797th played so far

Genre: Shoot ‘Em Up
Platform: Wii
Year of Release: 2009
Developer: Treasure/Nintendo SPD
Publisher: Nintendo

It hasn’t been that long since I played Sin & Punishment, a rail shooter with quite a bit of movement that became quite chaotic and difficult to keep up with. It took nearly a decade for the game to get a sequel, but here it is on the Wii, with some better graphics and anything else that I assume you’d get after 9 years.

Our Thoughts

On the whole, Successor of the Skies is a more of the same. For the most part, it’s a rail shooter that has you floating around with a jetpack and move through these futuristic environments. You fight against all sorts of enemies, with one standout sequence leading you through tunnels that run through the ocean, with fish jumping in and out and you having to fight off these giant sea serpents that go in and out of the tube. It’s a decent set of set pieces that worked quite well.

Even outside the upgrades in that sense, the game felt more playable than its original. The controls feels better, but the entire field, while still busy, doesn’t feel as chaotic. I find it easier to know what to shoot and how to find weak points, and while there are still some places where I struggled, it felt better, including with some more frequent checkpoints.

Now, there’s a story, but I don’t think it makes much of a difference to the path you take (although I could be wrong there, having only taken one!). I’ve got it in my notes as very anime, with some over the top characters and storylines. It’s nice for it to go in that direction – it’s all colourful and less serious, which makes it quite a bit better.

Final Thoughts

Sin & Punishment: Successor of the Skies is a lot more playable than its predecessor. It feels quite a bit easier to progress, with the controls feeling better and the screen less chaotic. It was quite good and it was quite a bit further where I started to struggle with the bosses – and even then I felt more impetus to keep going.