Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (2009)

Wow, I did not expect to love this as much as I did. This sci-fi rail shooter from Treasure has the most consistently awesome action and spectacle of anything I've played recently. It's accessible yet challenging, with outstanding gameplay and encounter design. This is unquestionably at the very top tier of Wii games.

And a Wii game it definitely is. It's designed for the Wiimote and Nunchuk or the Wii Zapper, but I played it with a GameCube controller and found it worked great. One important note is that how you press the trigger affects whether you do a primary or secondary fire, or a melee attack. This didn't work well on my Xbox controller, but switching to the GameCube controller made a big difference. This brought the unfortunate trade-off of being rough on my hands and wrists after a while, though. (The game can be a bit exhausting in general, to be honest.)

Defensive options in combat feel really smooth. These include a quick dodge and the ability to seamlessly lift off the ground onto a hoverboard. The hoverboard is often used to weave through obstacles and bullet hell onslaughts. You can also do a well-timed parry of certain melee attacks and large projectiles, which is often the best or only way to damage your foe. Overall, the design of the combat mechanics encourages a fast and furious playstyle that always keeps you on your toes.

The game's 8 long levels are very well fleshed-out and engaging. The many boss fights within each level are probably the best part of the game. These bosses generally bring a wide array of interesting attacks, often in distinct phases with totally unique behavior and animations. They rarely look or feel too much like the fights that came before, and I found almost all of them to be a satisfying challenge. There's some tough stuff in here, but luckily, there's a forgiving checkpoint system with infinite continues. The game does an all-around great job keeping things moving to the next novel situation.

You can see the nice visual variety not only in enemy designs, but also in levels themselves. It goes some really unexpected places and gets a lot out of each idea. Even the camera whips around the level in fun ways. Story is the one notable place where the game's creative juices don't seem to flow as well. Cutscenes, characters, dialogue, voice acting, storyline, it's all a bit bland. Not a huge deal for this sort of game, but worth a mention.

This game is so much fun from start to finish. It is by far the most exciting and enjoyable game I've played in the rail shooter genre. If you have the means to play it and a taste for flashy, adrenaline-pumping action, give it a shot!

Star Successor continues the tradition of moving about a variety of short but sweet but challenging levels and shooting all that's in sight, much like Sin and Punishment.

What's different? The score system takes more of a front seat compared to the original, but this is pretty similar to the first game.

Is that a bad thing? Far from it; the music is fantastic and exciting (few tracks don't get the heart pumping when you need it) and the blisteringly fast action is smooth as butter. The story manages to be somewhat more coherent but still as nonsensical as ever, thrusting the player (and a much better utilized co-op partner with the second reticle) into all sorts of crazy bosses and set pieces.

Usually design would favor those who calmly introduce a gameplay element to the player, but Star Successor understands the thrill of throwing a new challenge around dangerously close corners, and the ability to parry combined with well-placed charge shots and lock-on missiles make this a blast to play both alone and with a friend.

Fan of bullet hell shooters? Play Sin and Punishment on the Wii. This absolute Hidden Gem of a spectacle is fantastic in all of it's endeavours.

You have the option to play with wii-mote and nunchuk or Gamecube/classic controller. I'd really opt for the wii-mote and buy a good gun because this is one of the best laser gun inspired games ever. The movement is so smooth and fluid. There is no stuttering as is the norm on some of the Wii's games and it's just so enjoyable. It goes for an arcade style of points to play for. There is a story, but it is swept under the fantastic gameplay. I don't care for the story anyway, it's a typical JRPG style plot.

The great part about this game is you have control over your character in a third person view. You need to dodge with your character, not just aim. You can also use Melee attacks with a laser sword.

A real hidden gem on an underrated console. The movement controls are implemented so well. Recommended to any light gun fans.