Spriggan Mk. II for PCE CD
Review #11106
Spriggan Mk. II
An interactive episode of Spriggan
Gameplay
Feels like Cybernator/Target Earth as a shoot em up rather than a ground based action title. The weapons and enemies are on the clunky side. Enemies take so many hits that it's often better to focus on shooting down the missiles they fire at you rather than trying to hit them since they will at least go off screen at some point while most missiles will track you down. So yeah, at its core this is a "peashooter with damage sponge enemies" shooter, even after you acquire the more powerful "Mark 2" mech.
The saving grace is the Halo-style regenerating shield/health bar. You can take a ton of damage which is good because you are going to take a ton of damage.
I said it's a peashooter game, and it is, but you've got three subweapons with limited ammo. Toggling between them is awkwardly tied to the Select button or burying on the Pause screen. Firing them is also awkward as you have to mash the regular shot (the 2 button) to fire a salvo. This is necessary because the 1 button is reserved for turning your mech to the left or right, Side Arms style. This is a game that would've greatly benefited from a controller with more buttons.
I also want to mention the fact that enemies don't have collision - only their projectiles can damage you. That might be a first in a shmup.
Level Design
Stages are well designed and feature a host of interesting encounters. That said, the action is frequently broken up by conversations between characters who talk way more than their circumstances would allow. Everyone must have the ability to stop time. The constant interruptions break the flow of the game. Let me play already!!
Theme
Mechs! And a full episode of whatever manga/anime this game is based on. Yeah it's all in Japanese but man is the production value through the roof. I have no idea what they're saying, but they're saying it passionately.
Art Style
Impressive pixedl artrwork, although the sprites are quite small. Effects like explosions are also fantastic. Backgrounds fly across the screen to match the intensity of the action.
Audio
The sounds take center stage here. Everything is crunchy and satisfying. Music is on the tame side and doesn't really match the pace of the action. There's more piano than air guitar here, but the sound effects are top notch.
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