Seirei Senshi Spriggan (PCE CD, 1991)
Graphics-9 Sound-7.5 Control-9 Challenge-7 Story-?
Level Design-8 Frustration-7.5 Fun-8 Originality-6
Overall Score-8.5
+
Interesting weapon system (collect coloured orbs in 4 different colours that you can do a triple combo with (each new orb replaces the first one in your inventory). 3 orbs of the same colour gives you a strong but specialized weapon)
Good variation
Some cool effects
Good bosses overall (some have several forms, most are huge)
Difficulty options
Pretty intense at times
Good cutscenes with voice acting (not as good as the intro in MUSHA though, mostly still images)
Great art direction and use of colour
Two types of smart bomb (waste an orb or pick a flashing one up - the latter option is not always practical and the first one downgrades your weapon)
Adjustable speed (three settings, not really needed)
Good sound effects overall (some are weak and/or annoying)
+/-
Somewhat forgiving hit detection
Mostly Euro Techno-ish soundtrack (breaks away from previous titles which had hard rock and synth pop soundtracks and some tracks aren't very memorable)
Loading times of 3-5 seconds (some are poorly masked and simply stop on-screen movement before transitioning to the next level)
-
Uneven difficulty
The weapon system can get distracting (picking up one orb when you have three deletes the first one in the row; The orbs are also used as smart bombs so if you want to use bombs manually you'll have to keep changing the setup)
Trial & error (bosses, worms and jellyfish in stage 4)
The ending is in black and white and the pictures are smaller than usual
One or two distracting backgrounds (flashing water)
Single colour background in the second level
Somewhat slower paced than MUSHA or Power Strike 2 (lacks sped up sections)
Minor flicker
Notes:
7 Stages long
Level Design-8 Frustration-7.5 Fun-8 Originality-6
Overall Score-8.5
+
Interesting weapon system (collect coloured orbs in 4 different colours that you can do a triple combo with (each new orb replaces the first one in your inventory). 3 orbs of the same colour gives you a strong but specialized weapon)
Good variation
Some cool effects
Good bosses overall (some have several forms, most are huge)
Difficulty options
Pretty intense at times
Good cutscenes with voice acting (not as good as the intro in MUSHA though, mostly still images)
Great art direction and use of colour
Two types of smart bomb (waste an orb or pick a flashing one up - the latter option is not always practical and the first one downgrades your weapon)
Adjustable speed (three settings, not really needed)
Good sound effects overall (some are weak and/or annoying)
+/-
Somewhat forgiving hit detection
Mostly Euro Techno-ish soundtrack (breaks away from previous titles which had hard rock and synth pop soundtracks and some tracks aren't very memorable)
Loading times of 3-5 seconds (some are poorly masked and simply stop on-screen movement before transitioning to the next level)
-
Uneven difficulty
The weapon system can get distracting (picking up one orb when you have three deletes the first one in the row; The orbs are also used as smart bombs so if you want to use bombs manually you'll have to keep changing the setup)
Trial & error (bosses, worms and jellyfish in stage 4)
The ending is in black and white and the pictures are smaller than usual
One or two distracting backgrounds (flashing water)
Single colour background in the second level
Somewhat slower paced than MUSHA or Power Strike 2 (lacks sped up sections)
Minor flicker
Notes:
7 Stages long