SILPHEED:The Lost Planet - PlayStation 2

Any gamer with a functioning brain knows that great graphics alone do not make a good game. True enough, but great graphics CAN have a dramatic impact on the overall experience, and this applies more to the shooter genre than to many others. Blowing up articulated enemy fighters in intricately detailed environments is just so much more satisfying than blowing up blocky little peons while flying past bland, uninspired scenery that looks like it could've been lifted from a dozen other games of the same type. The designers of Silpheed: The Lost Planet know this very well and have created an old-school, vertically-scrolling shooter of such visual intensity that it's almost as much fun to watch as it is to play. Enemies are well-designed hybrids of alien life and human technology, CG movies look marvelous, the different stages boast tons of detail and a good amount of variety, and the framerate and animation are smooth as silk, with no significant slowdown or choppiness to be found.Aesthetic appeal aside, Silpheed: TLP is plenty solid. There is nothing revolutionary to be found here, but why bother trying to re-invent the wheel? If the gameplay is there and it's not too short, too hard, or too easy, then chances are most shooter fans are going to be reasonably satisfied. No exception here. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with the game. That is, unless you count having to go back to the beginning of the stage when you get killed and continue. Don't worry too much about that, though. Unlike most other shooters, your ship here can take some licks and not immediately blow up. Ten direct hits and you're dead. There's one point in every stage where four of your energy blocks will be replenished and you'll also have the opportunity to switch weapons. There are several to choose from and you can take two at a time, but you can't access them all right away; you'll have to progress in the game.Without a doubt, the biggest flaw here is the distinct lack of superfluous goodies. There are no speed boosters, no additional ships to choose from, no screen-clearing smart bombs, no nothing! You can individually fire your left and right weapons, but you'll find dearth of purpose in doing that since you can use them both at the same time with impunity. Ergo, you can beat the game using only one button (not including the directional pad, of course).On the audio front, the music is sufficient but not remarkable (except perhaps for the boss fight music, which conveys a suitably frantic feeling). Same goes for the "pilot's log" voice which precedes each stage. Throughout the game you'll hear transmissions from your fellow Silpheed pilots, but good luck deciphering them all. It's certainly nice, though, to know that humanity has decided to send more than one person to fight the coming wave of annihilation for a change. You won't see your buddies and they have no impact on the game, but it's an admirable touch nonetheless.If you want to see your name on the upper portion of the high score board, you're gonna have to take some risks. The number of points you get for blowing up your adversaries increases as the physical distance between them and you diminishes. This system makes it quite tempting to indulge in all sorts of daredevil antics and foolhardy laughter in the face of death. You may find yourself running on a prayer, screaming at your weapons to shoot faster and sweating bullets trying not to flinch as seemingly endless enemy fire zeroes in on you (particularly while fighting big bad nasty bosses). These are the moments that shooter fans live for, and Silpheed certainly has its share of them.This is the first old-school shooter new to the PS2 (Konami's Gradius collection doesn't count) and, despite its shortage of innovation, it sets the bar at a pretty good height. But, I don't think it's unrealistic to expect future shooters for the system to surpass Silpheed: TLP.

This is one of those games that is fantastic and that sadly lurk just beneath the radar because most people are too busy with often inferior big-budget titles to take any notice.Silpheed is an old-school space shooter with a very high quality presentation, excellent gameplay and a packaging that will definitely catch the eye of any PlayStation 2 collector. I am glad I bought this game for my collection.

it was ok

I remember having this game ages ago, and I'm very glad that this copy was in such pristine condition with everything included.

Always rented this game back then but now i have it for my self, great game :3

Great game great price

This was a gift for my son. He absolutely loved it! Thank you for the great service!

Just what I wanted