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We’re a big fan of Hong Kong-based indie publisher Eastasiasoft’s retro-inspired budget titles here at RetroNews, so when we reported on the release of its latest game, Springbot: The Last Spark, we were keen to get our hands on a copy to review for you.
Luckily, Eastasiasoft sprang into action sharpish, and delivered a review copy of the Xbox version of the game to us, and the game certainly put a spring in our step when we played it. Here’s why…
With its cute, smiley robot main character, you may well assume that Springbot: The Last Spark is intended as a children’s game. And while it would, indeed, make an ideal game for children to play, there’s also a lot of fun to be had for us creaky old retro gamers who grew up with the original wave of 2D platformers, as well.
In addition to that cute robotic lead character, the rest of Springbot: The Last Spark’s graphical design is equally appealing, perhaps drawing inspiration from the pastel shades of the SNES platforming classic Yoshi’s Island.
In many ways, Springbot: the Last Spark boils 2D platform gaming down to its core elements. You’ll find many familiar tropes of the genre, such as: jumping on enemy heads, dastardly-positioned spikes to avoid, coins to be collected, light puzzle solving, a group of friends to be saved, and, somewhat less appealingly, the need to take the occasional potentially deadly “leap of faith” into the unknown.
Springbot: the Last Spark is resolutely not a fast-paced Sonic-style platformer, and its levels are best tackled at a more ponderous and cautious pace, with the game’s suitably chilled background music nicely underscoring the game’s more leisurely approach to platform gaming.
Perhaps the first thing you’ll notice upon playing Springbot: the Last Spark is that Springbot’s legs don’t move, with him sliding across the ground on the spiky tips of his feet. This makes Springbot feel a little slippery to control at first, but this only takes a few minutes to acclimatize to, and it should be noted that the game generally controls well, offering the tight, responsive and intuitive controls that are essential for any good platform game.
Another thing to note about Springbot’s feet is that, while you dispose of enemies via the tried and tested platform game mechanic of jumping on their heads, the hitboxes on Springbot’s feet appear to be on the tiny side, making precise jumping essential to avoid harming yourself, as if Springbot makes the very slightest contact with an enemy or hazard with any part of himself other than the exact right points on tips of his feet, he’ll be killed, which adds an extra level of challenge to the game, as it feels noticeably less forgiving than say, the likes of Sonic or Mario in this regard.
Springbot: The Last Spark’s levels are short, and on the whole, not too tricky once you get the hang of controlling the little fellow, but there are a good amount of them, with 10 levels unlocked to begin with, and a total of 35 levels in all, and in addition to completing each level, there are the added challenges of completing the levels as quickly as possible, and with losing as few lives as possible, because, although in
Springbot: The Last Spark you’re blessed with infinite lives, the game does keep track of how many lives it takes you to complete each level, and how long it takes you. Also, for those who really want a challenge, the difficulty level can be set at “hard” or “extreme” rather than “normal or “easy”.
Another thing that makes Springbot: the Last Spark’s levels challenging, and at times bordering on frustrating, is that upon losing a life, you’re sent back to the last checkpoint you reached, and any enemies you defeated after the checkpoint also respawn, and as well as that, any objects you’ve put in position to help you access new areas are returned to their original locations. This can mean re-playing the same parts of the game several times to pass them, which can make the game feel rather repetitive at times, occasionally bordering on annoying.
However, despite its occasional (and minor) quirks, on the whole, Springbot: The Last Spark is a well-designed, enjoyable 2D platformer that really hits the spot, and which is equally suited to inexperienced platform gamers and those well-versed in the genre alike, and there’s even a co-op mode that’s ideal for platform game experts to play with their kids or other less experienced players.
Overall, Springbot: the Last Spark is definitely one of the most fun games I’ve played so far this year. Not bad for less than five bucks (or your local equivalent)!
Springbot: the Last Spark was developed by Eastasiasoft & SMV Games, and it is published by Eastasiasoft, who released the game on PC, PlayStation4&5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One & Series X|S on June 3, 2026.
