PixlBit

To describe it simply, Sin & Punishment: Star Successor is the modern imagining of classic arcade shooters. I've spoken about this particular genre before, when I've talked about rRootage in the past, and honestly, it's a genre I love. Sometimes modern imaginings of classic genres fail to capture the essence of what they seek to improve; Sin & Punishment: Star Successor unquestionably avoids this, successfully reviving and improving the classic arcade shooter.

To begin, this type of game isn't strong on story, given its arcade roots. Don't expect much more from Sin & Punishment: Star Successor in that department either. While there is a story working throughout the entire game, aside from being the standard "Boy protects girl" white-knight sort of thing, it's confusing, doesn't easily match the complicated storyline of the previous Sin & Punishment game, and really feels like an afterthought. At a few points, taking the short scenes from the game individually, there's a little bit of fun and amusement to be had, but again, the story and cutscenes are nothing special or compelling. Likewise, the visuals, textures, and models leave a little to be desired, but through my playthrough, I noticed no slowdown, an impressive feat for a game with so many bullets and enemies flying through each and every stage.

Instead of looking into Sin & Punishment's story, take a look into the gameplay. In this case, especially, as that is what's important. Sin & Punishment plays like StarFox 64 on crack. Literally, the game feels like a masterful transition into the third dimension for the 2D shoot-em-up. The game is on rails, much like its predecessor, but unlike the first title, it allows both selectable characters to fly, which works marvelously. In effort to add in extra challenge, running, rather than flying, results in a higher score, but much more difficult gameplay. In addition, online leaderboards allow players to compare top scores through the arcade mode as both characters, since each has a different charge shot type.

Like most games of its genre, Sin & Punishment has a few methods of attacking: a weak, rapid-fire gun; a close-range, missile-reflecting beam-sword; and a time-delayed charge shot. In addition, players take flight simply by tapping upwards, and like StarFox, there's a roll button, which, when used, makes the player invincible for a moment. The game's only control flaw stems from initiating flight. It is a little too easy to do, especially during a segment of the game that instant-kills the player's character when they're in flight for too long. Though this can be problematic, the rest of the control setup is amazing. The Wii Remote pointer controls work as flawlessly as possible, and are a perfect match for the game. While it's possible to play the game with a GameCube or Classic Controller, there's very little reason to do so.

To add to variety, many of the game's stages offer stunning visual contrast to each other. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor begins in a space ship, moves to an abandoned city, and heads to other locales, like a desert highway and a dark forest at night. The core gameplay remains the same in each area, but based on the stage, some alterations do change character movement and control to a small degree for a little bit of diversity. Each stage has several checkpoints, but in a few places, the checkpoints seem to be a bit too far between.

Sin & Punishment: Star Successor has several bosses in each stage. Every boss requires a new strategy and takes on a unique appearance, offering a great degree of replayability to perfect - a critical element of a good shoot-em-up game. While some stages offer quite a bit of difficulty and replayability too, the bosses are just as difficult and ultimately the most compelling aspect of the title. Fortunately, many bosses incorporate individual aspects from the stages, and despite being monstrous and non-sensical in design, many of the stage-based boss elements add to the plethora of excitement the game delivers.

Notable enough to warrant mention in a review, the game has two-player co-op. What fits so well? The second player doesn't pilot an on-screen character, but instead controls an extra targeting reticule. This means that absolutely anyone can pick up and play the game without bringing down the first player's game at all. For those who want an easier or more challenging adventure, there's three difficulty settings, as well. Really, the game seems to have just about everything that could be desired in an arcade-like shoot-em-up.

Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is a title fans of StarFox 64, the first Sin & Punishment, or classic arcade shooters should heavily consider. If bullet-filled stages, a large variety of enemies, and challenging, provoking replayability aren't enough to sell a title like this, I can't imagine what could be. Those who aren't fans of the genre will naturally want to stay away, but nearly everyone else should pick it up for at least a rental, if not more. It's not a decision one would regret.