Ripten Review: Sin & Punishment Star Successor (Wii)

Back in 2001 I was waiting for the original Sin & Punishment to be released on the Nintendo 64.  I thought it would be the perfect final N64 game published by Nintendo and would help hold us hardcore fans over until the launch of the GameCube that fall.  The bad news was that Nintendo never released the game in North America.

I had to wait until October 2007 to play the original Sin & Punishment on the Wii’s Virtual Console.  It was such a relief to finally get to play it.  Due in part to the game’s digital success, Nintendo decided to release the sequel, Sin & Punishment Star Successor, for the Nintendo Wii.

The story in Sin & Punishment is quite ridiculous and at times confusing, and is not why you’d want to play this game.  Here’s a brief summary: Isa was sent by his superiors to kill an enemy girl named Kachi.  Kachi, however, permanently lost her memory.  Seeing Kachi curious about the world, Isa decides not to follow his orders and instead decides to help Kachi survive.  Thus Isa’s superiors are now trying to kill them both.  Fantastic.

Sin & Punishment Star Successor is an on-rails third person arcade style shooter.  Upon starting the game you have your choice of three difficulty levels, Easy, Normal, and Hard.  I suggest playing the game on Easy at first because many of the bosses have special tricks that you must learn in order to defeat them.  The game is pretty difficult, but this is offset by the numerous checkpoints in each stage as well as unlimited continues.

The game also has four different control options, all of which are customizable.  You can use the Wii Remote + Nunchuck, the Wii Zapper, Classic Controller, or the GameCube Controller.  After trying the classic controller I can easily say that Wii Remote + Nunchuk is the best way to go.

The player is able to control their on screen character with the control stick on the Nunchuck and aim their gun with the Wii Remote.  Playing the game with a classic controller makes aiming feel too slow.  The developers basically made this game because of how well they thought Wii Remote + Nunchuck would work in Sin & Punishment, but even they feel that some parts of the game are better suited for classic controls.  This is not something I agree with.  The Wii Remote + Nunchuck is just perfect for this game.

The player also has the choice of selecting one of two characters from the start.  You can play as either Isa or Kachi.  Both characters have the ability to shoot normally, fly, jump, lock on, and evade.  There are two main differences though.  Isa’s main gunfire just goes where you aim it with the Wii Remote.  He can also charge up one large shot, lock on, and fire it to hit a few enemies.  (This has a cooldown)

Kachi, on the other hand, auto locks onto one enemy at a time while holding down the main fire button.  The player is able to switch targets by momentarily releasing the fire button and then shooting the next desired target.  Kachi’s charge shot also works differently.  She can charge up to eight mini shots.  The less she uses, the less of a cooldown there is.  I prefer the play style of Kachi, but there are areas in the game that are better suited for Isa.

There is however a two-player mode that leaves much to be desired.  Player one will just play the game as they normally would, but player two will just have their own on screen reticule in which they can shoot at enemies.  Player two can’t take damage and only helps aid player one.  This mode can be fun, but I really wish that they included a true co-op mode with two characters on screen.

The main goal in Sin & Punishment Star Successor may be to beat the game for some, but the real challenge is trying to get high scores.  In the game your score will slowly be multiplied for killing more enemies and by not taking damage.  There are also bonuses in the way of silver medals for killing entire waves of specific enemies as well as gold medals for meeting special requirements in each stage.  These medals are just worth bonus points as far as I could tell.  If you die your score will reset.  So extreme skill and knowledge of the levels are required in order to get high scores.

The game also has multiple online leader boards.  They are broken up by stage, character used, and difficulty level.  Two player scores also have their own leader boards, as it wouldn’t be fair to put them all together.

Sin & Punishment Star Successor only has eight levels but they are all a solid length except for the first tutorial level.  Each stage, other than the first, has multiple boss fights, many of which are extremely challenging.  Each stage offers something different and I found myself often surprised at how they incorporated something new and fun in each level.

Sin & Punishment Star Successor is a great, challenging game that any fan of shooters would be a fool to pass up.  The game can be completed in about six hours on Normal difficulty during your first run, but the main draw is replaying the game and going for a higher score.  The true replay value of S & P only adds to this great game.

Here’s the Rundown:

+Great Controls
+Amazing Replay Value
-Lack of True Co-Op
-Relatively Short

Sin & Punishment Star Successor was developed by Treasure and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Wii.  The game released in North America on June 27, 2010 with an MSRP of $49.99 USD.  The copy used in this review was purchased by the reviewer.  The game was played to completion on Easy and Normal difficulty modes and both playable characters were used.  Other difficulties and modes were also played for purposes of this review.