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 Have you ever seen a Japanese anime and thought, did the artist get bored and make up some off the wall characters? Well, take that thought a put it into a game and there you have it, Sparking Feather(SF). SF is a futuristic strategy, dating simulation, and RPG game. Is that a lot of things to do or what? Being that this game is one of the new generation of games for the PC-FX, let me first say there is plenty of action going on at once. After you pop the game in you will be introduced to a cast of odd characters with a strange but nice anime intro. WARNING: THIS GAME IS SUPPOSED TO BE A COMEDY. So be prepared to laugh at stupid stuff. This "comedy" action story takes place first in your bedroom, you play as a young boy that must fight with a half naked girl you met in your dreams. You are now the protectors of the gemstones. You are the protector of "Ruby" and there is a "Diamond", "Emerald", etc. For those of you who are curious to if you need Japanese knowledge to play-- none needed. Just sit back a go with the flow. As soon as you finish your FUNNY but strange anime FMV intro, you are into the first battle scenario. One by one you have to select a command/function for what each character is suppose to do. Unfortunately all the commands are in KANJI. (So get your dictionary ready or start guessing, trial and error never fails.) I found myself going through this game pretty smoothly. The graphics in the game are sharp and detail especially when your little characters fight. When you fight the little character move with animation and their image picture appears just before they attack. These still picture has NO ANIMATION (that's cheap). Besides between levels there are tons of anime FMV throughout the game. Battles in the game are similar to a war tactics game. Have you played "Shin Megami Tensei" on PSX or "Personna" on US PSX? THE BATTLES ARE EXACTLY THE SAME.  But in this game you have a full battlefield. One by one you have to position your characters to attack your enemies. One cute thing about the battles is after you position your people, some of your characters will shout out in Japanese that they don't want to attack that person or target because of they are too scared, bored or tired. That's a good sign that the programmers wanted to add life to the characters. The sound track on Sparkling Feather is fair. Not the best PCM/CD music but kind of catchy after you hear it several times (sometimes a hum it in the shower). SF has a lot to offer on variety throughout the game. After you complete a scenario you get to play a roulette game to get extra points, go on a date to win favor in a character (you can even go on a date with a guy), watch an anime intro to get you into the next story, then off to another fight you go. For those who are curious about the dating, don't expect much. I rather play "Classmates" or "Tokimeki Memorial". Now my rankings on a report card scale: Graphics : B+, Sound : C, Play ability : B, Replay value : C, Story line : D, and overall give Sparking Feather an solid C. This is because of the still pictures of characters talking. That kills the game a lot. If you are going to make a game for a anime system, you should at least make their eyes blink or have their mouths just move a little. If you do decide on getting SF in the future I would recommend a used copy only. NEC needs to take more time to make a good simulation/RPG/dating games. Lets hope "Arabian Otome" offers more. Personally they look almost the same. Perhaps it's the same programmers. - Anthony Jones
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