Sin & Punishment (aka The N64's Only Good Action Game)
Its decisions like the one that prevented Treasure's spectacular Sin & Punishment from getting a worldwide release that make me question Nintendo's business model. Whether it was deemed unfit for release due to its mature content or overlooked entirely makes no difference - the game features full English voice acting and minimal menus, and would have cost next to nothing to release stateside. But what truly makes it a crime is that Sin & Punishment ranks amongst the top three N64 games ever made, right up there with Super Mario 64 and Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and is exactly what the fans needed.
The intro (and other scenes) play out in realtime, but the lowpoly models actually do a pretty good job of recreating Yasushi Suzuki's style.
The storyline and general atmosphere of the game seems inspired by the anime Evangelion. Hordes of biological terrors called Ruffians are invading Japan and its up to Saki and the Saviour Group to stop them. Saki is helped along the way by a couple of teenage friends and they'll confront paranormal Americans who've come to control the situation. There's a great deal of cinema sequences (bookending each stage), all of which feature the above mentioned voice acting and play out ala Metal Gear with in-game models.
The first stage gets the old shooter cliches of giant flying, centipede-like creatures out of the way (they had to be there somewhere).
At its heart Sin & Punishment is a railshooter - you aim the crosshairs at a target and shoot it down - but it would be unlike Treasure not to take things a step further. Most of the game takes place on foot, meaning you can run left and right (performing an evasive tumble in either direction with a well-timed double tap), jump, double jump, and if an enemy or missle strays near you can swat it back with a quick tap of your attack button. Thankfully there isa training mode to play with until you become accustomed to aiming, moving, and jumping in opposite directions.
Things blow up real good in this game. Why is it that no other N64 game had effects like these? Is there anything this game can't do?
The game features 9 stages spread across 3 levels. That may not sound like much, but the screenshots accompanying this thread are from the first level only! Its actually fairly short, and is designed for multiple playthroughs and highscores. The settings are as diverse as the enemies you will encounter. Most stages contain a miniboss as well as an end-stage boss, and are filled with obstacles and swarms of minor enemies. If there's one thing Treasure knows, its Boss design requiring strategy and quick reflexes. Some of them will even evolve or change their tactics and (gulp) get an entirely refilled life bar. Thankfully there are health bonuses and the game doesn't skimp on the credits.
All of these screens are from the first 3 stages of the game, and things only get crazier as the game continues.
Sin & Punishment lays bare 99% of the N64 library as graphically inferior. While the
characters are somewhat jagged, the game exudes style and contains the finest pyrotechnics ever to grace the N64. The textures range in quality but overall feel bright and colorful. Often the screen is filled with enemies, most of whom are stage specific. Levels are in doors, out doors, and flying all over the place, taking on different camera angles to mix things up. On the other hand, the music doesn't live up to the visuals. Some stages sound better than others, but the overall vibe is synth rock (if only the N64 could do redbook audio - this game screams for a symphonic score!). The voice-acting is pretty lame but thank God its there.
Lets see... a new game by Treasure: check. Anime-inspired characters: check. Great looking and playing game: check. Should we ship it? nah
Sin & Punishment is the best action game on the N64 (I know thats not saying much, but its really actually quite good). Despite being on rails, it really doesn't feel like the others
in its genre. This was the first game I ever imported and it was well worth it. There's a good chance it'll be the first game I download for the Virtual Console as well (although it
will definitely require the shell unless its reprogrammed with the revmote in mind). The more people who download it, the more the message will ring loud and clear: we need a
sequel to this game for the Revolution, or else, dammit!
...what other games did we miss out on that the Virtual Console should make up for?
Its decisions like the one that prevented Treasure's spectacular Sin & Punishment from getting a worldwide release that make me question Nintendo's business model. Whether it was deemed unfit for release due to its mature content or overlooked entirely makes no difference - the game features full English voice acting and minimal menus, and would have cost next to nothing to release stateside. But what truly makes it a crime is that Sin & Punishment ranks amongst the top three N64 games ever made, right up there with Super Mario 64 and Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and is exactly what the fans needed.
The intro (and other scenes) play out in realtime, but the lowpoly models actually do a pretty good job of recreating Yasushi Suzuki's style.
The storyline and general atmosphere of the game seems inspired by the anime Evangelion. Hordes of biological terrors called Ruffians are invading Japan and its up to Saki and the Saviour Group to stop them. Saki is helped along the way by a couple of teenage friends and they'll confront paranormal Americans who've come to control the situation. There's a great deal of cinema sequences (bookending each stage), all of which feature the above mentioned voice acting and play out ala Metal Gear with in-game models.
The first stage gets the old shooter cliches of giant flying, centipede-like creatures out of the way (they had to be there somewhere).
At its heart Sin & Punishment is a railshooter - you aim the crosshairs at a target and shoot it down - but it would be unlike Treasure not to take things a step further. Most of the game takes place on foot, meaning you can run left and right (performing an evasive tumble in either direction with a well-timed double tap), jump, double jump, and if an enemy or missle strays near you can swat it back with a quick tap of your attack button. Thankfully there isa training mode to play with until you become accustomed to aiming, moving, and jumping in opposite directions.
Things blow up real good in this game. Why is it that no other N64 game had effects like these? Is there anything this game can't do?
The game features 9 stages spread across 3 levels. That may not sound like much, but the screenshots accompanying this thread are from the first level only! Its actually fairly short, and is designed for multiple playthroughs and highscores. The settings are as diverse as the enemies you will encounter. Most stages contain a miniboss as well as an end-stage boss, and are filled with obstacles and swarms of minor enemies. If there's one thing Treasure knows, its Boss design requiring strategy and quick reflexes. Some of them will even evolve or change their tactics and (gulp) get an entirely refilled life bar. Thankfully there are health bonuses and the game doesn't skimp on the credits.
All of these screens are from the first 3 stages of the game, and things only get crazier as the game continues.
Sin & Punishment lays bare 99% of the N64 library as graphically inferior. While the
characters are somewhat jagged, the game exudes style and contains the finest pyrotechnics ever to grace the N64. The textures range in quality but overall feel bright and colorful. Often the screen is filled with enemies, most of whom are stage specific. Levels are in doors, out doors, and flying all over the place, taking on different camera angles to mix things up. On the other hand, the music doesn't live up to the visuals. Some stages sound better than others, but the overall vibe is synth rock (if only the N64 could do redbook audio - this game screams for a symphonic score!). The voice-acting is pretty lame but thank God its there.
Lets see... a new game by Treasure: check. Anime-inspired characters: check. Great looking and playing game: check. Should we ship it? nah
Sin & Punishment is the best action game on the N64 (I know thats not saying much, but its really actually quite good). Despite being on rails, it really doesn't feel like the others
in its genre. This was the first game I ever imported and it was well worth it. There's a good chance it'll be the first game I download for the Virtual Console as well (although it
will definitely require the shell unless its reprogrammed with the revmote in mind). The more people who download it, the more the message will ring loud and clear: we need a
sequel to this game for the Revolution, or else, dammit!
...what other games did we miss out on that the Virtual Console should make up for?
