I'm glad the Wild Arms review there gave you some nostalgic Flashbacks, Phil! I think I got Wild Arms because I wanted to get a PSX JRPG my friends didn't have, and a gaming mag I had suggested it as a hidden gem Pre-FF7 JRPG along wiht Suikoden, but I couldn't find a copy of that, so... little me got Wild Arms!
But that's not why I'm here. Although I'm not totally done yet, I've become smitten with a little game called Spark the Electric Jester and would REALLY love for the game to come to Nintendo platforms if at all possible.
it seems like even if you're not directly involved with the Sonicretro community these days, there's an embarassment of riches to choose from when it comes to options if you want high-speed action platformers that come from a background of the brighter end of the Sonic fan community! Spark the Electric Jester has a lot more sonic to it than say... Freedom Planet, with sections of pure automation through boosters and camera that has trouble keeping pace with the hero when they break the speed caps the game normally has in place. Spark is brought to us by Lake Fepard, the genius behind Sonic Before the Sequel and Sonic After the Sequel, as well as the coder for the recently developed Hedge Physics Unity powered 3D Platforming framework!
However, unlike Freedom Planet to which obvious comparisons will be drawn, Spark gets a LOT of DNA from Kirby, particularly titles like Kirby Super Star, Kirby's Return to Dreamland, Kirby Triple Deluxe, and Kirby Planet Robobot. While Spark doesn't run around directly assimilating from enemies, the powerups that Spark can find in his adventure all are multi-functional like those Kirby characters, with Spark's base electric jester mode drawing moreso from Beam Kirby with it's arching attacks and charge-up blast. (not to mention Spark's yellow tint and Jester hat).
The style of boss fights, the easy campaign with a harder alt character with a mono-ability, the final battle sporting a super powered ability fought over a rotating globe, even the choice in some of the abilities such as Fire Jester, Ice Jester, Hammer Jester, Edgy (Ninja) Jester all seem tailored for the kirby familiar player...
And yet, the hilly terrain, the ramps, springs, speed boosters are all hallmarks of Sonic gameplay. Heck, the Wind Jester ability has a sonic style curl! the game is fun and breezy!
One thing is that the levels can tend to go on LONG. the first couple are quite short, but by the end, expect to be spending 15 minutes per level dashing, wall jumping, fighting, and doing all sorts of platforming or combat challenges.
The soundtrack is just... oooh my GOODNESS, it's everything i look for in a video game soundtrack. <3
This game is $20 on steam, I think. seriously. go check it out. heck, there's a demon floating around on this game's kickstarter page, I'm pretty sure. Check it out. it's great. <3