Customer Reviews

Sigma Star Saga

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Sigma Star Saga may not win any "game of the year" awards, but it is an experimental amalgamation of a "shmup" (shoot-em-up) and RPG, and as such is a refreshing break from the typical and stale console-RPG formula. The random battles take place in a side-scrolling, ship-shooting "mini-game" of sorts. While the "shmup" portion of the game is generally not difficult ("boss" battles are a notable exception, although even they do not approach the challenge of, say, Ikaruga), it's a far cry better than navigating menus in the repetetive, turn-based tedium present in most console RPGs.

The various ships that they often make randomly available during the "shmup" often add or subtract to the difficulty level as well. Slower ships can be more difficult to maneuver, especially through narrow passages. Furthermore, the ability to completely customize your weapon with add-ons discovered during exploration adds an intriguing level of strategy to the "shmup" levels.

Sigma Star Saga is a worthwhile experiment in the area of console RPGs as a whole. It is also far better than most of the licensed / sequel games released on the GBA, and as an original concept it is well-executed and fun.

This game deserves some credit for pushing for a creative blend of two genres: Action RPG and Shoot'em-up. It executes both styles of play decently, but in the end misses a few opportunities to make the gameplay a truly unique experience. Mainly it lacks the polish and balance that would have come with another month or two of development. The weapon system is fun to play around with, but once you find an effective gun combination, it doesn't make much sense to switch it around.

The game does sport beautiful graphics and smooth animation (with the exception of the random-encounter shooter stages, which are dark and bland, even from planet to planet to planet), and the story has some surprising depth and is very enjoyable to play. The game has some nice artwork too. Good to see this level of quality coming from an american developer.

Plus, it's fun to have a shooter to play on my GBA. Wish there were more. Sigma Star is a fun play, not great, but defenitely a fun original GBA game with good production values.

Taking a break from all the kart racers and platformers I've been playing on the GBA as of late, I decided to play an RPG recommended by a friend of mine. That game was WayForward's Sigma Star Saga. Little did I know this wasn't your typical RPG. You know, the kind with turn-based battles and whatnot(i.e., Golden Sun, Breath of Fire, Final Fantasy). This game mixes together an RPG with an R-Type style space shooter. Sigma Star Saga is an adventure that tells the tale of two warring factions and the human that tries to bridge that gap between them. The story, itself, is rather entertaining, engaging, and humorous at times. As far as the game is concerned; it's full of exploring, solving puzzles, advancing the storyline, picking up items and blasting through levels of enemies. I commend WayForward & Namco for taking a risk and trying something new with the RPG genre.

For the most part, Sigma Star Saga's gameplay works. While I'll go on record as saying it's a good RPG worth spending some time on; I will warn you that, at times, the battles get pretty monotonous and repetitive. When you'd like to do more exploring instead of battling, you can't because the game practically forces you to see the battle through to the end. That is my biggest gripe with the game. Course, I'm making leeway into the meat of story now(Patience is the key, I guess) but it is rather annoying at times.

Looking past that, Sigma Star Saga is a lengthy RPG with a very entertaining story. While it's no Final Fantasy or Golden Sun, it's still an original concept that should be commended. If you're into RPGs but are looking for a little something new and fresh, then Sigma Star Saga is right for you. While this particular type of game really isn't my cup of tea, as I'm into more traditonal style turn-based RPGs & Strategy RPGs, it is entertaining enough to me to see it through.

Sigma Star Saga is a rather interesting RPG. The level design and gameplay is generally acceptable. It's rather nice that you can fight in real time on the overworld map against very basic enemies. The boss levels are reasonably entertaining.

The fundamental flaw in this game is in the random encounters. In a traditional RPG, the random encounters are usually much easier than boss encounters. This helps to make up for the fact that there are a lot of them. Sigma Star Saga follows the "many easy random encounters" model. The random encounters are little space shooter games instead of RPG combat. Unfortunately, pitifully easy space shooters are not actually fun. Also, they all seem the same. Finally, they take too long. An attempt to make the shooter more entertaining by making the user ship randomized was unsuccessful. The idea of having enemy kills allow your ship to level up would have been exciting but for the fact that the level-ups only impact defense/offense; nothing exciting happens.

This game tries to succeed as both a space shooter and an RPG and fails at both.

Sigma Star Saga is an unusual mixture of space combat side-scrolling shooting and RPG action. Unfortunately, you are stuck doing whatever the plot says you must at any given moment.

I generally enjoy side scrolling space games - I can think of several that I would play for hours and hours. I also *love* RPG games and can play those for months on end. However, they are two completely different types of games, and it depends on what sort of a mood I'm in. If I have 1/2 hr to kill before it's time to go somewhere, then sitting down to a space blaster is perfect. You aren't bored and you have some fun. If I have all night long to play, then an RPG is more my game, where I get lost in the in depth character development.

With this game, you start out in a side scroller. You don't even get any sense that an RPG is waiting for you in there somewhere. Eventually after blasting your way through combinations of completely invincible enemies and others that die with a single bullet, you get to the RPG part. Back and forth you go.

You could be really interested in a long, relaxing RPG exploration - but get stuck in a mindless shooting battle that drives you completely insane. There are times I feel awake and ready for that. There are other times I'm feeling laid back, relaxed, and don't feel like having to worry about split-second shooting timing.

I really do appreciate the thought behind this - to mix genres and have some fun. I appreciate that it was an interesting concept. However, I think if they'd done more testing, they would have found that people needed to be able to choose when to do which. If they'd just set things up differently, it could have been a pairing that worked really well - level up your spaceships, work on your RPGs, all based on what you felt like doing. They just didn't do that.

For now, I'll personally stick with two different sets of games.

In describing what this game is, it's helpful to describe what it's not, and what it's not is Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy is strong on plot, but weak on characterization. The Sigma Star Saga's plot seems to have been worked out on a table napkin, but the characters are surprisingly charming and well-developed, to the point that I cared about their fates much more than I cared upon finding out that so-and-so in FF was still alive after such-and-such an impossible-to-survive incident. Final Fantasy's combat system is very complicated, but often boils down to mashing "Attack" until your enemy finally dies. In the Sigma Star Saga, customizing your weaponry is more gimmicky than necessary, but the actual fighting involves a certain amount of skill, so with patience you can beat a much higher-level foe and with incompetence you can lose against much weaker foes. Final Fantasy plays lots of weird but pretty music, while the music in the Sigma Star Saga is often less pretty, but occasionally more catchy. Most importantly, Final Fantasy is (as of this writing) a series of fourteen games that each have a certain greatness to them, but the Sigma Star Saga doesn't try to leave room for a sequel of any sort, with all effort put into making a good game in one try--effort that succeeded, as I am more than happy to tell you before my fourth run-through of the game.

Got this for my 6 year old grandson, since he was always taking his older brother's gameboy. Got him a Gameboy from Amazon (used) also, so he was all set to go and the big brother did not have to worry about his "stuff". Now they are both happy and can switch games when they want.