To most PS2 owners, Silpheed: The Lost Planet seems like an original title, but in all actuality, it’s a sequel to a greatly loved Sega CD title. The original Silpheed (developed by Game Arts) was groundbreaking in its day. Today the game looks like an Atari 2600 game that somehow made it into 3D, but even with primitive graphics the gameplay remains great. There was real strategy as to which weapons to choose during different situations, and the enemy placement was well designed -- both of which are key to shooter success.
"Silpheed may be simple in design, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy."
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The fact that Silpheed: The Lost Planet is a few degrees more simplistic than its predecessor is shocking, especially since the original Silpheed came out over ten years ago. The age difference isn’t the only surprising factor, though -- Silpheed: The Lost Planet was developed by Treasure. Treasure is known for games that clearly have a lot of thought put into every aspect of their design, but if Silpheed: The Lost Planet was your primary Treasure experience you’d never know that. While this game does everything right, it’s a pretty by-the-books shooter when you boil everything down.
Blast Alien Spacecrafts, Dodge Bullets, Rinse, Repeat
As you can probably guess, the only thing to do in Silpheed is shoot aliens and dodge bullets. It probably isn’t much of a shocker, as there usually isn’t much more to any game in the entire genre, but it’s important to note nonetheless. However, it’s always the fine details that separate the atomic bombs from the empty shells in this genre, and Silpheed does just enough right to save it from the scrap-heap.
Probably the most unique thing about Silpheed is the fact that your ship is equipped with a weapon on each wing. This means you’re able to pick two different weapons (or two of the same) each time you fly out, and you’re able to change them when the re-fueling ship appears mid-level. There are nine unique weapons, but some are more useful than others. Chances are you’ll find a favorite combination and stick to it throughout the game. I personally found the 7-Beam/Napalm Bomb combination to be the most capable, though you might like the dual-optical lasers option; it’s really up to you.
Expect Some Turbulence
As I said, you can probably stick to one combination of weapons, but it’s a real shame that you’re able to since it emphasizes the simplicity of the game. There isn’t really much challenge to dodging most of the bullet storms in the game, as almost all larger bullets can be shot and destroyed. The regular enemies are fairly easy to defeat because they require a minimal amount of bullets to destroy, and there’s almost no environmental interaction, something a lot of shooters could use more of.
"Silpheed does just enough right to save it from the scrap-heap."
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Silpheed may be simple in design, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. While it isn’t as hard as Treasure’s more recent Gradius V, Silpheed is definitely not a cake-walk. The high difficulty comes mostly from the ridiculously overpowered bosses you face twice a level. The mini-bosses are probably a degree or two easier than the actual bosses, and rightfully so, though the first few times you cross lasers with them you’ll probably come out with a lot less life than you went in with, or you’ll die and have to restart the entire level. Just like all shooters, though, you’ll play the mini-boss enough times to get his pattern memorized. It’s the main bosses that really turn up the heat.
A Beautiful Challenge
The main bosses will spank you and your spacecraft six ways ’til Sunday, and you’ll curse their existence every time. You’ll mutter, or sometimes scream the classic frustrated-shooter-player-lines, such as "How many shots does this guy take!" or my personal favorite "God, that’s so cheap!" This frustration isn’t alleviated by the game’s insistence that you play through the entire level once your ship is destroyed -- there are absolutely no mid-level checkpoints.
"If Silpheed were a woman, it would be the very definition of a trophy wife"
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While it might irritate you that you have to play through the entire level, it does help that this game is one of the prettiest shooters yet -- an impressive feat considering how early this game came out. The environments are detailed sharply, and the ship animations are smooth. Some might like to hear that there is absolutely no slowdown, but the most important detail is the fact that the bullets clearly stand out from the background. The soundtrack is also well composed and fits the game nicely, even if it’s slightly generic. The driving rhythm and exciting melodies help drive you along, especially when you don’t feel like shooting that tentacle-infested airplane down for the fifteenth time.
Audio and visual beauty aside, replaying levels because you can’t get through them is the extent of the replay value in Silpheed. You can’t save your progress, so if you turn the game off you start from square-one. A dedicated player will be able to finish the game in a couple hours, which is typical length for a shooter, but small when compared to most other PS2 games. If they included anything, maybe a co-op mode, the replay value would have been far greater than it stands now, because right now there is basically none.
A Trophy Wife
If Silpheed were a woman, it would be the very definition of a trophy wife -- beautiful to look at, easy to be around for small amounts of time, but practically no depth can be found upon further inspection. Silpheed: The Lost Planet is worth its budget price for shooter fans and Treasure enthusiasts, but all other gamers should consider this a no-fly zone.
