Game: Sigma Star Saga
Platform: Nintendo Game Boy Advance
Developer: WayForward
Publisher: Namco
Release Date: NA: 08/16/05
Genre: RPG/Shooter
ESRB: E10+
Players: 1
Sigma Star Saga is a hybrid game. It's a side-scrolling shooter with RPG elements like a level system, experience points, and a story thrown in.
Story: You are Ian Recker, the leader of Sigma Team, the best fighter pilots Earth has and its primary defense against the Krill forces. In your last mission, a Krill Battle Worm took out every member of the team except for you. Tierney, your commanding officer has other plans for you anyhow. You'll be playing double agent — flying missions for the Krill and secretly transmitting data about their movements and motivations back to Earth.
Overworld Gameplay: Overworld gameplay serves only one purpose in this game: to move you from one battle to the next, and that's okay, the shooter fights are what the game is really all about. Ian doesn't gain levels; the ships he flies do. There is some out-of-ship combat, but it's very light and very simple. The overworld enemies serve more to prove that the planets aren't empty than to pose any sort of threat. While running around, Ian will need to dispose of enemies, do a couple of fetch quests, and find the area where the boss fight is scripted to take place.
Shooter Gameplay: Ian has access to a fair number of ships, but which ship will be used is random except for boss fights. Ships range in size from tiny to gigantic. Smaller ships tend to be faster and more manuevarble while larger ships tend to be slower. The fastest ship, oddly, is a medium-sized ship. There is also a ship that is very large — a carrier. This ship is great despite its huge size and terribly slow speed because after sustaining one hit, your energy bar is refilled and the smallest ship available comes out of the bahemoth. Sadly, ship selection is random, and a large ship will often be selected for a level with tight spaces, but it's all part of the challenge, and that's what smart bombs are for.
Every ship that Ian pilots has a similar arsenal available. There is the ship's default weapon: usually a single shot round, but some of the larger ships fire two shots at a time to make up for being so tall. Smart bombs are also available in every ship. This is because Ian carries them. A smart bomb is activated by pressing the L button, and it kills all normal enemies on the screen and eliminates any enemy bullets. Finally, each ship's primary weapon is governed by the gun data Ian has equipped. There are three types of gun data, and one of each type is always equipped. The names are fairly self-explanatory, and the number of gun-data available creates a maximum of 15,680 different weapon configurations.
The shooter levels are fun, challenging, and varied, but sometimes the random ship selection can made a level nearly impossible (large ship in tight spaces). The boss fights are challenging, and there isn't any trick to doing well. The player's only avenue for advancement is to get better at controlling the ships and dodging the enemies.
Overall: If you like a decent and original shooter, give this game a shot. If you're looking for an RPG with a deep story, pass this game up. It's more shooter than RPG. The interesting and innovative weapon system in a lot of fun, and the inclusion of a New Game+ feature with multiple endings make this a game that can be played multiple times without getting tired.
Appendix: These are the gun data available in the game. You start with the Standard Cannon, Short Shot, and Absorb. The favorite on the GameFAQs message board seems to be Triple Node Orbit, Seeker Missile, Pass Through, and wouldn't you know it? All those gun data are found late in the game. A combination that worked for me that is available in Chapter 2 is Node Orbit, Heavy Shot, EXP Leech.
Cannon Type (how you shoot)
- Standard Cannon
- Rapid Cannon
- Triple Cannon
- Front/Back Cannon
- Vertical Cannon
- V Cannon
- Scatter Cannon
- Sprinkler Cannon
- Cross Cannon
- Vertical Alternating Cannon
- Horizontal Cannon
- Rotating Cannon
- Max Spread Cannon
- X Cannon
- Angle Cannon
- Free Movement Cannon
- Locked Movement Cannon
- Node Control Cannon
- Free Aim Cannon
- Twin Node
- Node Orbit
- Double Node Orbit
- Triple Node Orbit
- Sweeper
- Double Sweeper
- Patrol Node
- Double Patrol Node
- Mirror Node
Bullet Type (what you shoot)
- Short Shot
- Normal Shot
- Heavy Shot
- Charge Shot
- Double Shot
- Triple Shot
- Wave Shot
- Super Wave Shot
- Max Wave Shot
- Seeker Missiles
- Bomb
- Steer Shot
- Bubble Shot
- Mines
- Rocket
- Bounce Shot
- Ricochet Shot
- Power Shot
- Super Power Shot
- Max Power Shot
Impact Type (how it hits the enemy)
- Absorb
- Splinter
- Barrier
- Smolder
- Boomerang
- Wave Crash
- Vertical Spray
- Pass Through
- Ignite
- Fork
- Bubble
- Totem
- Shield
- Super Shield
- Bullet Eater
- EXP Leach
- Bomb Steal
- Duo Counter
- Trio Counter
- Quad Counter
- Ingest
- Revenge
- Air Quake
- Curse
- Vampire
- Super Vampire
- EXP Miner
- Super EXP Miner
Reference: http://www.gamefaqs.com