A new assortment of pastel colored munchkins take to
the skies and shoot for their lives. The shiny cast
of playable characters differ in speed and firepower
but they pretty much have the same general
appearance. Starting the game will divide the screen
into two portions and the heroes and heroines spin
downwards onto the playfield. Twinkle Star resembles
Galaga... except it scrolls vertically and there's a
competitive element where one attempts to create
chain combinations to send fireballs to attack the
opponent. Foes flying in from the top of the
screen include colorful clams with eyes and shells
that open and eyes, lemon-like ovals with eyes,
mecha teddy bears, floppy eared puppies, flying
pigs, and a motley assortment of other attackers.
The creatures move in ordered lines where they fly
in formation. The target of the shooting action is
to destroy a lead object so that it explodes and
ignites a chain reaction that blows up all of the
followers behind it. Some waves will fly in with
orderly downward motion but others will criss-cross
the screen which makes the chain reaction
destruction somewhat more tricky although destroying
a central target will normally cause everyone else
to rush into the explosion and destroy themselves.
Beautifully executed chain reactions will fill up a
meter located on the bottom of the screen. Once it
reaches par, "Fever" mode may toggled which grants
invincibility to the player for a short while and
enhances firepower which in turn allows more attacks
on the opponent. The player may only toggle Fever
mode once per level. The player's life bar is
located on the top of the screen which contains 5
life blobs.
Pressing the shot button will emit a little burst
but holding the fire button for more than 2 seconds
will charge it up to fire off a bigger blast which
is capable of destroying swaths of targets. The
destructive force is fine for getting rid of bosses
but using it on regular henchmen will cause the
player to lose out on chain reactions due to the
instant destruction of many creatures at once.
Levels in the game include a Halloween theme
where dark houses lie below, spaced apart by a river
of lava while jack 'o lantern types fly in attack
formation. Another level features a green grassy
meadow filled with massive mushrooms, tree stumps,
tree tops and occasional sprigs of produce.