water and ice powers, the second is Gush- he has the ability to use slime and vomit.  With their help, you'll attempt to try and play this game.

 just commit suicide. You'll thank me later

First off, SPRay looks ugly. The brown textures, the bland areas, It lacks any color at all. Sunshine had so much color and sunshine! For a copy that strives for Mario quality...they went the exact opposite direction. Nothing in this game looks good. Not backgrounds, not villagers, not enemies, not even worlds. And when you mix green slime and brown vomit into the mix...the results are about as pretty as a blind man performing facial reconstruction surgery.

The game is not entirely without it's positive factors.The various ways you utilize the liquid powers is quite unique. Some enemies are defeated by water, some by vomit, some a combination of both. Utilizing ice allows you to freeze over fire and water for platforming. Slime has you stick to walls, ceilings, and rotating platforms. Later on you'll aquire antimatter allowing you to create black holes and solve unique puzzles. In the screenshots you see here there is an arrow that points you where exactly to go, so you'll never really get lost.

However, all this fantastic concept gets lost in the fact that every aspect of quality control is ruined. To put it simply, the game is a bug ridden, glitch induced nightmare. You'll get poor Ray stuck in corners, stuck in walls, and at times enemies get stuck or completely disappear. In some puzzles of the game you'll have to dispose of enemies with antimatter and the game will freak out, causing it to crash. There are actual in depth how to guides because of this. If you encounter a game crashing bug that prevents you from furthering progress...I'm sorry...that's no good...and it happens all to often in SPRay. It happened to me in a boss fight. Technically, I beat it. However the animation didn't trigger and an invisible boss kept attacking me. The crystal sun part was there, I couldn't grab it...and I just died and had to start it all over from the beginning.

The controls are frustrating and slippery. Often times you'll perform a jump and poor Ray will fall to his doom. You'll never be sure if you'll grab a ledge or if you'll die. It's 50/50 whether or not something is indeed latchable. Combat is shallow and hardly you'll get any enjoyment from it. It's far too repetitive. Camera control is difficult, as you'll have to employ your wii remote pointer too often. And if you want there is a co-op and multiplayer mode.

That's right, torture your friends in 1 of 4 mini games like slime climb. A game that forces terrible controls and buckets of green putrid colors into your corneas. For everything that SPRay fails to do...it just can't be recommended...even for younger gamers. An interesting concept does not a game make and unfortunately it's too bad, because had it received better quality assurance it could have been a fantastic third party title.

Analysis: SPRay vomits  more than it's crystal sun shines- 4/10

So what will be my final endeavor?

  

It would come down to this...