SPRay for Wii Reviews & Ratings by IGN

SPRay is a third-person action adventure game that plays like a poor man's Legend of Zelda. You've got your young hero destined to save the world. A hub world presents various areas where you'll do some platforming and puzzle solving. You'll gain new abilities that grant access to previously unreachable areas. And combat includes a lock-on mechanic. But the presentation is a bit sloppy and the uninspired gameplay prevents SPRay from rising above mediocrity.



The key game mechanic is your ability to spray various liquids to solve puzzles and clean up the evil antimatter that has infected your world. Our protagonist, the Spirited Prince Ray, has been endowed with guardian angels capable of belching helpful fluids. One can't help but be reminded of Mario Sunshine, but unfortunately SPRay is nowhere near as polished or engaging. You can use water to put out fires; vomit (random, right?) to identify hidden platforms; slime to make yourself sticky and climb walls. But while this all may sound intriguing, the game doesn't get enough mileage out of the different sprays and your tasks end up feeling repetitive. There are some other minor mechanics, like drawing symbols with your remote in order to open doors, but it's not enough. Enemies are constantly getting in your way, but the waggle combat isn't satisfying.



SPRay employs a nice art style that looks good on Wii. Using minimal animation, the opening scenes unfold like a storybook. But some of our hero's animations, like jumping and combat, look stiff. There are also typos all over the place, indicative of a lazy translation (developer Eko System is French). Other examples of apathetic development include no widescreen support and no camera manipulation. Pointer control is used to aim your spray, and while the function works well enough, without camera control surveying your environment can be needlessly difficult.



An interesting soundtrack accompanies Ray's journey. It's a bit of a mix of fantasy orchestral stuff and electronic bleeps and bloops. It works and is one of the better parts of the game. Sound effects, though, are a little lackluster. Some enemies and events pop up in awkward silence.

©2009-01-06, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved