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.

Tags: Nintendo, rail shooter, Shmup, Sin and Punishment, Sin and Punishment 2, Sin and Punishment: Star Successor, Treasure, Wii

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 at 5:00 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.