Silhouette Mirage
Silhouette Mirage
is this a good game? I've heard mixed stuff, but i've heard it has quite a bit of depth? A Treasure game can't be that bad!
This isn't a shmup. Moved to off-topic.
No matter how good a game is, somebody will always hate it. No matter how bad a game is, somebody will always love it.
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It is a good game, but I think it is often overrated just because it is treasure. Like everything else by them it is rather quirky and uses a color based system.
I enjoyed playing it quite a bit but also lost interest after a while--I certainly don't think it is one of their most memorable games.
I enjoyed playing it quite a bit but also lost interest after a while--I certainly don't think it is one of their most memorable games.
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you might see more opinions on it here: http://forum.shmups.com/forum/viewtopic ... e70d19c01f
for the record, I think it's a damned fine game. Took a long long time for me to see its awesomeness, but I finally got around to it. 9/10[/url]
for the record, I think it's a damned fine game. Took a long long time for me to see its awesomeness, but I finally got around to it. 9/10[/url]
Looks like I wasn't there for that topic. Anyway, I think it's an excellent game. I completely went through the game and 1CC'ed it on every path for both versions. I've even gone through all 4 (5) paths on the US version consecutively, saving only at the end, without dying. So I guess I'm a pretty enthusiastic fan. And I generally don't care for these type of kiddy looking sidescrollers.
First off, many people will tell you Working Designs ruined the US version of the game by adding the concept of spirit as ammo where none existed beforehand. Unless you like your Treasure sidescrollers supereasy (and not in the Alien Soldier "supereasy" way), the introduction of ammo really helps make you not shoot blindly at bosses. Sure, it's highly questionable whether WD should've made changes to Treasure's masterpiece but given Treasure's president thought it was better that way and given how it makes a very easy game more challenging, I tend to agree.
Some people say the extra cost of weapons makes the game a lot more difficult. Honestly, they're simply wrong here. Lv. 6 Surosa actually costs LESS in the US version (one of the only weapons to have decreased in price) and since most players use that weapon throughout most of the whole game (some bosses withstanding), it doesn't make anything harder. The stage where you get the lv. 6 Surosa also has an easy, very safe place to make infinite money so that discredits this argument even more.
Some people don't like how WD censored the game so that the biblical sins aren't obvious. I agree with that viewpoint but such censoring (and not of the story itself) probably enabled the game to get a nice E rating from the ESRB so I can understand that. If anyone actually thinks WD wasn't aware of the biblical references...geez, people aren't that stupid...
Some people find the game very hard, which I'm assuming to be the bosses. Unfortunately, these folks either aren't very adept at sidescrollers or haven't played the game enough. All the bosses in Silhouette Mirage have exploitable patterns and many require unorthodox means to damage them in the first place. This type of weakness system based solely on strategy where well-thought-out play takes precedence over quick reflexes (as opposed to, say, Mega Man's semi-random boss weapon weaknesses along with fast-paced movement) is really enjoyable IMO and has been used in very few sidescrollers (Chakan is another one I can think of off the top of my head with very clever strategic boss weaknesses). However, the added Reaper to the PS version unfortunately does not play the same way and does involve a bit of luck to win.
It's certainly worth a look given how cheap the US version is. I wouldn't rank it among my top 5 since I really can't stand the character and enemy designs at all but the boss tactics really impressed me. And it has such varied and unpredictable environments and situations that it's very likely you won't be bored at all.
First off, many people will tell you Working Designs ruined the US version of the game by adding the concept of spirit as ammo where none existed beforehand. Unless you like your Treasure sidescrollers supereasy (and not in the Alien Soldier "supereasy" way), the introduction of ammo really helps make you not shoot blindly at bosses. Sure, it's highly questionable whether WD should've made changes to Treasure's masterpiece but given Treasure's president thought it was better that way and given how it makes a very easy game more challenging, I tend to agree.
Some people say the extra cost of weapons makes the game a lot more difficult. Honestly, they're simply wrong here. Lv. 6 Surosa actually costs LESS in the US version (one of the only weapons to have decreased in price) and since most players use that weapon throughout most of the whole game (some bosses withstanding), it doesn't make anything harder. The stage where you get the lv. 6 Surosa also has an easy, very safe place to make infinite money so that discredits this argument even more.
Some people don't like how WD censored the game so that the biblical sins aren't obvious. I agree with that viewpoint but such censoring (and not of the story itself) probably enabled the game to get a nice E rating from the ESRB so I can understand that. If anyone actually thinks WD wasn't aware of the biblical references...geez, people aren't that stupid...
Some people find the game very hard, which I'm assuming to be the bosses. Unfortunately, these folks either aren't very adept at sidescrollers or haven't played the game enough. All the bosses in Silhouette Mirage have exploitable patterns and many require unorthodox means to damage them in the first place. This type of weakness system based solely on strategy where well-thought-out play takes precedence over quick reflexes (as opposed to, say, Mega Man's semi-random boss weapon weaknesses along with fast-paced movement) is really enjoyable IMO and has been used in very few sidescrollers (Chakan is another one I can think of off the top of my head with very clever strategic boss weaknesses). However, the added Reaper to the PS version unfortunately does not play the same way and does involve a bit of luck to win.
It's certainly worth a look given how cheap the US version is. I wouldn't rank it among my top 5 since I really can't stand the character and enemy designs at all but the boss tactics really impressed me. And it has such varied and unpredictable environments and situations that it's very likely you won't be bored at all.
This game was great. I've only played the PS version (the Working Designs one), but I loved the wacked out storyline and gameplay. The bosses are all pretty inventive (the first few are obvious, like you just need to get on one side. The later ones get crazy, like the one where you have to throw the dolls/pumpkins into the wine, and the slot machine girl). I might try to find a Saturn copy at some point if I get a Saturn. Anyway, I would check it out, the game is hilarious.
YONA!! YONA!! YONA!!!!
YONA!! YONA!! YONA!!!!
Re: Silhouette Mirage
The 2D animation is incredible; probably the best of it's kind.Pshooter wrote:is this a good game? I've heard mixed stuff, but i've heard it has quite a bit of depth? A Treasure game can't be that bad!
This one really pushed the Saturn's 2D capabilities to it's limits, considering that it's one of the few games on the Saturn that actually utilizes transparency effects without the need of dedicated hardware routines for the task.
Music is very good, especially some Boss themes are very catchy & you'll continue to hum them in your head for quite some time.
You will encounter some of the most memorable Boss battles similar to the Mega Man X series.
The story line has quite some depth & the fact that the main character has two sides (kind of like how the Ikaruga ships flips to either red or blue side) is obvious that it's greatly influenced by the Eastern Philosophy of "Tao".
There are also references to some Biblical names including Demons from the Old & New Testament.
The weapon system & gameplay will take a few tries to get used to, but you could expect nothing else from the creators of RS & Ikaruga.
Over all this is one of the games worth owning the original.
I would say try the ISO first (Either PSX or Saturn) & see how it goes.
I've never played the PSX version though to compare to the Saturn version.
Saint Dragon - AMIGA - Jaleco 1989
"In the first battle against the Guardian's weapons, created with Vasteel Technology, humanity suffered a crushing defeat."
Thunder Force V
"In the first battle against the Guardian's weapons, created with Vasteel Technology, humanity suffered a crushing defeat."
Thunder Force V
You beat the shit out of enemies for coins in order to purchase weapon upgrades. That's as deep as it gets.Pshooter wrote:how does the weapon upgrading work? is it pretty deep? can you replay the game to get weapons you didnt get the first time through?
Weapons aren't any different when you replay it. Really, you replay a Treasure game to play it again, not to unlock stuff.
Basically, if you play the game seriously, you'll use lv. 6 Sloth (which you obtain very early in the game from a secret shop) throughout the entire game. These weapon levels aren't incremental: you don't pay for upgrade costs; you pay for the whole item. You can store 3 weapons at a time but if you keep a single weapon, sometimes you can keep the weapon you have even if you run out (rather than get stuck with the default lv. 1 Sloth).Pshooter wrote:how does the weapon upgrading work? is it pretty deep? can you replay the game to get weapons you didnt get the first time through?
Each playthrough is completely separate; this isn't an RPG. There is no leveling up of anything (although you can get money) and nothing is saved. On the US version, WD records the paths you take and rewards you with several bonuses if you go through all 4 paths and the Reaper (which they consider a 5th path).