Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire for the PCE: WOW!

al138 · Post by **al138** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:38 am

Anyone else here play Sapphire for the PCE? I just got it today and I am highly pleased. I was absolutely floored by some of the graphical elements! The fact that a few of the enemies are polygon based really shocked me. I know this was one of the last series of games released for the PCE, but I never knew that programmers were able to elicit such clean, simple polygons from the system. I'm not very far into the game, but already I'm absolutely spellbound.

What say ye? Anyone finish the title?

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:41 am

Yeah, it's a fantastic game. I love it. Definitely the best use of time travel in a shmup. (RSG doesn't really do much with the time travel theme (you just fight a bunch of ships) and Gekirindan doesn't do much either.)

That said, I have a hard time recommending it at it's absurd price of over $300.

al138 · Post by **al138** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 1:49 am

It can be quite expensive, but for those willing there are "other ways" to procure the title. I for one love it. I wonder if reviews are still being accepted?

Nemo · Post by **Nemo** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 3:32 am

It's an okay game. Sure there are a lot of "wow" moments the first play through, but after that there really isn't a solid shooter to fall back on it. To me, the only thing Sapphire has going for it is its amazing T's Soundtrack.

al138 · Post by **al138** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 3:46 am

Interesting take on the game. I do like the soundtrack. I guess time will tell if I agree with you on the other point. At this point I'm still a little floored by the design of the game keeping in mind the limitations of the platform.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 3:56 am

Personally, I find it to be a pretty solid game. If you leave it on regular difficulty, it's pretty damn hard too, which I like. The number of bosses and mini-bosses is pretty high, which I like, as most of them are pretty fun to square off with.

It's got a few features which were pretty novel for the time, like extra enemies that only show up if you kill a specific enemy quickly enough. If you want to get a high score, you have to master use of the "option attack," which is pretty tricky to get right and takes quite a bit of memorization (if you use it at the wrong time, you don't get much other than temporarily decreased main gun fire).

al138 · Post by **al138** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:34 am

Cthulhu wrote:Personally, I find it to be a pretty solid game. If you leave it on regular difficulty, it's pretty damn hard too, which I like. The number of bosses and mini-bosses is pretty high, which I like, as most of them are pretty fun to square off with.

It's got a few features which were pretty novel for the time, like extra enemies that only show up if you kill a specific enemy quickly enough. If you want to get a high score, you have to master use of the "option attack," which is pretty tricky to get right and takes quite a bit of memorization (if you use it at the wrong time, you don't get much other than temporarily decreased main gun fire).

This sounds like its going to be a pleasant challenge. I'm liking it more and more.

Nemo · Post by **Nemo** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 5:12 am

If the game didn't have a vertizontal display, I think I would enjoy more, but as it is, the play area feels smashed. The levels also feel really uninspired, most of the effort was clearly put towards the bosses, which aren't really that special either. I guess I wish the game had some sort of replay value, it's nice they tried to incorporate some kind of scoring system with the options, but it's really more trouble than it's worth (woo 200, 300 point bonuses!). Obviously if the game wasn't a "big buck classic" I think I would be a little less critical of it, but of all the games I've played that fit this classification (RS, Alien Soldier, Rendering Ranger, Sylphia, etc.), Sapphire definitely is one of the worst.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 5:42 am

Nemo wrote:I guess I wish the game had some sort of replay value, it's nice they tried to incorporate some kind of scoring system with the options, but it's really more trouble than it's worth (woo 200, 300 point bonuses!).

It's really hard to get it to work properly, but if you practice, you can get several thousand points off of a single use of the option attack. It adds up pretty quickly if you can do it a few times in each level, but learning where and how to use it like that is a pain. Earning 1-ups more quickly really helps too.

I do understand what you mean by the playing area being cramped - your ship's hitbox is pretty large as well, which doesn't help. Getting through the levels reliably becomes a matter of memorization over reflexes, especially in the more difficult sections.

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:28 pm

Technically it's outstanding. The best graphics on PCE, no contest. I found the gameplay pretty good too, but nothing that blew me away. Can't really comment too much, since I don't own it and just played it a little bit at a friend's.
Spriggan is definitely still the best PCE vert scroller, imo.

al138 · Post by **al138** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 1:49 pm

Seven Force wrote:Technically it's outstanding. The best graphics on PCE, no contest. I found the gameplay pretty good too, but nothing that blew me away. Can't really comment too much, since I don't own it and just played it a little bit at a friend's.
Spriggan is definitely still the best PCE vert scroller, imo.

Too bad they half-ruined Spriggan's sequel by going horizontal. I think there is a large divide in terms of gameplay between Spriggan and Spriggan 2. I guess it serves as a lesson: don't fix something that isn't broke to begin with.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 5:23 pm

Seven Force wrote:Technically it's outstanding. The best graphics on PCE, no contest. I found the gameplay pretty good too, but nothing that blew me away. Can't really comment too much, since I don't own it and just played it a little bit at a friend's.
Spriggan is definitely still the best PCE vert scroller, imo.

OT, how does Spriggan compare to Robo Aleste and MUSHA?

Bar81 · Post by **Bar81** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 7:13 pm

dave4shmups wrote:
Seven Force wrote:Technically it's outstanding. The best graphics on PCE, no contest. I found the gameplay pretty good too, but nothing that blew me away. Can't really comment too much, since I don't own it and just played it a little bit at a friend's.
Spriggan is definitely still the best PCE vert scroller, imo.
OT, how does Spriggan compare to Robo Aleste and MUSHA?

On the same level as MUSHA, and MILES better than the crap that is Robo Aleste.

pixeljunkie · Post by **pixeljunkie** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 7:58 pm

Seven Force wrote:Spriggan is definitely still the best PCE vert scroller, imo.

Totally agree!