HAMSTER is back doing the retro gaming world a huge favor by providing us with immaculate emulation for forgotten NEO GEO classics. The company’s latest wave includes a healthy dose of popular hits from the mid 90s, but one in particular stands out among the rest.
I give you… Twinkle Star Sprites!
Twinkle Star Sprites is a competitive shooter that combines the best elements of SNK’s competitive puzzle games with the intensity of the best SHMUP games out there. Best of all, it comes wrapped up in an adorable package, loaded with cute fairies, colorful backgrounds, and happy-go-lucky pop music.
While I’ve never played the original arcade or the NEO GEO port, we sunk plenty of hours into the enhanced Dreamcast version of the game back in my college days. While others gunned around with Master Chief in Halo 2, we brawled over Twinkle Star Sprites.
Make no mistake, Twinkle Star Sprites is the full embodiment of the “cute ’em up” genre, and it finds a perfect home on the Switch. Other games HAMSTER is bringing to the Switch include: Puzzle Bobble, Puzzle Bobble 2, Thrash Rally, Stakes Winner 2, King of the Monsters 2, and Neo Geo Cup ’98.
Twinkle Star Sprites is already available for the PC through Steam, and no doubt, it will be coming to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at some point. However, of all the retro SNK games I’ve downloaded for my Switch, this takes the cake as the best…
…mostly because it looks as sweet as a piece of cake.
