Lawrence.com

For a year that is suppose to revolutionize the gaming industry to the "high-def, next-gen" era, it almost seems strange to go ahead and say that 2005 was the year of the handheld. With strong showings by both the PSP and the DS, it's looking more like that statement will be true. What's even stranger is that the GBA is still chugging along strong, and don't think that the games on the GBA are nothing but remakes and rehashes. The system is still getting excellent developer effort and some would still say it's still the superior handheld. Sigma Star is just one of the many original franchises that keeps the "16-bit" handheld afloat. The game is like a fusion of Final Fantasy and R-Type.

You'll be walking in the shoes of Ian Recker, acclaimed star fighter pilot for Earth (mankind). The story consists of Ian going into planned exile in order to become a part of the Krill, the alien space scum. From here you'll gain rank and trust with the Krill High Command and eventually report back their top-secret information. Sigma Star is a first of its kind. The best way to describe it is that it's an RPG horizontal shooter. There are two main modes of gameplay: one is an overhead view to explore the different areas and the other is the battle sequence brought to you as a shooter. In place of the standard turn-based battles of traditional RPG's, there are short levels of classic space shooting where you gain experience. So as you explore the different planets you come by during your espionage mission, you'll be sucked up into a space ship randomly. From here you'll either be facing a level were a certain amount of enemies must be destroyed, or you'll be engaged in one of many different mini-boss battles. It's a bizarre concept when you read about it, but the developers actually did a good job of explaining just how this odd phenomenon occurs. This falls in line with the addictive story, which reminded me of Wing Commander, for obvious space shooting reasons, and Metal Gear Solid, for the espionage elements. The story hooks you because from the get go, it's obvious that Ian is not fully informed on why Earth has planted him within the Krill. With a little romance and suspense added, the story is quite compelling and surprisingly entertaining.

As far as old school gaming goes, Sigma Star is gorgeous. The characters are overly large for standard RPG's, but amazingly enough the look works. Each one is designed with an anime themed art style full of color and detail. The environments look just as good. I was very impressed with the different designs of the exploring and shooting levels. You'll go through your standard elements of planetary exploration: fire, water, forest, etc. Sound is a very essential part of shooters and Sigma Star obviously put attention to detail here. Sound effects are sharp and very vibrant. With a catchy midi score, Sigma Star screams 16-bit technical supremacy.

The game is exciting and fresh:then after about six hours into the game, you start to really see the faults within the mechanics of the gameplay concept. The game does throw a bit too many random battles at you as you explore. Not only does this get tedious and annoying, it throws the game balance off as well. I noticed that as I would go from one area to the next, the pace of leveling your character was too fast. Before I could even get halfway through one area, my ship handled the random shooter levels with ease. When I say ease, I mean "not moving the ship and spamming the fire button" ease.

One cool thing about the game is the variety of weapons you can get. You'll be able to choose from how you shoot your bullets, what kind of bullets you use, and what happens when your bullets hit the target. There are dozens of different types for each category, leaving you with an almost infinite amount of combinations that can be used to attack. Perhaps you'd like to try out a triple laser attack that alternates from front fire to rear fire? Or maybe you like to charge your shots up for more damage? Of course you'll have to discover these parts as you dive deeper into the game. What is a plus to the game is also another balance issue. I won't spoil anything, but there is a combination weapon I got in Chapter 2 that I didn't stop using until about chapter 5. What this means is that most of the weapons you come across will be useless because it won't be significantly better than the weapon combo you have on. This scenario came up repeatedly through the adventure. Just because the part you found is new and different, doesn't always mean it's better than the one you have.

As the gameplay starts to become repetitive, which it will, you'll begin to notice that the story plateaus as well. It's as if the first two hours are most exciting because you are being introduced to it, then the story dulls in the middle, and finally finishes with a decent climax. The fresh concept will dazzle you for a couple hours, but then faulty game balance is what keeps this game from excelling. I would definitely keep my eye on this franchise however. For one it's the only one of it's kind, and sequels are made to improve.

Graphics: B

Sound: B

First Play: B

Last Play: C

Gamplay: C

Overall: 78% C+