Scarlett and the Spark of Life Review: Red-Headed Adventurer Keeps the Smiles Constant

Ever since the inception of the iPhone and later, the iPad, video game companies have found a way to create story book/find the clue-styled titles for the platforms. To many gamers’ chagrin, these games, which were passé nearly 15 years ago, have flooded the market even more so lately, creating a plethora of boring, mitigating crap.

Launching Pad’s “Scarlett and the Spark of Life” may fall into the same genre category as many of these hap-dash titles, but it separates itself by its pure level of enjoyment. Powered by colorful graphics and a fun and comedic story, the adventure will rarely let up. While it’s ultimately a linear and relatively easy journey, it’s a tale that can be enjoyed by anyone with an iPhone or iPad.

Although it takes roughly two to three hours to complete, there’s enough here to warrant a sequel. The control is simple; tap where you want Scarlett to go and she’ll go there. Tap whom you want her to speak to, or what you want to look inside and she’ll do that too.

Like the control, the story is straightforward as well. On the run from a duo of kidnappers, Princess Scarlett isn’t your average member of royalty. Tough and self-reliant, she carries a crowbar and isn’t scared to use it.

Is she a Lara Croft type of hero? No, but her quick wit and detective skills are enough to give Sherlock Holmes and MacGuyver a run for their money. With clues scattered all over the land and a hearty helping of people to speak to, Scarlett is a character you grow fond of very quickly. The cartoonish look suits the work perfectly as well. While the animation is a little rough around the edges, its look is charming and inviting enough to give it a pass.

The game’s only real fault is that it all ends too soon. When it’s all over, it’s fair to say you’ll be angry, but in the best way possible- you’ve only got a small sampling of the possibilities of this cool new character.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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