Sin & Punishment: Successor of the Earth (N64) Review

Sin and Punishment is a great game; it has decent graphics, great audio, and gameplay that keeps you seated until the very end. Sadly, the end will come all too soon, as this game is one of the shortest games I’ve ever played for the N64.

The game sees you in a post-apocalyptic Japan waging war against the ’Ruffians’, a former prey turned predator, and unfortunately for the player, there’s a lot of them. Luckily, most of them aren’t too powerful, and with good aim you can take them out easily with your gun. If an enemy gets too close, a tap of the ’trigger-button’ will use your sword, your most powerful weapon. And you might find yourself, as I did, using the sword as much as possible. The boss enemies are usually easy to defeat, though sometimes there’s a trick to doing so and it may take you a while to figure it out.

Other enemies are the ’Armed Volunteers’, an international organisation designed to defend against the ’Ruffians’, but who abused their power to control the people as well. That’s where the player comes in, controlling the protagonist Saki, and sometimes his friend Airan. As part of the ’Savior Group’, it is your job to overthrow the ’Armed Volunteers’, as well as destroy the ’Ruffians’. While this may sound like an impossible task for two people, you are helped along the way by Achi, the leader of the ’Savior Group’. Unfortunately, the story jumps around a lot, and you may need to play through the game twice to make sense of it all.

Even Saki looks more feminine than half the female characters, though his voice (particularly his grunts after being hit or jumping) gives his gender away quickly, though there may be some confusion at first. Most of the time you will probably have no idea what’s going on, so it’s probably best to ignore the story altogether (you won’t miss out on much) and treat it as any other on-rails shooter. As a sort of pseudo on-rails shooter, you follow a set path, but can run and dodge to the side, as well as double-jump. You will need these skills to get through obstacle courses through-out the game, and of course to dodge attacks from the ’Ruffians’.

The controls are perfect for the Classic Controller, and will make playing the game great fun and leave little frustration. The levels are fun and well designed, and there are plenty of enemies to blast with your gun, which rarely feels tedious. In fact, partway through the second level I was in awe at just how cool Saki looked destroying a flock of Ruffian bird-like enemies.

The graphics are also rather good for the N64, and while you may cringe at the size and shape of Saki’s shorts, you can’t help but admire the beautiful scenery and great effects. The enemies look great also, and Saki’s friends look good and are well animated. Audio is good too, though the voice acting seems a little cheesy at first. Its soundtrack, while not particularly memorable, does suit the game well.

Most importantly, the gameplay is great, and well worth your 1200 Wii Points. The only thing really wrong with it is the length, and when Sin and Punishment 2 comes out I really hope that they fix that.