Sin and Punishment : Successor of the Skies (Wii)

Okay, this game is long overdue on the Wii but it was definitely worth the wait! Let me begin by saying that it won't appeal to anyone who doesn't like a challenge! Fortunately, there are three difficulty settings and a two-player co-op mode which provides a degree of help in actually completing the required levels. Each difficulty setting has to be completed before you can access the stage select option in the respective setting. This is where the meat of the gameplay takes place, by getting you to better your scores and entering them into online leaderboards.
This is beautifully designed by the use of a multiplying combo system which increases when you get enemies but decreases 10 times faster when you take a hit yourself! Fortunately, there is an "evade" move which negates any bullet barrages or laser attacks for as long as you are doing the move and believe me, YOU WILL BE DOING IT A LOT! You can choose between two characters who have different firing methods, mostly in the charged-weapon department, to further the lifespan and satisfy the completists' longevity demands.
The settings are truly awesome and well crafted and the animation is top notch too. You will spend most of your early dying times due to distractions from the scenery! Treasure have certainly pulled off a terrific achievement here and hopefully, this game won't disappear without trace due to its now niche market compared to years ago when this sort of fare was gobbled up gratefully. I hope to see many of you reading this on the leaderboards in the future, so if you like your games with a lot of replay value over actual completion time ( 6 hours or so ), then give this a go by all means. It's already getting reviews in the 9/10 range, so rest assured, it's not just my opinion! I only rated this down a notch due to the difficulty level which may put off the less experienced gamer, but easy mode will be within the reach of any average gamer...not unlike myself! Feel free to ask anything about the game and I may add to the review in the future.

If you enjoyed Space Harrier and Rez then this is the game for you!

You basically control a flying character and have to shoot as many enemies as you can on screen without getting hit. This increases your multiplier which increases your score dramatically. As soon as you take a hit your multiplier drops. In the long levels you fight about 4 sub-bosses then a big one at the end.

There are only 7 levels but each level is divided into different parts so they are quite long. Don't worry if you die you can continue but you'll have to start again with your score. Scores are saved and can be entered on an online leaderboard which is quite fun!

Soon as you get to level 3 things get very tough and you'll have to use maximum concentration if you want to succeed. Button bashing will get you no where!

Graphics are very good for a Wii and even though the game is on rails it's very addicitive and enjoyable to play. You'll just want to keep having another go to either beat your high scores or just get past that annoying boss.

For the money this is an absolute bargain and you can always rely on Tresure to make great games!

If you're unaware that Successor of the Skies is a sequel to a cult classic N64 game from one of gaming's most acclaimed developers, you're in for some terrible first impressions. Even by Wii standards the graphics are the wrong side of PS2 launch title, a hazy, jagged lo-fi mess. You even start off worrying about the art direction. The two characters you play as are about as nondescript a pair of anime kids as you're ever likely to want to punch. And the voice acting? Good grief, do yourself a favour and go Japanese in the options; you'll still get subtitles, but you may be better off making up your own attempt at a script as you go along anyway.

Let's try to forget about the lazy front end, then, the bland menus, the poor sound and the terrible cutscenes that do their best to turn you away from the game, this review needs an enema in the shape of gameplay. Oh, gameplay! Now we can start piling on the stars! Successor of the Skies not only delivers as a sequel to one of Treasure's greats, it also provides us with one of the ultimate Wii experiences. It's an arcade shooter of the highest quality that works perfectly with the Zapper peripheral - and no less so with the remote/nunchuck or classic controller.

So you shoot things. You shoot lots of things. You shoot things that you don't want me to describe to you in this review because it will spoil it. (OK, just so my title makes some kind of sense, there are dolphins. There I said it. Although god help me if I can actually make sense of the dolphins being in the game in the first place.) Suffice it to say, the scale and design of some of the bosses will have you forgiving those otherwise disappointing graphics. And there are difficulty levels that allow everyone to see the game through before getting pummelled on a second run. Throw in competitive online leaderboards and local co-op and you've suddenly got a game that's starting to offer a lot of bang for your buck.

Now, unless my dictionary has failed me, we end with something of a paradox. A game, whose predecessor was so niche that it didn't get released in Europe, finds its way here to us in the UK on the most casual-oriented console of all-time. You core gamers know what you need to do. You've probably already done it. But this can be a game for all types (over the age of 12 according to PEGI), so everyone put down Wii Fit and start having some fun.