Sinistron (TurboGrafx 16) text review

Sinistron is a horizontal scrolling shooter, shmup, similar in style and theme to games like

Gradius and R-Type. In many ways it is as simple as they come; you jump right into the game and start blasting away at enemies. There is the obligatory plot of a menace taking over the world, in this case the Sinstron, and it’s up to you to put a stop to it. While enjoyable enough and competent where it counts, the game does have a few points that make it stand out from the crowd...some of which is good, and some that is not so good.

As mentioned above, like so many classic shmups the game scrolls horizontally to the right. Your job is to blast your way through the enemies, get to the level’s boss, then proceed to the next level. That sounds so simple, and mechanically speaking, it really is. Sinistron is not very complicated. In a lot of ways it feels pretty bare bones. No hidden stages or bosses. No secrets to unlock. There really isn’t any nifty hidden tricks that I am aware of or could find on the web. Simple. Except that challenge-wise Sinistron is very much not a simple game. Personally, I would describe the difficulty as brutal. I’m far from an expert player, and I’m definitely not a shmup god, but I’ve made my way through a number of very challenging games through the years. Amazingly enough, I was able to finish Sinistron and would probably include it among the top 10 most challenging games that I’ve ever completed. I might even say it is the most difficult game that I’ve completed. The only reason this is possible is because the game gives you infinite continues.

So how is Sinistron so difficult? Initially the game lulls you to sleep a bit. The first three stages are a breeze. Things seem pretty simple. Then the difficulty ramps up significantly through the final three stages. You might think that this is the new difficulty plateau for the game and find yourself saying “Ok, this is how it’s gonna be from here on out”. Not so, as the game gets increasingly difficult until the end. Enemies get harder to kill and you will find yourself getting swarmed, surrounded, and boxed in rather quickly.

One of the other saving graces of the game, besides the infinite continues, is that each level has a checkpoint that you can continue from. This works really well and is one of the truly exceptional aspects of the game. On some levels you may find yourself relieved to have reached that checkpoint and can then battle your way through to the end. However, this is not always the case. If you have played R-Type before, you know that those checkpoints can be a hindrance more than a blessing. Where Sinistron really gets it right is that once you have reached the checkpoint and die, you can then choose to continue at the checkpoint or start over at the beginning of the level. There were a few times that I found myself using this gracious option, as some levels are best tackled from beginning to end with all of those luscious power-ups that you gain throughout. This doesn’t really make the game less challenging, as it is a true challenge, but it gives you options and doesn’t force you into a corner.

Now about those power-ups. The weapons upgrades are your usual fare, waves, fire, homing, as well as speed and satellite pods that surround your ship. But wait, there’s more! This is another area where Sinistron sets itself apart from the rest of the crowd. Your ship starts out with common pea shooter and what looks like a lance or spear-like formation on it’s nose. This

The spear/jaw thingy, pic courtesy of TMola@gamefaqs

“spear” can absorb common shots from enemies and also be used to damage enemies, as long as they don’t reach the body of your ship. Now the neat part: collect a weapon power-up and you can open the “spear” and your shots will then spread out. The drawback is that the front of your ship is then exposed and can be damaged if a shot or enemies makes it’s way between the open “spear”, which is more like an open beak or jaw. If you collect another power-up, you can then open the front of the ship further, which gives you a wider spread of blaster shots. And yes, you guessed it, this will also further expose the front of your ship to damage. With this you can cycle through the three stages of the ship’s nose configuration: closed to a fine point, slightly open, or wide open. It’s this mechanic of opening and closing of the nose of your ship that really becomes the key to success in Sinistron. You will find yourself strategically spreading out the nose, slightly or wide-open, at some points to not only spread your fire, but also to angle the defensive wall about the front of your ship. Sometimes you will opt to close the nose to fortify your ship from frontal attacks and to reach out and touch enemies with it in addition to concentrating your fire. It’s really a simple, but cool, useful, and unique gameplay mechanic that plays a crucial part in finding success in the game. There is also a “charge” shot that sends out a circular blast around your ship. As you can tell, a balance of offense and defense is the name of the game in Sinistron.

The graphics in the game are nice enough. In this regard the game is pretty much in the middle of the pack. You might even classify the looks as a bit generic. That’s not too much of a drawback, as it can be pretty hard to mess up on the tried and true space shmup look. Sinistron just doesn’t really do anything exceptional in this department, nor does it ever try to. The enemies don’t stand out much and are pretty much just canon fodder to blast your way through. As you might expect, they do have some of that H.R. Giger-esque quality that so many shmups borrowed from the classic Alien film franchise. This has been done to death in shmups of the era, but I’ve never minded it one bit. It’s just that Sinistron does the Giger and standard space enemy routine in a pretty bland and by the numbers fashion, whereas a game like R-Type invests itself into that look and feel and draws you in by the variety and creativity the developers put into it. In the audio department things are equally as vanilla. Nothing too bad, but there is a nice enough music track here and there.

If you’ve read to this point of the review, you might not know if you should play the game or not. This is a game that definitely has it’s ups and down. In my opinion the highs do outweigh the lows, as the lows are not really that low…just a bit generic and uninspired. Gameplay and controls are always the make or break deal on a shmup, and this is where Sinistron really does it’s best. The control of the ship feels spot-on and the nose-mechanic of the ship is interesting and of great strategic value. The look and feel of the game just feel a bit dialed-in by comparison. This run of the mill look and feel doesn’t lend itself to repeated play sessions of the game. We have all played any number of games through the years that we will go back to just to relive the experience and atmosphere of the game again; Sinsitron probably won’t be calling out to you in that way. However, the difficulty is definitely where the game will either draw you in or smother your interest. As I said, the infinite continues and optional mid-level checkpoints will help you navigate through the brutal difficulty, but Sinistron is truly brutal. If it’s a stiff challenge you are looking for, you will most definitely find it in Sinistron’s increasingly difficult six stages. Give it a try if you have the chance. Enjoy the tight controls and nifty gameplay mechanics…but don’t say I didn’t warn you. If you keep a swear-jar around the house, it might be best to dispense with the practice while you’re clawing your way through Sinistron.