Spiral Splatter Review

​Splattering Against the Wall
​By Brett Wolfe
Reviewed on Xbox One
​Released on March 13th, 2018 on Xbox One, PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch
Developer: ​Neonchimp Games
Publisher: ​Sometimes You

Spiral Splatter is an arcade puzzler developed by Neonchimp Games and published by Sometimes You. The main goal of this challenging puzzler is to move the white dot through a maze of a level to reach the goal at the end. Avoid obstacles and beware of the dreaded wall of doom as you try to safely navigate through stages as new challenges approach from every corner. Will you rise as a champion or become part of the debris covering the wall? Only you can decide that one!

This title is comprised of eleven different stages to bring you over a whopping one hundred levels to put your skills to the test and conquer this death-run of a puzzler. Each stage adds a few unique challenges to provide a little change of scenery that some games just lack. Whether you are traveling through portals or bypassing those pesky gates, there is always something different around the corner. I really enjoyed these different elements being added as I felt it kept the game from becoming boring and I knew that if I was able to just beat a couple more levels, I would be treated with something new and exciting. In addition, Spiral Splatter has a star system that is used to unlock some of the later stages. I am not a huge fan of this system because it actually requires you perform well on a large portion of the stages to ensure that you can play everything. I believe that if you just complete all the prior levels that everything should unlock, but that’s not the case and it requires the player to have a certain skill set. There is a silver lining as the stars are awarded solely on how long it takes you to complete. So, on the levels with checkpoints, you can die as much as you want, but these checkpoints are not as generous as they seem and most levels do not even include them.

This excitement is short-lived thanks to the difficulty spikes that appear throughout this game. The new design elements are really awesome, but only for the first few levels of each stage. After stages three or four, I noticed a large difficult spike in how hard it could be to even complete the level, nevertheless getting two or three stars. It eases you into enjoyment by having the first couple levels of the stage to be nice and show you the ropes before they crank it up to eleven and make you wish you were back on the first stage again.

The visuals of Spiral Splatter were amazing while the soundtracks were pretty average. While the gameplay can be quite frustrating, the visuals provide a relaxing and peaceful counter. The levels are filled with vibrant backgrounds that make the game pop out of the television at you and makes Spiral Splatter very pleasing to the eyes. They were all very simplistic, but I felt a bit amazed at how much contrast it provided. The soundtrack was calming, but it reminded me of the dulcet tones of elevator music. There was nothing special about the music, it could have been a bit better, to be honest.

My time with this title was an interesting yet frustrating one, to say the least. The first few stages were really enjoyable, and I thought that this game was going to be a good one. However, once I reached the later levels, it quickly went downhill. I got very frustrated and did not enjoy the time that I was putting into it. This does not mean I did not like the ideas and challenges that were put in front of me. This game was just a weird title that pushed my buttons when I could not complete the game. Spiral Splatter has its ups and its down, but it requires skill, time, and patience to achieve most of those ups it is hiding it its arsenal.

In the end, Spiral Splatter is average puzzler that will bring fun and frustration in one small package. The game is priced at $5 USD, which I feel is a great price because it offers a lot for that low price. I would recommend this game to anyone looking for a title bursting with color, but I stress that the game can be very frustrating. So, take a seat (and maybe a chill pill) and begin your colorful adventure through this maze!

*Note: A copy of this game was provided for the purpose of the review.

Final Score: 6.5/10

+Cheap Price Point
+Vibrant Colors
+Cool, New Obstacles
+Tons of Levels

-Very Frustrating
-Average Sounds
-Bizarre Difficult Curves