Many Wii owners might be tempted to pass this game up simply because it is a rail shooter, but they would be doing themselves a great disservice because Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is not your usual by-the-numbers rail shooter with endless waves of ho-hum enemy designs. Rather, it is a exhilarating feast of imaginative level and art design paired with more than solid shooting mechanics and controls, some epic boss fights and breakneck pacing. Its parts may not sound like much, but the sum of them is a must play for anyone who wants a hardcore experience on the Wii.
Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is described by most people as a rail shooter and for the most part that is an accurate description. However, even though the experience is on rails and will move forward at its own automated pace, the game is set in a third person perspective and you still have full control of your character, making the act of dodging attacks simple and graceful. You only have one melee attack, one weapon that shoots out a rapid stream of plasma bullets, and a more explosive charge shot (the alternate character can target enemies and shoot off several shots), but rather than making the game shallow and one-dimensional, this lack of variety in the weaponry makes the game feel more tense. You can't simply get a bigger and better weapon as the difficulty ramps up, so you have to adapt by becoming a better, more disciplined player. Most of the bosses will require well-timed dodges and a sound strategy, so sloppy bullet spamming is not an option here.
The game is broken up into seven somewhat lengthy levels with several mini-bosses and a harder final boss. The encounters with regular enemies are nicely paced and provide a fairly exciting respite from boss encounters, but the boss fights are where most of this game's substance is. These bosses are aggressive and will not let you get away with sloppy playing. If you're looking for a game in which you can coast through boss fights, go play something else because Sin and Punishment will only serve to frustrate you. There are several reasons for this. One is that you have an extremely short health meter (and there are not many health packs present) in comparison to the bosses who have huge life meters that go through several phases before they are depleted. Another reason is that the bosses will relentlessly attack you and have considerable variety in their patterns, keeping the player on their toes. The bosses also throw a lot of crap at you, forcing you to dodge continuously. However, while difficult, the bosses are not cheap and it is extremely rewarding when they go down.
To make your job easier, the controls are responsive and the various control imputs options work well (especially the Wiimote and numchuck), stressing simple intuitiveness over any other consideration. The anti-cumbersome nature of the controls makes player skill paramount. You won't be wrestling with the controls. Instead, you will be wrestling with genuine challenge.
Boss fights are just one reason this game is so exhilarating. The other is the level design. Though the mechanics of the game are simple, there is a lot of variety in the way that the levels are presented. Sometimes you'll zip through tunnels and corridors; sometimes you'll be flying vertically; sometimes horizontally; sometimes you'll be running on the ground; sometimes you'll be hovering above the environments; sometimes you'll have to break through bricks with your plasma sword; sometimes you'll have to fly through rings; sometimes you'll be flying through the skies ala Space Harrier; etc. The levels are constantly shifting, so that the action never starts to feel like an endless loop of enemies. Not to mention that boss fights themselves offer plenty of variety. Every one of them is unique and some of them are plain unexpected, like a troupe of dolphins or a giant saber-tooth tiger that chases you across a desert highway.
Also contributing to this sense of exhilarating variety is the visual presentation. The environments run the gamut from gorgeous aqua tunnels to steampunky cities and fortresses to futuristic desert settings, and they are all presented with tons of enthusiasm and visual energy. You can find plenty of blurry textures if you're the type to nitpick and the character designs are so bad that the characters look more like androids than humans, but during regular gameplay, the game is a visual feast, with enough flash and detail and enemy design variety (you'll see some pretty crazy looking enemies) to make the on-rails experience dynamic and interesting to look at for the rather brief time it takes to get to the end of the game.
That leads me to something that one might consider a negative when considering purchasing this game. Being a rail shooter, the game can go by rather quickly. A moderately good player can probably beat the game in five hours. However, this is the kind of game in which you will feel compelled to beat the higher difficulties and improve your score, so the length is ultimately not a problem as long as you know what you are getting into.
The sound design is appropriately chaotic and the music has a nice old school Japanese arcade vibe to it, but the story is pretty dopey, is convoluted, and is fraught with awful voice acting, but it also seems to take itself seriously, so I'd advise you to use your skip button. This is definitely not a game where you need a story to motivate you.
For gamers that want hardcore experiences and take issue with the Wii's myriad of mini-game collections, this game was made for you. And if you don't have a problem with the mini-game collections, but just like fun games with exciting level design and engaging action, this game was also made for you. Just know that this is a short but sweet experience that will sometimes test your patience if you're not used to this sort of game.
GAMEPLAY: 5/5
DESIGN: 4.5/5
STORY: 2/5
VISUALS: 4/5
PLAYABILITY: 4.5/5
VALUE: 3.5/5