Seirei Senshi Spriggan

[Obiwanshinobi]

Recently I've been kind of obsessed by this mind bender of a game. How come there's no strategy guide for it yet? Not only the weapon system is tremendous (the closets equivalent I can think of would be Einhänder, as for the sake of optimal performance you have to perpetually exchange your weapon for another rather than keep powering up your weapon of choice), but some kind of rubber banding à la Rez seems to be going on as well. Maybe I'm just being deceived by the mesmerising visuals, but there seems to be something unique about this game I can't put my finger on yet.
Perhaps the scoring system isn't sophisticated beyond "the more stuff you blow up, the higher score you get", but still I'd like to know whether bombing affects the score or not, is there any rock-paper-scissors thing about the elements (certain enemies seem to be less subject to certain attacks) etc. Someone already asked for a strategy guide and looks like no-one answered. I'd like to dissect this game, but my skills alone aren't up to the task. Spriggan being aimed at the Japanese torunament scene, some write up in Japanese should be out there, shouldn't it? Does anyone here have a command of Japanese good enough to check this out?

[Damocles]

I'm really not sure why it's so obscure around here. Mark 2 was not that great, but I had a ton of fun with the first one.

[DC906270]

ive always found the Compile-type shmups to be kind of annoying..

[scrilla4rella]

I cop'd it on the virtual console. I think the main reason why this game get a bunch of flack is because it's not as good as the first one.

But if you like Horis then this game is pretty satissfying. The JPN vioce acting and super long cut scenes are awsome if you can put yourself in the early 1990s mood.
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well can you?

[MrPopo]

I cop'd it on the virtual console. I think the main reason why this game get a bunch of flack is because it's not as good as the first one.

But if you like Horis then this game is pretty satissfying. The JPN vioce acting and super long cut scenes are awsome if you can put yourself in the early 1990s mood.
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well can you?

He's talking about the vert original, not the hori second one.

I definately second the need for a strategy guide, at least with regards to what you get from the orbs. There seems to be a pattern, but it's harder to think about critically when you're dodging enemy shots. The only strategy I've seen for the game was "Use Green Yellow Green as your weapon". Then about midway through the game, after a death, I realized that the order doesn't matter. So Green Green Yellow = Green Yellow Green = Yellow Green Green. For such a fun game (sometimes you just want to blow stuff up) there's a real lack of information.

[EinhanderZwei]

Not sure if the strategy guide is needed for such an easy game...

[Obiwanshinobi]

I, on the other hand, am not sure if calling a game you've yet to beat an easy one is sagacious. What's easy to survive, might be as well tricky to play for the score.
If not strategy guide, then maybe a compendium of sorts. There is that weapon demo running after the intro, but some other things still could use explanation. Personally I'm curious whether this game is genuinely deep, or just smoke and mirrors. Spriggan probably came out too early in the nineties for its own good. If it was made by Treasure quite a few years later, people would droll over it with flying colours, regardless of its actual depth. Back in the year 1991 it must've been graphically way ahead of its time. Now we have games like Space Giraffe around, and yet such trippy presentation still rubs many people the wrong way.

[CIT]

I really like the game, one of my favorites on the PC Engine. The power up system is quite complex, but essentially the game is pretty straight forward: blow up as much shit as possible. Also, as you're constantly picking up new power orbs, feel free to bomb like a madman.

[EinhanderZwei]

I really like the game, one of my favorites on the PC Engine. The power up system is quite complex, but essentially the game is pretty straight forward: blow up as much shit as possible. Also, as you're constantly picking up new power orbs, feel free to bomb like a madman.

This is indeed why I've branded it easy, if anyone wonders...

[Obiwanshinobi]

Plain "easy" has slightly different ring to it than, for example, "easy to pick up", but whatever rocks your vocabulary.