Silpheed: The Lost Planet

"Graphics over gameplay"

Introduction
Silpheed is a vertically scrolling space ship shoot-em-up like Aleste, or Raystorm. You take control of the Silpheed space fighter and blast your way through hordes of aliens who want to consume your home planet. On your way, you will gain new weapons which you must carefully choose from for optimal effect.

Artwork 90%
Graphically, this game is awesome. The space ship models are detailed and well-rendered, the backgrounds are beautiful and gritty, and everything fits the atmosphere very well. Some levels are a bit monotonous in their backgrounds, but even then it's all very vibrant and impressive.

The sound effects of the game are OK. Everything sounds like it ought to, but nothing really stands out. The voice acting is, as in many games, a mixed blessing. Some of the actors really don't seem to put any effort in their performance at all, and some even make outright errors.

The music is OK, but not extraordinary. It did not annoy nor aggravate me. But it also didn't really really stick in my mind like the music of a game like Musha Aleste (which I cannot forget ever since I heard it!)

Story 50%
Well, the story is a rather run-off-the mill alien invasion in the future deal, so it's not really very interesting. But, it is told through very beautifully rendered cut-scene movies. So, that's why I am a bit lenient in my scoring of it.

Game Play 60%
Do I have to explain what the game play of a scrolling shoot-em-up needs to be? Shooting at endless hordes of foes, dodging insane amounts of bullets, and top it off with interesting bosses. Silpheed is more or less like that, but unfortunately, the difficulty level is not well dosed, and the speed of the game is not well paced. Some levels and some bosses are too easy, whilst some bosses are too hard for their placement in the game. Also, the game is quite slow, and at times you're just waiting for the enemies to hurry up and arrive!

Silpheed also makes some changes to the classic concept of the scrolling shoot-em-up. For one, you don't have 'lives', but in stead you have a shield meter with 5 or 10 charges. When the charges are gone, it's game over; although you can start over from the beginning of the current level, which makes the game a bit easier. Secondly, you have a right and a left weapon, and you get to choose at the beginning and the middle of each level, which weapon you will equip. You begin with only two weapons, but as you finish more levels with a sufficiently high score, you'll gain new weapons. Thirdly, there's, no classic power ups. In stead, you have to try and score a maximum of points by shooting your foe from as close as you can. Now, these changes are interesting, and the challenge of this game is in choosing your weapons wisely. Some weapons like the Napalm Bomb look useless, but are in fact very powerful when used properly.

This doesn't take away that this game is very short. If you have any experience with scrolling shoot-em-ups, and use the unlimited continues feature, then you can finish the game in an evening. And after you finish it, there are not much reasons to play it again. I got my copy of this game ultra cheap, at less than 10 Euro (9 US$) and I don't regret it. But, don't pay more than that for playing this game. If you can't find it that cheap, I suggest that you rent or borrow it somewhere.

Conclusion

Silpheed is a very beautiful game. Unfortunately, it lacks depth in gameplay. It has some innovations to the genre, but ultimately, it failed to excite me like a game of this genre should do. All in all, it's a game in which the programmers chose to develop the graphics at the cost of putting too little effort in the gameplay. Beautiful graphics are nice, but I'd take good gameplay with bad graphics over good graphics with bad gameplay anytime. Remember, dear programmers, it's not a movie you are making, but a video game.

End result (not an average): 69% (rounded down : 6/10)

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 02/11/04