Silhouette Mirage

"Double-sided fun for mostly everyone! (Oxymoronic, no?)"

It must have been in 1998 when Silhouette Mirage was first released on the Sega Saturn. After Treasure's last hit with Guardian Heroes, the jump back to the classic 2D platform genre, which they have been popular for going all the way back to Gunstar Heroes on the Genesis in '91, was a welcome sight. Alas, it never came to American shores, and it seemed as if the US would miss out on another Treasure classic....

Within the next year, Silhouette Mirage was ported over to the Playstation, and Working Designs thought it would be a great title to port over to the US under their spinoff action branch, Spaz. So once again, WD saves a great title from staying on the shores of Japan.

Working Designs/Spaz and Treasure....It seems like a happy group, doesn't it? Well, due to WD's notorious habit of altering games for better/worse, many people have been complaining. So does that mean it's a horrible game?

Maybe the guys who played the Japanese port were just a bunch of pansies!

First, it might be notable to state that this game has a storyline...You are Shyna Nera Shyna, a half-silhouette half-mirage ''Messanger of Justice'', who has to go to repair the ''Edo'' computer after it malfunctions, splitting the world into silhouette and mirage identities. Problem is, her time in slumber erased part of her memory, and doesn't know where ''Edo'' is located. Thus starts her journey.

Okay, let's get to the changes Working Designs had put in our US version.

Besides WD's common wonder-work on packaging and the instruction manual, they had also thrown in some extra stuff in the game itself (When did they never?)...

The biggest change (That has gotten everyone a bit miffed, unfortunately) is the challenge factor. This is mainly due to a technique WD put in for Shyna's attacks. Her ''Spirit'' power now gets drained as you use it. and you have to refill it either by hitting the enemy with the same-colored side, or by buying the energy at the nearest ''Hare Warez'' station. This was also made tougher by making more of the enemies block when you switch to the side recommended for stealing Spirit. Mind you, this does make the game relatively harder, but in no way impossible.

The FMV scenes in the game where also refined to look better. Not a big change, but a nice one. Rumble support for Dual Shock was added (Really nice work!)as is picture stills for the loading screens. you can switch to the second memory card slot as well in the US version. During the end credits, the ability to play around as Zohar has been added, as well as a special secret if you can beat all 5 passages in the given 9 continues (Again, difficult, but not impossible).

All in all. I don't believe that the changes make Silhouette Mirage an aweful game...But then again, I never played the Japanese imports, so who am I to judge? But the version I have played is fun, it's challenging, and it's made by Treasure, released by Working Designs/Spaz. What more could you ask for?

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Ratings...It's not just a scale of numbers from 1-10 (10 being the best), but it's a way of life!

Graphics-10
Alright, it's not awesome super-dee-duper polygonal mayhem texture-map-all-over-the-place-type graphics, but's it's 2D!! It's fun 2D!! It's 32-bit 2D! And best of all....It's 2D...and by Treasure....and WD/Spaz.....Yeah...

Sound-8
...So I haven't really noticed the background music...At least they haven't been earsores...and you can play the BGM on normal CD players....Not bad, no?

Control-9
The concept of having to control two sides of yourself might seem somewhat confusing, but it's only really confusing if you don't know which gauge is health and which is spirit.

Fun/Overall-9
The challenge factor does make the game slip a bit, but with all the extra neat stuff thrown into an already almost-perfect Treasure game, as well being able to fight an oversized trout with a girl's head planted on it, should be enough to pique anyone even remotely interested in this game. Try it out; you won't be disappointed!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/10/00, Updated 03/10/00