Depending on where you live in the world the first Sin and Punishment game on the Nintendo 64 may have passed you by. not because it got no marketing or lacked stock at launch, but because it probably was never released in your region (it was an Asia-exclusive). That did nothing but increase demand for the game, and is why the Virtual Console re-release has been so popular in the West.

What Sin and Punishment is an on-rails shooter and it is very hard. If you want a challenge then that is the game to get on VC. now in 2010 we have the sequel released on Wii without any such regional restrictions, more graphical power on offer, and a game that is just as challenging.

As with the first game, Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is an on-rails shooter. your character can move around the screen in the 2D plane, but never forwards or backwards into the scene. the game is fully 3D, however. Controls can be handled with either the Wii Remote and NunChuck or the Classic controller. I opted for the Classic Controller Pro as it suited the varied controls much better in my opinion, although many will prefer the comfort of the Wii Remote.

Your basic input consists of movement around the screen and a weapon button which fires your gun rapidly, swipes a sword with a quick tap, or unleashes an energy-sapping cannon shot. this is supplemented by a lock-on feature for enemies and an evade button which moves you quickly across the screen while temporarily invulnerable. the fact the game gives you the ability to be invulnerable for a few seconds as a standard control mechanism should hint as to how tough this is going to be.

Much like shooting games in the vein of Time Crisis and Virtua Cop, the player is transported automatically to a destination and then either defends a stationary position or moves automatically through an environment while fighting an onslaught of enemy units. the game follows a pattern of fighting general enemies, sub-bosses, and end-of-level multi-stage boss battles while being linked together with a thin veil of a story. Enemies vary from humanoids, flying creatures, vehicles, and gun turrets, to large snake-like creatures, mutating cape-wearing “humans”, and giant pulsating jellyfish-like water-based opponents.

The world looks great considering its on the Wii. Slowdown does occur when there is a boss character, lasers, bullets, missiles, and background enemies present, but it is never bad enough to really hinder gameplay.

A lot of thought has been put into the enemy design, and there is clearly an emphasis on opening the way for the player to score massive points bonuses by taking advantage of the background enemy presence. for example, you may be flying through the air concentrating your fire on a distant gun turret while overhead a flock of creatures pass by. Turning your gun on them will earn you a lot of extra points if you manage to evade the attention of the gun turret while doing so. this is true throughout with enemy units always present in the corner of the screen, or way off in the background firing weapons at you or just travelling from one place to another.

The boss encounters are quite varied and their forms often take up more than the whole screen. each has a weakness and/or pattern that must be mastered and then taken advantage of to win. To begin with this is easy, but gets progressively harder to fathom. when I say easy, I mean the pattern is easy to spot not the actual defeating of a particular enemy.

Initially the game seems harder than it is because you are getting used to the controls. you are required to think about movement, target reticule positioning, and evading all at the same time. in places the game becomes like a shmup bullet-hell title with multiple enemies firing weapons and the evade maneuver the only option while keeping your target reticule moving from enemy-to-enemy. for enemies with larger life bars the lock-on feature is not only useful, but required. Movement is constant and aiming is impossible without it. Challenges come not only in the form of bullet dodging, but evading the environment too. Enemies will roll barrels at you, make the walls fall down around you, or attempt to force you into a corner as a health-destroying machine appears. at times it is quite ruthless in its attempts to kill you.

The key point here is you don’t mind it being like that. Once you have mastered the controls this is a really fun experience that takes your complete concentration in order to master. Dying is just a side-effect of learning how to defeat a particular enemy, and your first playthrough will therefore be the toughest and lowest scoring. But the varied enemies, and thankfully unlimited continues, keep you coming back for more, as does the ability to upload your stage score online at the end of every level.

The mix of your gun as a ranged weapon and sword for melee at first seems a little pointless, but you soon learn to rely upon your sword as much as your gun. Enemies, especially bosses, will attack you from distance, but then all of a sudden dart up close in a bullet time moment. A switch to your sword at this point is vital to take their health down significantly as your weak gun fire has little effect for the rest of the time. the power shot of your gun is also put to good use and can either take out multiple enemies, or be used to break a boss who is protecting their weakest body area. you even have the option of batting back missiles at the enemies who fired them if you sword-swipe timing is fine-tuned.

If you want a really challenging shooter that shows the Wii hardware off well you can’t get much better than Sin and Punishment: Star Successor. at times you will want to throw the controller down in frustration, in particular when fighting a gun-toting girl in an environment where gravity direction seems to change every 5 seconds. But you won’t because the desire to beat your opponent doesn’t go away. It is never too frustrating not to continue on as my initial gaming session which lasted until 2am will attest.

This game is well worth a place in your library of Wii titles and I highly recommend it if you enjoy a challenge of this nature. as I mentioned before, I preferred playing this with the Classic Controller Pro, but it is a matter of preference and I urge you to try the motion controls too.

Review: Sin and Punishment: Star Successor on Wii – Video Games …