Sunday 27 April 2014

Comparison: Nerf Rebelle Sweet Revenge vs Nerf Dart Tag Snapfire 8

This post is a somewhat overdue one, but hopefully will entertain you guys long enough to get my Stockade review done. It's a comparison of Nerf's two one-handable revolvers, the Snapfire and the Sweet Revenge/Hammershot.

For the most part the Sweet Revenge will also serve as a good indicator of the Zombie Strike Hammershot for this comparison.


Aesthetics: The Snapfire uses Dart Tag's yellow and black paintjob, with an unusual rounded design. The Snapfire in particular has minimal aesthetic design outside of the necessary, and almost no paint. Additionally, the Snapfire bulges out for the turret, yet is quite slim at the back. The Sweet Revenge on the other hand is quite heavily styled, prominently featuring Rebelle style decals all over, and is much better proportioned. I personally prefer the Sweet Revenge's decals, proportioning and general design, but as usual for aesthetics no marks are awarded.
Accessories: The Snapfire includes itself and 8 Dart Tag Whistler darts. It's Speed/Power modes are a feature, but not enough to count as an accessory in this category. The Sweet Revenge (Kit) comes with itself, 5 teal (no decal) Rebelle darts, a holster and Rebelle Vision Gear.
It's pretty obvious that the Sweet Revenge wins this round.
Range/Power: The Snapfire gets 8-10m on its Speed mode, on par with older N-Strike blasters. On power mode it gets 11-13m, which is on par with the best N-Strike blasters. It still pales in comparison to Elites. The Sweet Revenge on the other hand gets 13-14m fairly consistently.
Clearly the Sweet Revenge wins this round.
Accuracy: Both the Snapfire and Sweet Revenge suffer from being open-turret revolvers (which are typically less accurate than closed-turret revolvers like the Maverick), and both use ammo types which are not superbly accurate. The Snapfire being a springer semi auto however is much harder to get stable shots off due to the force required to prime it. Though single hand priming the Sweet Revenge does take some practice, just firing the Sweet Revenge does not require the destabilising force required to prime and fire the Snapfire.
For this reason the Sweet Revenge wins the accuracy round.
Usability: The Snapfire's firing cycle is rather unusual. The majority of the trigger pull primes the blaster, with an early portion also rotating the turret. The very end of the trigger pull releases the plunger, firing the blaster. This full cycle can get very strenuous on your trigger finger, especially on Power mode. In particular, younger persons will have a lot of trouble due to the amount of strength required in the trigger finger to fire. It also doesn't help to have small hands, as they prevent you from getting the desired leverage on the trigger, and can make you struggle quite a bit to get just one shot off. Even worse, the trigger is rather sharp and has a very long pull distance, making firing the Snapfire very painful and un-enjoyable. Not pulling the trigger all the way will result in misfires or bad rotations, potentially leaving you on a blank barrel or giving you a terrible dud shot.
On the other hand, one-hand priming the Sweet Revenge requires either large hands/long fingers, or shifting your regular grip to get your thumb onto the hammer. Though it's not that comfortable to do one handed, it's a lot more comfortable and far easier to do than the Snapfire.
Because of how much easier it is to one hand, and the greatly reduced chance of misrotations/misfires, the Sweet Revenge wins this round.
Rate of Fire: The Snapfire can get 2-3 darts out per second, though it gets very taxing on your trigger finger. The Sweet Revenge gets about 1 dart per second, but two-handed it can get around 2 darts per second.
Because of the pain that arises from firing the Snapfire at 3dps, this round is a draw.
Capacity: The Snapfire holds 8 darts, while the Sweet Revenge holds 5.
Clearly the Snapfire wins this round.
Value for Money: When the Snapfire was available in stores, it cost 19AUD at Target. The Sweet Revenge is currently available for 24AUD at BigW (do note BigW likes having lower than RRP prices, while Target typically stays at RRP). The Snapfire's main advantages are capacity and not having a separate priming action, while the Sweet Revenge has more stuff, better performance and a much easier one-hand prime. Though performance and comfort are major points, the huge capacity difference is also quite important. As I am unable to commit a point to one of the blasters without doubting myself, I must declare this round a draw. The Snapfire's greater capacity and lower price balance out the Sweet Revenge's stuff and superior performance for me.

At the end of this comparison, the Snapfire has won 1 round, the Sweet Revenge 4, with 2 draws. Thus I declare the Sweet Revenge to be the superior blaster. Had this been a comparison with the Hammershot, the Snapfire would have won the accessories and value for money rounds, as the Hammershot costs 24AUD at Target (the cheapest around), yet does not have the accessories of the Sweet Revenge. This would have created a 3-3 tie, with 1 tie round. For that comparison, the Snapfire would be a superior choice if you had to survive on your own due to its greater capacity, while the Hammershot would be better for general use due to its superior comfort and performance.

3 comments:

  1. stockade review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    Replies
    1. Lol, I wouldn't get your hopes up for a positive one.

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    2. Quite right there. The only good/notable thing about the Stockade really is the stock.
      Everything else is pretty mundane or just totally outclassed by other stuff.
      But of course full details will be in the review.

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