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In an ambitious move, Namco has published a title that will appeal to both the RPG fan and old school shooter fan. Unfortunately, if the RPG fan doesn’t like or is a newbie to the shooter genre, they will become frustrated with this title rather quickly. For shooter fans, the RPG element is a plus, adds depth to an old style genre, and finally gives a bit more gameplay content to the side scrolling shooter. Humanity is struggling to survive against the Krill onslaught. Under constant attack, Allied Earth Federation intercepts a Krill communication that singles out six planets in the galaxy that they have taken particular interest in. Sent in as a double agent, you must discover the mystery of the six planets and help to defeat the Krill from within before humanity’s time runs out.
Visually, although Sigma Star Saga pulls double duty, the game looks surprisingly good on both accounts. As a shooter, all the particulars are there including tons of objects, enemies, weapons and bullets to dodge. Want large bosses? You got’em. The only real bummer is that the levels really aren’t very interesting. At least the boss battles are satisfying enough to break up the monotony and the staleness of the levels. The RPG elements are well done with colorful and well-drawn environments and characters. Overall, nothing will give you a “wow” feeling, but the visuals are just as nice as anything else on the GBA. Audio is fair, but the lack of any real dialog or speech hinders the feel of the game. Thankfully, the sound effects are very good and really capture that space age excitement. The music provided also sets the mood and is out of this world…okay maybe that was a bit much. The core of any great game is the gameplay itself, and Sigma Star Saga provides solid gameplay for both the RPG and Shooter segments. What’s cooler is that you encounter the shooter levels through random monster battles, so instead of one on one, man vs. monster tag battles, you go through a series of very challenging shooter levels. These levels aren’t totally for the novices either, if you appreciate the greats such as Gradius, you will know what to expect when I say “tough as nails” shooter levels. The RPG side of things will provide over 20 hours of solid game play including branching and multiple endings. You also have the ability to customize and upgrade your weapons with over 50 different Gun Data items. Sigma Star Saga is a challenge, no doubt, and it is nice to see someone take a bold step and merge two great genres into one. It will no doubt appeal to more casual gamers than fanboys of one genre or the other. Either shooter fans will hate the overworld exploration levels that the RPG segments offer, or the RPG fans will hate the difficult shooting elements, but it wouldn’t hurt either gamer to step out of their element for once and try something new.
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