Lady Sia

"One hell of a sleeper hit!"

You are all probably going to think that I am a radical feminist supporter when I say this, but female game characters are, by and large, either misrepresented or non-existent in the gaming industry. Save for your typical giggly-breasted ninjas, wrestlers, adventurous explorers, and fist fighters, there really aren't very many just all-out assault characters that weren't created for sex appeal or eye candy. One day, however, a group of developers by the name of RFX decided to create a hack n' slash side scroller for the Gameboy Advance entitled ''Lady Sia.'' After that, not much changed. Not that you could expect anything to change with Lady Sia meeting sadly lacking sales and almost no widespread attention. However, could the lack of attention say something about the game's quality? No, not at all in this case! Lady Sia is a sadly overlooked sleeper hit for the GBA that has at least garnered somewhat of a cult following (a very small one, though). Coming from a virtually unknown development team, this game is simply amazing and worth warranting a look. Thankfully for some of you out there, you can probably dig this game up for $10-15.

Lady Sia follows the story of a woman warrior/princess named Sia whose country has been taken over by a race of creatures called the T'soas. These creatures have seized control of everything, from the ports to the temples. Thanks to a cloaked figure, Sia has managed to escape the clutches of the T'soas and now seeks to unleash her violent rage on several different parties: the T'soas and their generals for taking over and the political leaders and staunch political supporters who allowed the T'soas to take over. From here, the story really doesn't branch much. It's more or less just a steady flow of ''I'll destroy you for betraying us,'' or, ''You T'soas are going to pay for taking over!'' Every new level reveals nothing of a twisty plot, though the story is at least coherent. You could say that this game is not plot driven at all, but more gameplay and level driven much like the old school platformers you can play on NES. Honestly, the lack of story does not hurt the game very much, though in a time when stories are cherished and demanded by the audience at large, not having much of a story is a bit of a disappointment for some. The only thing that one must keep in mind is that you are not really playing a story, you are playing a game. Some companies lose sight of this and decide instead to develop cleverly disguised movies or novels *coughXenogearscough*.

Well, you have probably put a few clues together mentally by now. I mentioned that Lady Sia is a hack n' slash side scroller, reminiscent of NES era games. I suppose that's the best way to describe the gameplay of Lady Sia. Each level is a fairly decent sized area of platforms, ladders, obstacles, and enemies elaborately constructed with a definite beginning and end. As you go through the level, you bump into enemies which you must skillfully vanquish with the swipes of your swords. Well, okay, in many areas of the game it isn't so much skill as much as it is button mashing. By pressing the attack buttons multiple times, you can initiate a slash combo, and hack the hell out of your enemies. So to avoid redundancy, or attempt to anyway, RFX decided that it would would raise the bar just a bit to add another attack button. Pushing the two different attack buttons in different orders can allow you to execute special combo slashes instead of the same tired and worn out slash combo! Not only is Sia a great woman warrior, she's a great woman warrior with a much more expanded arsenal of moves.

Once you're getting well enough tired of the constant slashing, you can then try out Sia's arsenal of magic. Now, don't jump from your seat just yet; the magic list doesn't exactly compare to that of a Final Fantasy or Star Ocean game. You really only get four different magical attacks. Yes, only four. Your basic magical attack, which you start the game with, and three other spells which you learn later on. It may sound grand having magic in this game, but let's face it. You just don't get enough, and what you do get really isn't helpful enough to use very often (aside from your initial magical attack, which you use quite often). RFX did sort of blue ball everyone in that domain. If you're going to give us magic, at least give us useful magic! I'm sure it strikes fear into the hearts of the T'soas to hear, ''Hey! I have some spells of mediocre usage!'' Okay, maybe I'm over-reacting. One of the three learned spells is lightly. The other two really don't serve much of a purpose at all in this game. All in all, you could easily slip through the game and not even realize you have other spells.

There are also special occasions in which Sia will either mount her bird for a level or transform into a giant sasquatch to battle a boss. These scenes are a nice break from ''redundancy'' (term used loosely). Rather than just using Sia herself to complete levels, sometimes you must learn to use a whole new aspect of the game. This serves also the same purpose as a mini-game in other games. Since mini-games really wouldn't be totally appropriate in this game, these work as nice substitutes.

The game's mechanics are very nicely done. The controls are pretty much right where you want them. Seldom do you ever have to worry about stiffness or over-responsive nature. It reacts almost exactly as you want it to. I almost cannot imagine being able to go through a better portion of the levels on this game with simply horrid controls. Putting up with Slave Zero's (DC version) controls was enough stress to last me several years.

I did indeed say that the level designs were fairly elaborate, did I not? Rather than taking the easy way out like the developers of Kid Klown in Night Mayor Land and just make straight forward levels that are nothing but a trudge through the redundant, RFX decided to grant us huge, beautiful, and fairly challenging levels with loads of exploring and branching out to do. You really don't need to take just one way to reach some of the goals in the levels in this game. If you wanted, you could skip around and find some alternate pathways. This adds a bit more depth to the game, especially when you combine this with the replay value. It is, in fact, thanks to these level designs that the game does not get tiresome very quickly. You simply are not playing the same level every time. RFX deserves applause for adhering to one gripe that gamer could make about many of the lesser known games, and even a good number of the higher budget titles; they went out of their way to kill the redundancy and repetitive nature by placing a bigger emphasis on level design and on simply on the worn out ''kill, move on, kill, move on, complete level'' tactic.

Aside from just the design within the levels, the game as a whole is visually pleasing. Viewing the title screen, you would almost think that the graphics would be severely lacking, as the title presented an incredibly dull and nearly lifeless still of Sia riding a huge bird. After that, however, the game's visual features really begin to show. The dark dungeon you start in may not display much, but it does contain a very powerful atmosphere. After you escape from it, you will find a world full of vivid beauty and truly awe-inspiring design. Levels that feature large cities with gorgeous scenery and with complete and detailed buildings; Levels full of vast muddy fields, stormy moods and dreary weather. Even the animation in the game shows signs of masterful work. Watching the many different motions Sia makes is a great example. Everything from her triumphant pose (clenching a fist in victory, then slowly and proudly putting away her sword) to even some of her death animations (falling into water and struggling for help as she drowns) display great animation. This aspect seems to give much more life to the game. You may also notice that the graphics seem reminiscent of European styles animation, although I can't seem to pinpoint exactly which feature it reminds me of exactly.

Yes, replay value, so to speak! In games such as this, it all seems to be presented in the same way. Find all over a certain type of object, and you'll get a goodie when you complete the game. The principle applies here, too. Scattered about each level are diamonds and kidnapped civilians. Once you complete a level, you will be given a percentage based on how many of each of these you have found. Naturally, finding all will earn you a 100%. Earn 100% for each level on a given continent, and a special bonus level will be unlocked on that continent. Do not worry if you cannot find all of the gems and people in one try. You can always revisit levels and try to improve your percentage ranking. While this may not sound like a totally exciting unlockable to everyone, it works out nicely for the sporty types who are constantly looking for a challenge. Collect everything, complete every level, then stay a night at your fabulous hidden levels, packed with more challenging entrées than you can shake a T'soas disembodied arm at.

Naturally, boss battles come at the end of each continent. They are they're own independent levels, so there's no need to worry about doing an entire level, collecting everything, then fighting a tough boss. The bosses in this game really require you to do some thinking and reacting. It isn't enough that you have to dodge around them, sometimes you have to learn the best places to attack from, how to manage your life and damage, and what you may have to do in order to actually leave the boss open for an attack. Plainly put, the battles are very well crafted and definitely beat out the worn out hit-until-it-dies sort of strategies.

The sounds are a bit of a mixed bag. For the most part, the soundtrack is not very impressive. Some of the songs on it can help emphasize a level. For instance, being in the dungeon, you hear, as you would imagine, dark and mysterious music. However, there are some levels where you hear more excited or happy sounding music when the mood of the game really is not all that light-hearted when you think about it. The sound effects succeed more at filling the void than really selling the lie. While the slashing sounds of Sia's sword don't sound too bad, for instance, they really should have sounded more brutal; something more akin to refined metal slicing through armor and possibly flesh. Maybe that sounds a bit too sadistic, but it really would have helped sell the lie a bit better. Aside from that, the game is filled with mostly average sound effects.

Despite the lack of attention garnered by Lady Sia, it's being said that there is a sequel in the works. Whether this is true or not, I couldn't tell you, but some of the bigger fans could. Lady Sia was certainly not a bad game whatsoever. With tremendously well rendered graphics, huge levels, and loads of action, Lady Sia is one of the best sleeper hits we've seen in a while. RFX did an amazing job with this game, and definitely deserve one hell of a hats off for this. Casual gamers and hardcore gamers alike can enjoy this game, with its old school feel and the fact that it isn't totally involving or time consuming. You can simply pick this game up at any time since it saves between levels automatically. Honestly, after playing this, I'm looking forward to seeing more of what RFX can pull out hat.

FINAL JUDGMENT
Graphics: Astounding and simply amazing. Great detail, lovely color pallet use... Why not just leave it at 10/10
Sounds: Average music and effects. Nothing much to boast. 7/10
Controls: Work very well, great response 9/10
Plot/Storyline: Doesn't drive the game and isn't totally enthralling, but fills the void nicely 6/10
Gameplay: Loads of fun to play, decent challenge, even some unlockable areas 8/10
All Together: 8/10

Perks
*Amazing graphics
*Nice old school feel
*Huge, well designed levels
*Great mechanics

Downers
*Magic system lacking
*Not a very interesting plot

Recommendations
Platformer, action, and adventure fans apply here. Do not be so swift to knock this game as another under-hyped title that was just dumped on GBA because they had no other place for it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/23/03