Sin & Punishment: Star Successor is often referred to as a “dream sequel”. The original Sin & Punishment never made it to America in cartridge form, though it was later released on the Wii’s virtual console. It’s been a full decade since the release of the last game. Now in 2010, not only is there a sequel, it’s actually released outside of Japan.

For those not in the know, Sin & Punishment is a third-person rail shooter. In other words, it has more in common with Star Fox than House of the Dead. Quite possibly the best way to describe it is to take a Bullet-Hell SHMUP, combine it with a Run ‘n Gun game such as Contra, then put that in a 3D space.

Rather than focusing on power-ups as many arcade-style shooters do, Star Successor uses a handful of actions and forces you to master them all (or die trying). You can fly around in all directions, jump (if you’re on the ground), dodge roll, rapidly shoot, perform a charge shot, slice up fools with a melee attack, and lock-on to targets.

Control of your character is independent of your reticule. While you can move around with the nunchuck, all your aiming is done with the Wii Remote. The dual stick control scheme of the first game is available, but the Wii Remote and nunchuck setup works so incredibly well that any other controller feels like a big step backwards.

"FACT: If you punch a giant eel in the face, it WILL explode."

Since the camera is on-rails, it’s constantly on the move in very exciting (though scripted) ways. There is never a dull moment in Star Successor. At any given time, there are far more things to shoot than you could ever hope to keep up with. It is literally impossible to destroy every enemy in the game even if you are an expert.

Every stage in the game has a ton of boss battles. These encounters are as memorable as they are numerous. Each fight features incredibly bizarre enemy designs, clever attack patterns, and no re-hashing whatsoever. Even the end of the game, which makes you THINK all the bosses will be re-used in a huge “boss rush”, uses completely new forms that hardly resemble anything you’ve fought before.

It’s not just the bosses that ooze with variety. Each level has a distinctly different theme, often with plenty of environmental diversity throughout. The game is a constant adrenaline rush, further enhanced by it’s high energy soundtrack featuring a lot of electronica and even some classic slap bass.

Because things are so busy, paying attention to dodging with your character and aiming with your reticule can require some serious multi-tasking skills. Fortunately, the game has subtle ways of helping you out. After charge shots, your gun needs to cool down (though your rapid fire still works during this time) and it’s hard to watch the meter go back down. There’s a little noise that happens when your gun is ready to go again. It may not seem like much, but little touches like this become your greatest ally, especially on Hard Mode, where things get even crazier.

"Stage 3 nods to the sidescrolling shooters of old."

Much like in the first game, your melee attack can reflect missiles (among other things) back at your opponents. It’s shocking just how many different kinds of things you can send flying at enemies. And where the projectiles go is not necessarily to the sender, but to where you are aiming, allowing for even more crazy strategies that involve making use of one enemy’s attacks to kill another.

It may not be a particularly long game, but there’s a lot of replay value here. Each difficulty is well designed, actually changing bullet patterns instead of just increasing damage. There are two playable characters, each with their own unique play-styles. There’s local co-op, which allows a second player to give you a hand in firepower, though without an on-screen character to control. And finally, you can upload your scores to online leaderboards.

Trying to get the highest score really enhances the fun. Each enemy you kill adds to your multiplier while taking damage decreases it. Standing on the ground makes your score go up constantly, but is often far more dangerous than flying.  There are also lots of medals you can acquire in each level for additional points that will appear after meeting certain, unspecified criteria. If you die at all, your score goes back down to zero. But don’t worry, the game keeps your highest score for the level, regardless of whether or not it’s the same life you used to beat the stage boss.

While Treasure may be known for how hardcore their games can be, Sin & Punishment: Star Successor is surprisingly accessible in ways that won’t offend seasoned gamers. First off, there are unlimited continues. There are also checkpoints everywhere, including between boss forms. Since even a single death resets your score anyway, the real challenge is beating the level in as few lives as possible.

That isn’t to say Star Successor is easy. There were several bosses later in the game that I had to retry far more times than I care to admit. But it’s nice not having to replay sections you’ve already won each time you fail. And you will fail. The second to last boss in particular is where the Bullet-Hell analogy really comes into play.

The visuals aren’t exactly mind blowing, but they get the job done. The 3D models are a bit low poly, but it’s a wise sacrifice as the game is able to run silky smooth even when the screen is drenched with enemies. The incredibly bizarre art direction combined with a sensory overload-inducing amount of enemies on screen at a consistently great frame-rate manages to make the game a treat to look at in spite of its humble poly-counts.

The story is just as nonsensical as the first game. It involves Earth-4, Earth-5, Inner Space, Outer Space, something called Nebulox, and lots of poorly acted dialogue (voiced in Japanese or English depending on your preference). I’ve finished both games, but couldn’t tell you what either is about. The cutscenes are good for a laugh thanks to their campyness, but can also be easily skipped if you just want to jump into the action.

The game itself is often nonsensical too. You will fight a submarine that surfaces up from lava, shadow dolphins that shoot beach-balls of death at you, a centaur in space, and a baby lizard thing that promptly begins operating a crane after being vomited out by the previous boss. I could go on, but the point is that this is a game that will never stop surprising you on your first play-through.

Could you beat Sin & Punishment: Star Successor in a renting? Probably. But this is a game that you’ll want to replay over and over again. I started it over on Hard the very same night that I beat it on Normal. And if Sin & Punishment 3 came out tomorrow, I’d buy it on day one.

"Easily importable thanks to Virtual Console"

“Friday Old Games” is a series of articles in which we review a game from the older generations of consoles, share why we picked it, and whether or not it holds up with time.

Sin and Punishment is a Treasure developed rail-shooter for the Nintendo 64. When it came out back in 2000, it was exclusive to Japan. Seven years later, it was released on the Wii’s Virtual Console service, finally making its first appearance in North America and Europe. Was it worth finally bringing over?

The easiest way to describe the basic gameplay in Sin and Punishment is to imagine the rail-shooting in Star Fox. However, unlike Star Fox, Sin and Punishment requires you to move your character and your reticule independently of one another. The game also takes place on foot.

Using the classic controller, you can move your character left and right with the d-pad. Double tapping either direction will allow you to perform a quick dodge roll. Though you can’t fly, you can perform a double jump.

The analogue stick is used to aim your reticule. Aiming feels a little slower than I would’ve hoped, so it can be difficult to keep up with especially fast enemies. To remedy this, you can switch to a lock on mode by pressing “A”. You will still have to aim at the target for a good second before the lock on will take effect, but it can be very useful, especially on a few of the bosses. Fortunately, the lock-on is very balanced and not a “solve all” solution. It’s terrible for situations with large amounts of weak targets, and all your shots are weaker when using it.

Neither mode has a charge shot, so holding down the button is your best bet for rapid-fire shooting. Thanks to the sword attack, you won’t be holding down the fire button the entire time. The sword attack is very powerful, but can only be used when enemies are right next to you. To use it, you must let off the fire button and tap it when the enemy is near. Another cool feature of the sword is its ability to deflect certain attacks. For example, when a battle ship shoots a missile at you, you can hit it back with your sword attack and cause massive damage to the enemy.

Though there is a time limit, it’s not “Game Over” when the timer strikes “00″. Once you run out of time, your health will slowly diminish. If you can finish the level or collect more time before you die, you’re in the clear.

Sin and Punishment is a very short game, but it’s packed with variety. While most levels will have your character running in third person, there are a couple levels that take on a side-scrolling platformer perspective. For most of the game, you control a boy named Saki. Sometimes he is a giant, building-sized creature who controls slightly different. There are also a few sections where you control a girl named Airan, but that seemed to be purely aesthetic.

The game has a few difficulty settings and highscore lists to give it some replay value. There’s also a 2-player mode, but it merely allows one player to control the character while another controls the aiming.

There are lots of lengthy cutscenes with full (and terrible) English voice acting, but every one is easily skippable. Even after watching every single one of them, I still have little to no idea what the story was about. All I know is that the end of the game had me standing on the Earth doing battle against another Earth. I’d still recommend watching them on your first play-through. They’re good for a laugh.

"All cutscenes are easily skippable."

Why did I pick this game?

Treasure has a strong history of making top notch shooters. The company is known for developing my favorite SHMUP of all time, Gradius V, as well as other highly regarded titles including Ikaruga. I had also heard very good things about the game online.

Sin and Punishment 2 is coming to Wii in the near future. It looks great, so I felt that I should finish the first game in preparation for playing the sequel. And as I mentioned earlier, the game is similar to Star Fox.  I wanted to fill the void later Star Fox games left in me.

How does it hold up with time?

Sin and Punishment was a satisfying experience. It is a very well put together rail-shooter. The graphics may be low-poly by today’s standards, but the dynamic camera angles and strange art direction help the game still look exciting.

The game’s weak points are its length and how linear it is. The game only takes about an hour to beat and there are no alternate paths. It’s a very “arcade style” experience.

You can purchase Sin and Punishment on Virtual Console for 1200 points (twelve dollars). If you really enjoy this style of game as I do, it will be money well spent.

"What have I become?"

I’m a big fan of Star Fox. The name of this site, “WingDamage”, and our podcast, “Barrel Roll!“, are both references to the series. But when I say I’m a big fan of the franchise, what I really mean to say is that I’m a big fan of about two and a half of its games.

Today, I’d like to take you down memory lane and discuss the high points, what went wrong, and what Nintendo could do to save the series.

Star Fox (SNES, Nintendo EAD & Argonaut Games, 1993)

The original Star Fox on the Super Nintendo was nothing short of revolutionary. It was the first Nintendo game ever to be in 3D. The entire game focuses on piloting an “arwing” from point A to the boss waiting for you at point B. Instead of choosing a difficulty setting, Star Fox features three separate paths to choose from, each with their own unique levels leading to the end of the game.

Though the game is a rail shooter, you can speed up or slow down temporarily. The game also contains a lot of terrain elements such as archways and asteroids that keep the levels interesting, rather than just filling empty space with enemies. Along with screen-clearing bombs, you can also collect upgrades to your standard laser.

What’s even more interesting, however, is the dynamic damage your ship can take. Rather than damage from anywhere behaving the same, too much impact on a single wing can result in “wing damage” (see what I did there?) causing not only your handling to be affected, but your weapons as well.

Though the untextured, low-poly models may look primitive by today’s standards, the gameplay holds up amazingly well. Even today, Star Fox is a blast to play and the combination of different paths and secrets within the levels contribute to its longevity. This is my second favorite Star Fox game.

Star Fox 2 [canceled] (SNES, Nintendo EAD & Argonaut Games, 1995)

Though Star Fox 2 never officially came out, builds of the game at varying stages of completion were leaked on the internet. It’s interesting to see some of the ideas in their infancy that eventually were used in later titles.

The first thing you’ll notice when playing Star Fox 2 is the map screen. Levels are not played in a sequential order. Instead, you must navigate your ship on the map screen to intercept enemy ships. When you come in contact with an enemy, you will be taken to a level on the planet you collided at.

This is where “All Range Mode” was born. On the planet’s surface, you can fly in any direction, free from the rails of the previous game. Instead of working toward a destination, you must take out as many enemies as you can. Certain situations, like flying inside an enemy base, would put you back on rails until you reached the base’s core.

Unfortunately, All Range Mode on the Super Nintendo is nauseating, especially on space levels. The game did feature some interesting ideas, such as letting you choose your character. The best part of all, though, was the ability to transform your arwing into a bipedal walker at the push of a button.

Star Fox 2 had a lot of crazy ideas, some of which worked, some of which didn’t. Overall, it was a very ambitious sequel that never saw the light of day.

Star Fox 64 (N64, Nintendo EAD, 1997)

Star Fox 64 did everything right. Instead of running with the odd structure laid out in Star Fox 2, the N64 iteration took the basic rail shooter gameplay of the first and fine tuned it to perfection.

This was the first entry to feature voice acting (aside from the gibberish speak in the original). This breathed new life into all the characters and, thanks to its clever implementation, gave the game a very cinematic feel without resorting to interrupting the action with unnecessary cutscenes.

Rather than choosing from one of three paths, Star Fox 64 chooses your next level based on certain actions you perform within the current level. This allows you to forge your own path as you progress and forces you to work extra hard to access certain levels. The increased amount of secrets as well as medals awarded for great performance made each level even more rewarding to play through.

Throughout the game, there are a few sections of the All Range Mode that was introduced in Star Fox 2. They are few and far between in comparison to the rail shooting sections and serve to break up the action in just the right amount.

Star Fox 64 balances all its elements perfectly, making it easily the best game in the series. Not only that, Star Fox 64 is my favorite Nintendo 64 game (sorry, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Mario 64).

Star Fox Adventures (GC, Rare, 2002)

And here’s where things go to crap. For whatever reason, Nintendo decided to hand development of the next Star Fox game to Rare. This was a big mistake.

Instead of following up the last fantastic rail shooter with another one, they created “The Poor Man’s Zelda”. The game takes place on a planet inhabited by dinosaurs and lizard men that look like they were lifted straight from the Donkey Kong Country games.

It wouldn’t bother me as much to see such a departure in genre if the game was actually fun to play, but unfortunately this was not the case. I tried to like the game, I really did, but I just couldn’t. In true Rare fashion, the game was a big “collect-a-thon”.

The moment where I couldn’t take it anymore happened when the game wanted me to carry an object up a winding ramp with barrels rolling down it. If you got hit by a barrel, you would drop the object and have to go to the bottom and get a new one. Unfortunately, the camera was terrible and resulted in a lot of blind dodging and wishful thinking.

I have no idea why the follow up to Star Fox 64 is a really mediocre Action/Adventure game instead of another fantastic rail shooter. Perhaps somebody didn’t get the memo on what the Star Fox series actually is.

Star Fox Assault (GC, Namco, 2005)

Thankfully, Namco didn’t follow Rare’s formula and actually made the closest thing to a great Star Fox game we’ve had since Star Fox 64. It’s actually a little painful, because it’s so close to being great, but it’s just not quite there.

The graphics are a treat, the animation always runs silky smooth, and the  visual style feels spot on. The music is also a high point. Each of the songs is performed by The Tokyo New City Orchestra, giving the soundtrack a much more epic feel.

When the game puts you on rails in the arwing, it feels too good to be true. Sadly, it is. Unlike previous entries, these parts are very rare rather than making up a majority of the game. Most of the game takes place in All Range Mode. On top of that, large portions of the game now take place in the Landmaster and on foot.

Another downfall of Assault is that it is completely linear. The very first game made alternate paths and secrets a staple of the franchise. Assault’s removal of that diminished its replay value greatly.

Star Fox Assault is still an enjoyable game, but it’s limited amount of rail-based levels and lack of replay value make it pale in comparison to Star Fox 64. Assault is the “half” in the “two and a half” Star Fox games I love.

Star Fox Command (DS, Q-Games, 2006)

Star Fox Command is essentially what Star Fox 2 evolved into. It uses the same idea of commanding a ship on a map and having All Range Mode encounters when your ship collides with an enemy.

Just as I didn’t find Star Fox 2 very engaging, I didn’t really enjoy my time with Command either. The touch screen controls work adequately enough, but All Range Mode gets old fast. Star Fox Command is not at all what I wanted it to be.

THE FUTURE!!

Nintendo needs to do one of two things to fix this series. The most obvious answer would be for Nintendo to stop outsourcing the games to other developers. These other developers don’t seem to grasp what made the series so great in the first place.

If, for whatever reason, they still feel compelled to hand the franchise over to another developer, I suggest Treasure. Think about it. Treasure already made a Nintendo branded rail shooter on the N64 called “Sin and Punishment“. I often refer to its upcoming Wii sequel as “the closest thing we’ll get to a new Star Fox”.

So what’s it going to be, Nintendo? Will you finally take the series back and develop it in-house or at least give it to a developer with applicable experience? We can only hope.