Sin & Punishment: Successor of the Skies (Wii) Review

I can honestly say that as I write this review, I realise just how much the industry has surprised me this generation. If you had told me that I’d be playing and reviewing the sequel to Sin & Punishment, in English no less, I would never have believed you. Well, here I am with Sin & Punishment: Successor to the Skies in my hand. And I’ve never been happier. In fact, this is one of the most intense and most enjoyable shooters I’ve ever enjoyed on a home console, and it’s a perfect fit for the Nintendo Wii. Just what makes it so great? Well, I’m here to tell you just that.

For those that care (and you really shouldn’t), Sin & Punishment: Successor to the Skies takes place some time after the original game, and players assume the role of Isa Jo and Kachi. Isa Jo is the son of the original game’s two main characters and, on one of his assassination contracts, comes across the mysterious Kachi. Kachi is a mysterious young girl from outer space who isn’t quite all that she seems, and for some reason everyone wants her dead. Cue the Nebulox, a group of evil diplomats who, for some reason, want everyone dead. In case you haven’t noticed, the story in the series hasn’t really improved all that much and is honestly pretty disappointing. But, thankfully, this is balanced out by almost everything else in the game.

The thing that struck me most was just how visually mesmorising the game was. Treasure was definitely putting a lot of their time into making the game as attractive as anything on an HD console. So many bullets, enemies and other miscellaneous projectiles fly around the screen and for the most part, the game holds up at a crystal clear and silky smooth 60 FPS. It really is a feat, and you combine this technical marvel with some truly astonishing set pieces, including an underwater wind tunnel, dilapidated cities and fiery furnaces.

Each of these set pieces comes with all the visual effects you would expect – heat waves appear in the furnaces, sound muffles whenever your character jumps out of the wind tunnel and into the open water, and dust clouds rise and settle as buildings fall around you. Sin & Punishment 2 is one of the best looking games on the Nintendo Wii when you take into account just how much is going on and how steady the game’s frame rate holds. There is a little bit of a thing that concerned me, and that was the character models themselves. Both Isa and Kachi look rather, well, monkey-like and it’s a bit distracting during some of the game’s cutscenes.

Everyone who’s played the original Sin & Punishment on the Nintendo 64 or Virtual Console probably has an idea of how the gameplay has been improved in Successor to the Skies. The game does offer Wii Zapper support as well as Classic/Gamecube Controller support, but these are pretty terribly implemented and aren’t really worth using at all. All of the aiming is done with the Wii Remote sensor, with other functions being mapped to the way in which you press the button on the Wii Remote. Holding down the B-button fires weapons, while pressing it quickly performs a three-hit combo that can deflect fire and even reflect some projectiles. This is where the game gets interesting, as aiming the Wii Remote while hitting objects back at enemies will send the object in that direction, making a lot of your greatest dangers also your greatest assets. The Nunchuk is used for movement, dodging and jumping which become very integral during the gameplay against some of the screen-filling boss battles. Finally, pressing the A-button allows players to lock on to enemies and automatically direct their fire towards them. While holding, it allows players to perform a charge shot which requires some recharging after use.

It’s this simplicity that Treasure is known well for that makes Sin & Punishment 2 such a great joy to play. Combining all of these little skills that are effortless to pull off to create amazing chain bonuses and defeat gigantic bosses really makes the gameplay rewarding to pick up and learn, which is effortless already. It’s quite easy to sit back and just fire at enemies and boss characters to get through the game, but it’s also just as easy to utilise reflections of projectiles, dodging and evading to increase your player’s score and getting a top ranking spot on the online leaderboards.

Usually when I review a game that has great gameplay and amazing graphics, it always has to fall down somewhere else. Thankfully, Successor to the Skies doesn’t falter at all when it comes to the game’s soundtrack. Accompanying the intense science fiction-inspired gameplay is a fast and frenetic collection of electronic music peppered with some epic classical mash-ups that give an epic sense during the game’s amazing boss battles. Unfortunately, the fully voiced cutscenes do suffer a bit from the “cheesy” factor, but there is also a Japanese voice track included for those who are irked by it.

Of course, being a rail shooter, and a sequel to one of the shortest games I’ve ever played, the team at Treasure have tried their best to lengthen the game further than the original game. The game consists of about eight episodes each lasting about thirty minutes. That being said, the game is incredibly hard on the standard difficulty setting and those who want to extend a 4-6 hour experience to something greater should probably play on the harder mode.

Nonetheless, the replay value in this game comes from replaying chapters to garner higher scores and the online leaderboards certainly suit this feature. The game also has a kind of “achievements” system in which completing certain tasks earns the player medals that increase the player’s score substantially, although the requirements for these medals are hard to discern. Finally, there is a co-op mode but it’s a bit limited, where the second player can only fire standard shots and not do any special abilities.

Upon completion of the game, players can delve into an even harder mode, as well as an option that speeds up the game to double the speed. Finally, for those who are real adrenaline junkies, there is a way to disable the slowdown and speed up the experience even more. Additionally, upon completion there is a mode in which players can switch between one of the two characters on the fly, but the differences between them are too minor to really make it all that worthwhile.

Overall, Sin & Punishment: Successor to the Skies really impressed me. It has amazing graphics, an awesome soundtrack and some genuinely engaging gameplay. It’s just a bit of a shame that some people simply won’t “get it” when it comes to the game’s length and the appeal in the game’s replay value. Still, I recommend that anyone who is looking for a decent “core” game on the Wii to import it straight away. It’s well worth the price that you’ll pay for it and definitely will be considering that Nintendo Australia are (foolishly) not releasing it over here. A must have.

Graphics 9.5

Great and modern artistic direction combined with some hectic and memorable set pieces. Character models are a bit weak at times.

Gameplay 9.5

Treasure has struck gold again with the simplicity of the gameplay mechanics creating so much depth for those who want to explore it.

Sound 8.5

Great mix of upbeat electronic music with some nice classic boss battle themes too. Voice acting is quite cheesy in places though.

Tilt 6.0

While this is a pretty long game for the genre, once completed there isnt much point besides those who want to continually top the leaderboards.

Value 9.9

I was absolutely surprised and blown away by Sin and Punishment: Successor to the Skies. Its some of the greatest fun that Ive had on the Wii, and a great love letter to the old arcade-style games I used to play as a kid.