Customer Reviews

SILPHEED:The Lost Planet

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Silpheed is a fantastic shooter that I'd recommend to anyone. It is a sequel to a Sega CD game that appeared a few years back. This time, the masters at Game Arts have teamed up with Treasure(Gunstar Heroes) to produce this stunning sequel. You pilot the SA-77 Silpheed, a strategic space fighter with multipe weapon systems through 8 levels filled with gorgeous backgrounds, fantastic lighting effects, and great music/voice overs by your fellow wingmen. The original Sega CD intro is included as a little bonus, albeit redone with CGI and redone voices. One thing that's great about this release is that Working Designs really fixed up the slowdown that was present in the original import version. If you are a shooter fan, then this is no doubt a must buy!

When this game first came out, I purchased it, took off the plastic surrounding it, and looked deep into its eyes. I wondered if it was the one for me, questioning the validity of such topics, and figured I'd give it a shot. And, after that initial test, we instantly fell in love.
And what was not to love?
It offering me a ship to fly me, and I offered it the dynamics of human reflexes and it was on.
Instantly we connected, the flashbacks from Gradius - a younger and more foolishly given love - playing in my head and making me feel, for some reason, content.
And killing enemies in that head on fighting style that meshes every turn with possible disaster, that certainly makes a man content.
The two of us, we'd sit down night after night, those graphics running through my thoughts and savaging them. My fingers constantly sent little pulses of love in many a weapon option back, giving and giving, and we still spend night together from time to time.

The reason behind the allure of this game isn't because its some new thing being tried out on the screen. In fact, its been done many a time before and the storyline isn't all that unique. Its simply Nintendo's Lifeforce on steroids, with everything working like a head-on fighter would. You, of course, have the only ship fighting for your side of a struggle - when you could at least use a little back-up, a weapon on each side that lets you choose different weapon option (mostly worthless), and there are lots of enemies. Everything from the little ships that fly in heavy numbers to smallest, faster ships to mini-bosses and then stage bosses. Within those struggles the sky fills with lots of shells, allowing you to show how skilled you are by dodging and dancing through these, knowing that you have a limited bit of shielding and are the only hope for you people.
Yes, its always good to face a challenge.

Interestingly attached to this is a way to approach points and extra lives, with a bonus given to you for killing something closer to you ship. Also, the more bonuses, the faster the other weapons come up. I'd played some games that have ways to garner quickly through bonuses, but in Slipheed all things have a modifier on them. The multipliers go as high as sixteen times the points, feeding your lives fast, but facing the big point carriers - the bosses - head on is a challenge. So, it never really gets tiring.
And did I mention that the graphics are beautiful, especially in depiction of the scenery?

The only problem I really had with was the weapons.
It was the fact that the guns, while interesting, weren't very functional. Bombs that pulse out are too slow, guns with beams that wobble are nice but don't always go forward, and so on. Sometimes, when playing, I simply stick to the primary cannon given and one accessory - not the way I like to have to play.
It was the way they were earned, allowing a change at the beginning of a mission and somewhere at a "checkpoint" refueling on the board.

For anyone that's into this type of shooter, with a ship that you fly "up" the television screen and with combat remnant of Lifeforce of Gradius, then this is a must have. I had honestly written this release off, thinking it to be just another game from an already dead group of games, but I bought it anyway. And then, playing it, I noticed how wrong I really was. The missions, the creative bosses, the backgrounds meshing it all together, it's a sight to see and a challenge to beat. If you've never tried a game like this before, I would have to say that playing it will be fun because your skills will impress you. At first it'll be hard, dodging multiple shots, but soon you'll notice you're good, then better, and finally showing off for your friends amidst a stunning array of action. And what's the life of the party without you?

Someone once asked if the top-scrolling flight-sim/shooter is dead. I suppose the answer to this is yes...and no. True, very few of these games are being made, those that are made are good enough (though rarely fantastic) to keep the genre alive, if only for a little while. I suppose they will go the way of drive-in theaters: With people missing them, but with no one really going out of their way to keep them alive.

I like Working Designs. The attention they give to their projects rivals motion picture distributors, their localizations often resembling "director's cuts" and "Special Editions" of films. Even if the game is a rather obscure little pet project (Sihlouette Mirage) or a grand-scale epic (Lunar), Working Designs always wants to give their games that little bit of special treatment. Here, in addition to the chrome-glossy packaging, we are treated to "Translator's Notes," outlining the Silpheed History. It really gives you an appreciation for what went into developing the game.

It is almost enough, in fact, to make you ignore the fact that, on the whole, Silpheed is not a great game. The weapons are dull by comparison to any other game in the genre (My all-time favorite is Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth for N64), and the story is really rather boring; its attempt at creating an epic political/war drama falls flat on its face.

Anyway, as for the gameplay itself (which is all these games really seem to offer anyway): The graphics are first rate, easily leaving all others in its dust. The game models are fantastic and amazingly detailed, worthy of Playstation 2. PSOne Gradius fans need not worry about gritty, pixelated textures, and N64 Star Soldier fans need not worry about smoothed-over, washed out ones. There may a little bit of slowdown here and there, but it is not enough to be frustrating or even annoying really (it is normally during explosions, which actually helps to give the game a more cinematic feel.) The level designs are in league with Star Soldier (the notes tell of how the backgrounds were originally pre-rendered streaming videos) making you not feel as though you are simply moving a cursor over an eye-candy-laden screen, and the learning curve is just challenging enough to not be discouraging.
While this is ultimately not a fantastic game, it should certainly not be ignored and is at least worth a rental. Put simply, if you are a fan of top-scrollers, it is a good buy. If you are not that big of a fan, you could probably take or leave it.

I purchased this game with my new PS2, about a year ago. I was definitely surprised that a game with such an old gameplay concept had come out on an advanced system like the PS2. I figured the shooter had died out with the arcade-heyday. Was I ever wrong! The graphics in this game are absolutely stunning, and the explosions, despite not being obnoxious fireballs of death, are smooth and colorful, especially when they temporarily white-out the screen. The cinemas really fit in with the sci-fi feel of this game; it actually looks like something in a movie (You'll definitely find out what the PS2 can do after watching the intro...) The weapons are very cool, and its fun to mix and match combinations to obliterate the aliens. Oh, and no,"Bail-you-out-at-the-last-second nukes here, all you've got is your guns and your skill, making this a very difficult game (The second stage took me several tries to beat!)

I give this game five stars because its a refreshing look at a genre that doesn't get as much attention as it used to, compared with all of the simulation, shoot-everything games that seem to abound in today's market. Makes you feel like your in an arcade again, and the graphics are fabulous.

Any gamer with a functioning brain knows that great graphics alone do not make a good game. True enough, but great graphics CAN have a dramatic impact on the overall experience, and this applies more to the shooter genre than to many others. Blowing up articulated enemy fighters in intricately detailed environments is just so much more satisfying than blowing up blocky little peons while flying past bland, uninspired scenery that looks like it could've been lifted from a dozen other games of the same type. The designers of Silpheed: The Lost Planet know this very well and have created an old-school, vertically-scrolling shooter of such visual intensity that it's almost as much fun to watch as it is to play. Enemies are well-designed hybrids of alien life and human technology, CG movies look marvelous, the different stages boast tons of detail and a good amount of variety, and the framerate and animation are smooth as silk, with no significant slowdown or choppiness to be found.

Aesthetic appeal aside, Silpheed: TLP is plenty solid. There is nothing revolutionary to be found here, but why bother trying to re-invent the wheel? If the gameplay is there and it's not too short, too hard, or too easy, then chances are most shooter fans are going to be reasonably satisfied. No exception here. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with the game. That is, unless you count having to go back to the beginning of the stage when you get killed and continue. Don't worry too much about that, though. Unlike most other shooters, your ship here can take some licks and not immediately blow up. Ten direct hits and you're dead. There's one point in every stage where four of your energy blocks will be replenished and you'll also have the opportunity to switch weapons. There are several to choose from and you can take two at a time, but you can't access them all right away; you'll have to progress in the game.

Without a doubt, the biggest flaw here is the distinct lack of superfluous goodies. There are no speed boosters, no additional ships to choose from, no screen-clearing smart bombs, no nothing! You can individually fire your left and right weapons, but you'll find dearth of purpose in doing that since you can use them both at the same time with impunity. Ergo, you can beat the game using only one button (not including the directional pad, of course).

On the audio front, the music is sufficient but not remarkable (except perhaps for the boss fight music, which conveys a suitably frantic feeling). Same goes for the "pilot's log" voice which precedes each stage. Throughout the game you'll hear transmissions from your fellow Silpheed pilots, but good luck deciphering them all. It's certainly nice, though, to know that humanity has decided to send more than one person to fight the coming wave of annihilation for a change. You won't see your buddies and they have no impact on the game, but it's an admirable touch nonetheless.

If you want to see your name on the upper portion of the high score board, you're gonna have to take some risks. The number of points you get for blowing up your adversaries increases as the physical distance between them and you diminishes. This system makes it quite tempting to indulge in all sorts of daredevil antics and foolhardy laughter in the face of death. You may find yourself running on a prayer, screaming at your weapons to shoot faster and sweating bullets trying not to flinch as seemingly endless enemy fire zeroes in on you (particularly while fighting big bad nasty bosses). These are the moments that shooter fans live for, and Silpheed certainly has its share of them.

This is the first old-school shooter new to the PS2 (Konami's Gradius collection doesn't count) and, despite its shortage of innovation, it sets the bar at a pretty good height. But, I don't think it's unrealistic to expect future shooters for the system to surpass Silpheed: TLP.

I first played Silpheed on my 286 in 1990 or 1991. I think this was actually before the Sega CD version (Anyone know? I have no idea). At any rate, it is one of my favorite games since that time. It took me a long time to win that thing, and there were 20 levels if I remember correctly. Destroying the final boss ship Gloire took forever and I ended up having to repeatedly pause and resume so I could follow the hundreds of bullets and lasers running across the screen because it was otherwise impossible...

Fast forward to 2001 where I rent Silpheed, my expectations set high due to my past experience. Well, I beat this thing with no cheats at all in maybe 8 hours. It wasn't particularly challenging or interesting. I expected weapons more like the cool array from Battle Squadrons, another of my fond memories of 10 years ago... nope, just boring stuff here. Most of the more "powerful" weapons were actually pointless, and I ended up going through most of the game using the Napalm Bombs which are gained after the first level if I remember correctly.

Graphics are pretty good, and the last board is challenging. So it's not completely bad, but I would rent this rather than purchase it since like I said it took me 8 hours to win it with no cheats. I think there are 4 or 5 levels? They're pretty long, but it still seemed like too few boards. The final enemy was cake. There was one mini-boss enemy on the last board that was difficult, but it wasn't the very final boss...

You can't save so you have to win it in a straight session... I just left my system on over night so that I didn't have to replay the first half of the game over again. So this certainly isn't the worst game out there, and it's far from the best. A very solid "average".

This is one of those games that is fantastic and that sadly lurk just beneath the radar because most people are too busy with often inferior big-budget titles to take any notice.

Silpheed is an old-school space shooter with a very high quality presentation, excellent gameplay and a packaging that will definitely catch the eye of any PlayStation 2 collector. I am glad I bought this game for my collection.

Graphics - 1/5
Very low poly count for a PS2 game. Horribly bland art design.

Game Control - 3/5
Controls feel sluggish but are thankfully simplistic.

Gameplay - 2/5
Extremely generic shooter, but has decent challenge at least.

Story - 1/5
Although some work went into it, the story is far too cheesy and generic.

Music - 1/5
Bland as all get-out. Sounds like it was pulled from a PS1 BGM bargain bin.

Overall Score - 1.6 / 5
Qualities range from mediocre to horrible. I don't recommend this purchase for anyone; it is easily the worst space shooter I have ever had the misfortune to play.

I first played Silpheed on my 286 in 1990 or 1991. I think this was actually before the Sega CD version (Anyone know? I have no idea). At any rate, it is one of my favorite games since that time. It took me a long time to win that thing, and there were 20 levels if I remember correctly. Destroying the final boss ship Gloire took forever and I ended up having to repeatedly pause and resume so I could follow the hundreds of bullets and lasers running across the screen because it was otherwise impossible...

Fast forward to 2001 where I rent Silpheed, my expectations set high due to my past experience. Well, I beat this thing with no cheats at all in maybe 8 hours. It wasn't particularly challenging or interesting. I expected weapons more like the cool array from Battle Squadrons, another of my fond memories of 10 years ago... nope, just boring stuff here. Most of the more "powerful" weapons were actually pointless, and I ended up going through most of the game using the Napalm Bombs which are gained after the first level if I remember correctly.

Graphics are pretty good, and the last board is challenging. So it's not completely bad, but I would rent this rather than purchase it since like I said it took me 8 hours to win it with no cheats. I think there are 4 or 5 levels? They're pretty long, but it still seemed like too few boards. The final enemy was cake. There was one mini-boss enemy on the last board that was difficult, but it wasn't the very final boss...

You can't save so you have to win it in a straight session... I just left my system on over night so that I didn't have to replay the first half of the game over again. So this certainly isn't the worst game out there, and it's far from the best. A very solid "average".

I bought this game off the hype I picked up from this site and these exact reviews. Bad idea, thats fifty bucks I'll never see again. Oh, the pain. My wallet is woeing. To be honest, the game is "presented" well, but at a total loss. I used the cheat code to open all of the 9 weapons available and I was STILL highly dissapointed. You'd expect some cool laser weapons or high speed action, like Raiden, but I couldn't find myself playing longer than 10 minutes at a time. It is SOOOOOOOO boring. The graphics are super high speed. You can't even differentiate the background and the active environment (hence the one star). All in all, Silpheed was a total dissapointment and even bigger let down (if thats possible). If I would have rented this game first I probably would have returned it back to the rental place that day. I'm still upset that I wasted fifty bucks on a game that takes up space on my shelf. For those who liked the game, more power to you. It must make the programmers happy that someone is enjoying it... because I sure didn't. Happy game fishing, and throw this one back in the water.