First game of the year! Woohoo!
1. Sin and Punishment: Star Successor (Wii)
This year I've committed to mostly playing games I've never played before, but ironically I started the year with a game I have beat. I absolutely adore the first Sin and Punishment on the N64; it's one of my favorite games on the console which is saying a lot since I am a huge fan of the N64. I was beyond excited to play its sequel which I was hoping would be more of the same, and in a lot of ways it is, but it isn't nearly as good. Star Successor is a loose sequel that takes place some time after the first game. You'd be forgiven for not knowing what the hell was going on since both games have a very anime-ish story that barely makes sense. More or less you wouldn't be missing much if you didn't play the first game, but you do find something kinda cool about one of the character after you beat the game.
Gameplay wise, Star Successor takes the on-rails action of the first game, but enhances it in various ways like allowing for more varied shooting depending on the scenario or boss you're fighting. The first Sin and Punishement did this too, but to a lessor degree. You are also given a quick dodge attack that makes you briefly invincible, but also leaves you vulnerable for a brief second as well. Overall, the controls and gameplay are probably the best quality of Star Successor and what's closest to the original in terms of quality. However, that's where it's superior qualities end. Star Successor was a game made for the Wiimote motion controls, mainly aiming your character's gun and the many enemies around you. This mostly works in the same way a lightgun game would, however when your character's perspective changes it can be awkward and clunky at times to aim. You control the characters movements like the aforementioned dodge, flying, and jump with the Wii's nunchuck which all works well enough. The game mostly succeeds in making a fun game with Wii's controls, but it would have been nice to have a mode where the classic controller would have been used instead.
The sound is sorely lacking in Star Successor. With no hyperbole, the first Sin and punishment had one of the best soundtracks of any N64 game, period. Yes, it was up there with Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask in terms of how excellent it was. Star Successor's soundtrack mostly just sounds like generic video game techno most of the time, although it does appropriately fit the gameplay and visuals so it certainly gets credit for that. Another area where the the audio is lacking is the voice acting. For the record, neither game had good voice acting or dialogue, however the first game absolutely fit into that so bad it was good category, but the second is just mostly bad. The dialogue, while mostly nonsensical like the first game, lacks that hilarious quality, making it just confusion and awkward. It does have it's moments though, but it isn't nearly as good. The sound effects are decent as well with tons of cool effects throughout the game.
Graphically, Star Successor is a mixed bag. The game looks very 6th gen in presentation, although to be perfectly honest most Wii games did. Since I judge visuals by the standards of the time the game was released I have to dock it for that, since it looks like a game released on the PS2, not a console that was directly competing with the PS3 and 360. However, the artistic direction and creativity of this game definitely carry it visually; the enemies are varied, weird and cool looking. The bosses are often larger than life and very cool to fight (most of the time), and the character and level design is excellent. it is absolutely a game that could have been a major standout had it been developed on more powerful hardware, although this game was absolutely meant for the Wii given its dependance on the Wii motion controls.
Sin and Punishment Star Successor is a fast paced, vibrant, challenging, and weird rail shooter, one certainly worth playing if you can find it. However, it is a downgrade from its predecessor in nearly every way, which makes it feel more run of the mill and generic. Luckily it's unique and weird art style save it from this, but in the end it only ends up being above average in terms of fun and overall quality. (1/3/20)
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 7/10
Sound: 7/10
Fun: 12/20
Overall: 34/50
