Sigma Star Saga

"Terrific concept, but the execution bombed"

So the developers behind Shantae for GBC announce that they're doing another totally original concept for the Game Boy Advance: a crossover between a shooter and an RPG. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, right?

... right?

I should probably note here that as much as I love RPGs, I'm not too good with either scrolling or first-person shooters (and as such, don't especially like them - with a few exceptions, like Metroid and Ikaruga). Still, given how much I loved Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga (RPG/platformer crossbreed of a sort), I figured the elements would balance out enough for me to like Sigma Star Saga. Unfortunately, they don't.

As you might already know, Sigma Star Saga is divided between two modes of play - the exploration mode, where your character, Ian Recker, walks around to find items and locations of interest, talk to people, and so forth, and the shooter mode, where you're beamed into a Krill fighter of some kind and sent into battle with whatever hostiles the fighter detected just before it yanked you into its cockpit; you earn experience and level up by collecting the orbs which appear from enemies you destroy in shooter mode.

So I have to give WayForward credit for a bunch of good ideas, but they lose most of those points right back for the problems with the implementation - this is very much an RPG for shooter fans, and NOT the other way around. And I'd give even shooter fans some warning before they jump for this one.

The biggest problem is the random battles. "Battles are supposed to be random in RPGs, aren't they?" you may ask; well, yes, most of them are. However, every other RPG out there gives you some escape route - a lot of the newer ones (other than Final Fantasy) let you see where enemies are before you run into them, and all of them generally have some option to let you run away from most fights. Not so with Sigma Star Saga - you either win or you lose, and if you lose, it's back to your last save point. Further, each battle is randomly generated - the terrain you're flying through, the enemies you're up against, even which type of ship you're piloting ... which can lead to some incredibly mismatched battles, like having to fly through an enemy-infested tunnel with a ship which is nearly as tall as the tunnel itself ... that's a recipe for heavy damage, possibly death.

And speaking of damage and death, your only recourses for recovering lost HP are to use one of the rare Data Plugs (which double as save points), or to gather HP boxes in exploration mode - and there are entirely too few item boxes on any planet's surface; most of them will only appear by destroying enemies or statues. Unless you're extremely good at avoiding damage, this is a recipe for almost inevitable death by attrition - and some mini-bosses can lay out a lot of damage while you're trying to figure out their attack pattern and weaknesses.

It's really too bad that the gameplay is so frustrating, because Sigma Star Saga has a lot of potential - the graphics are beautiful, with some sweet character designs waiting to meet you in exploration mode, and a whole slew of nifty-looking ships and enemies flying over and past gorgeous backgrounds in shooter mode. Sound design is decent, with occasional voice bits - no real voice acting, just a squawk to go with whoever's speaking - and a bunch of music ranging from "nice" to "not bad". And the story promises to be good, but since I've given up in frustration, I won't really know how it goes after the start of Chapter 2 ...

As for replayability? Well, if you can get through the game, there's a lot to play with - dozens of Gun Data items divided into three categories, offering a few tens of thousands of possible configurations for your ship's main weapon. (There's no way to test out what a given combination does except for taking it into combat, though.) There are also multiple endings to view, depending on how you deal with certain events.

Overall, if you're already a fan of side-scrolling shooters, you may want to check out Sigma Star Saga. If you're looking to this game for its RPG value, though, I recommend staying away from it; for me, it's just not worth the frustration when a random battle sets all the odds against you.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 08/29/05