Skygunner for PS2

On 05/26/2013 at 09:27 AM by smartcelt

Found this game yesterday for 10 bucks. It was one I had owned years ago but had traded. Never should have done that because it is a pretty unique experience. Just the fact Atlus was involved with it got me interested. Only game I can think of like it might be the Dreamcast game Skies Of Arcadia.

It has elements of both steampunk and anime,which is a nice combo. The characters are almost a little too cutesy for my taste. The two main characters have no pupils! WTF is up with that? The dialog is okay,lots of back and forth which drives the narrative. The art style and combat excellence made me overlook a lot of the Japanese strangeness of the game.

The air combat is what sets it apart from other flying games. It just flows and moves so smoothly and effortlessly. Highly polished and gorgeous to look at. The scope of your battle arenas is amazing. You have to pay attention to things above,below,and on all sides of your aircraft. I won't go into a lot of detail about the story here. It's your typical anime kind of thing with your heroes trying to save their town from the evil hordes approaching from the air. The dialog does get a bit annoying at times,you simply want to get back in the air because it is fun up there!

The massive airships were my favorite targets. I love chipping away at their defenses and bringing them down. Has the same sensation as a Death Star attack at times. The camera is always on spot and helpful. The omnidirectional attacks get a bit confusing and do take some time to get used to. The speed at which you are flying is very controllable,and you can slow it down greatly during battle.

The combat gets pretty frantic sometimes,but never to the point of frustration. You always feel in control of things because the controls are tight and fluid. I'll leave you with a video of one of Femme's missions. Just so you can see what it looks like in motion. Pictures don't do it justice,you have to see it in action to get what I've been saying about it.

What I'm listening to today.....................

Homelessrook

05/26/2013 at 09:31 AM

You had me at Atlus... I love Atlus and Xseed.

smartcelt

05/26/2013 at 09:46 AM

I have never purchased an Atlus game that I was disappointed with. They have a great track record of quality games.

Aboboisdaman

05/26/2013 at 10:27 AM

Man this game sounds really cool. I haven't played too many of these types, but I loved the air combat levels in Crash Warped on ps1. I'm gonna look into this one more and see if I can find it online or something.

05/26/2013 at 01:58 PM

I tend to better at flying games like this one. Like driving,the more realistic it gets...the more I wipe out! Those flying levels in Warped were so much fun. Freaky Flyers and Crimson Skies were both good flyers,too.

Super Step Contributing Writer

05/26/2013 at 01:13 PM

Seems like a fun dogfighter.

Great music picks as always. Love the Pete Townshend.

05/26/2013 at 02:01 PM

A friend gave me Townshend's biography a few months ago. He has lived a very colorful life. Great songwriter and guitarist with distinctive style.

Beerfan

05/26/2013 at 01:19 PM

Might have to get this game. Big Pete Townshend fan. The Who is one of my favorite bands of all time. Roger Daltry is still one of the coolest people on the planet.

05/26/2013 at 02:03 PM

My very first exposure to the music of The Who was a soundtrack to their film,The Kids Are Alright. Blew me away it was so good!

Halochief90

05/27/2013 at 01:26 AM

I bought this one cheap many years ago and also traded it after I beat it. It was fun, but nothing too standout about it from what I remember. I was also hoping it would be more like Panzer Dragoon in the gameplay and it wasn't.

05/27/2013 at 01:31 PM

I think it's perhaps an anime thing with me. That or steampunk,which I like. I also seem to excel at flying games rather than driving. Panzer Dragoon is a game I've always wanted to try. Heard such great things about it when it was released.

BrokenH

05/27/2013 at 08:29 PM

Sky-gunner looks great. Sadly, this one flew right over my head in the literal sense. This is the first time I've read anything about it. Reminds me of a cutesy Crimson Skies with more anime themes!

daftman

05/28/2013 at 06:14 AM

Man, I've been on the lookout for this game for years but I've never seen it anywhere, whether new, used, complete, or disc only. Sure, I could get it online lol but where's the excitement in that? All the same, it certainly looks like a lot of fun.

NSonic79

05/29/2013 at 02:37 PM

never seen that one before. I'll have to keep an eye out for it give it was brought to us by Atlus.

PixlBit