Star Soldier R

[Gabriel]

Finally! After months of uninteresting garbage after Lords of Thunder got it's Virtual Console release, something I was interested in finally showed up, this time on the new Wii Ware channel. The game I'm talking about is Star Soldier R. Normally I wouldn't even bother considering the game, since Nintendo continues it's approach of refusing to offer demos or trial versions of downloadable games. But I had some points left over from my purchase of Lords of Thunder (since Nintendo only lets you purchase in $10 increments) and decided there's probably never going to be anything else worthwhile, so I might as well spend the points and be done with it.

 

Star Soldier R is a vertically scrolling shooter. If you've played any other of it's ilk, it will seem familiar to you. I judge scrolling shooters on precious few criteria, and the main points they must answer two are three in number. Three there are, and the number of the criteria shall be three, no more, no less. Those qualities by which the games of this type are judged are: 1) Cool visuals, 2) Cool music, and 3) Gameplay which hits the sweet spot.

 

The first two are always a bit subjective. And the Wii is handicapped in the visual department right off the bat. The game also sees fit to only offer the player standard mechanical space scenery with very little variation. As with all Wii games, it looks like something from last gen, but it's a downloadable game, so it doesn't have to meet cutting edge standards, but it is disappointing after seeing other downloadable shooters like Super Stardust HD and Omega V. The special effects look nice, but the whole is more than a bit bland.

 

The music is OK. It's standard shooter fare. It gets the blood pumping well enough. In the final analysis, the first two grading points net the game a thorough "mediocre."

 

Now we get to gameplay. Does the game hit the "sweet spot" of difficulty? One thing it does to chase this is to set the game on a timer with unlimited lives. The other thing it does is allow the player ship multiple hits before being destroyed (depending on how many powerups you've grabbed). The game isn't very hard to play. Anyone will be able to complete the game's TWO whole stages. The challenge is chasing a score, which can indeed be challenging.

 

Otherwise the game is a good ol' rapid fire shooter where you mow down tons of enemies and grab little treasures zig-zagging across the screen. Challenge is self promoted, so players who suck and players who rule can both find something to do in the game.

 

There are three game modes. There are two timed modes, 2 and 5 minute, where you play through the game's two stages for points. The third mode is a Quick Shot mode where you must strategically place your shots for maximum score. Once again, there are TWO whole stages in this game, or three if you count the version in the Quick Shot mode. And that's it.

 

For bells and whistles. The game locally keeps track of your scores. There are also some internet leaderboards with an extremely clunky implementation (you have to manually refresh them every time, and it isn't quick). The options screen doesn't have much to offer, only allowing you to set your region and set weapon to either Auto or Auto/Manual. Hmmm. I wonder what difference the weapon setting makes? Perhaps I'll use the standard Wii option of pulling up the instructions.

 

And, when I pull up the operations guide for the game, I'm greeted by a control summary screen for the Wii Remote and Nunchuk and nothing else. Oh, that's just peachy, SINCE I'M USING THE CLASSIC CONTROLLER! It seems I'm SOL, because that's the only in game documentation I can look at.

 

The good news is that I can look at the full documentation which will have the answers to my question. All I have to do is click "View Detailed Instructions" and exit the game to go to the appropriate channel.

 

...

 

Yes. I have to exit the game to look at the instructions. TOTALLY BONEHEADED! Good thing it's not a complicated shooter. It's one of those you can just hold down fire and do pretty well. Still, it would be nice to know what button on the classic controller "Holds and releases" Forces without having to experiment or exit the game entirely to find out.

 

And that's it. I guess I could go on a bit, but that's really all the game offers. I don't really know entirely what to think about it. On the one hand, it's only $8, so should I really expect much? Then again, other downloadable games on other systems offer so much more than this game and are only $5 to $10. Hell, the Virtual Console games may not have the visual chops, but I'm sure you can find one that tops Star Soldier R. A mere two levels, especially ones as limp as the ones this game offers is pretty lame. And unlike Pac-Man Championship Edition, the time limit just makes the game feel unsatisfying.

 

I can't recommend this one. Download one of the Virtual Console Star Soldier games or Lords of Thunder instead. Star Soldier R is OK for a quick game, but even if it were a quarter muncher, I doubt you'd spend 32 credits on it if other games were available, and there are much better ones to be had. I doubt even the hardcore shooter fans will find much to like. It's not that the game totally stinks. In fact, it's kinda fun to play, but only kinda.

 

If this game had gotten a demo, I know I wouldn't have bought it.

 

Now that you're done, I'll freely admit I played the game for ONE whole hour. Some may say I didn't give it enough of a chance and/or don't see the depth and genius of this game. I hope they explain it to me or write their own review, because if it's there, I'm definitely missing it. I just saw a $8 game which was sparser than most Live Arcade free trial games.

[DaBargainHunta]

Thank you for the detailed review. It's much appreciated.

 

However, I have to ask: Did you do even a modicum of research before making your purchase? I mean, c'mon! Screenshots have been available for months. Info about the game's short length and score attack style, same thing. Heck, there's even a warning screen about the length of the game before you try to download it!. (I haven't purchased the game, but I did go through the steps just because I heard about the screen and wanted to see it for myself.)

 

It seems that you went into this completely blind. While Nintendo should offer demos, they don't - you know they don't and you know they never will. However, there has been tons of info, pics, videos, etc. about this game floating around for a while now because it has been on the Japanese WiiWare for a few months already. There's really no reason to be an uninformed consumer.

 

vc-reviews.com and wiiware-world.com might be good sites for you to bookmark.

Edited May 20, 2008 by DaBargainHunta

[Gabriel]

It seems that you went into this completely blind. While Nintendo should offer demos, they don't - you know they don't and you know they never will. However, there has been tons of info, pics, videos, etc. about this game floating around for a while now because it has been on the Japanese WiiWare for a few months already. There's really no reason to be an uninformed consumer.

 

vc-reviews.com and wiiware-world.com might be good sites for you to bookmark.

 

I'm sure we are all sometimes curious about games even when our gamer sense warns us of the impending danger. I went in thinking Star Soldier R could be either a short and unfulfilling experience or it could be an interesting timed pursuit of a score.

 

It doesn't hurt that the very first arcade game I was ever hooked on was Space Encounters, which is nothing more than a timed shooter. And while that game is certainly revealed to me nowadays as a putrid gob, I still remember the fun it provided when I was less (dare I say it?) refined. I had hoped Star Soldier R could revive those old feelings of excitement I had experienced in that old game through use of a similar broad concept. It isn't completely off the mark. Hudson was at least in the same zip code with this game, thus somewhat proving my curiousity had some small merit.

 

So, yeah, I learned what I kind of suspected deep down. I didn't get to be 10 again, even for a moment. Star Soldier R leans severely towards my first expectation. On the other hand, it wasn't like it was Soul Calibur Legends or anything.

[jbanes]

I don't really know entirely what to think about it. On the one hand, it's only $8, so should I really expect much? Then again, other downloadable games on other systems offer so much more than this game and are only $5 to $10. Hell, the Virtual Console games may not have the visual chops, but I'm sure you can find one that tops Star Soldier R. A mere two levels, especially ones as limp as the ones this game offers is pretty lame. And unlike Pac-Man Championship Edition, the time limit just makes the game feel unsatisfying.

That pretty much sums up my feelings as well. The game itself is not too bad, but the shortness of it is extremely jarring. You just start getting into the game before your clock runs out and you get kicked out.

 

Honestly, if Hudson had sprung for 4 more levels, they could have really shook things up here. They could have added a campaign mode and made the later levels super-hard so that the game doesn't feel too short. Which is currently a problem, because there simply isn't enough here to truly satisfy. Even the levels that we were given are extremely short by shmup standards. The second boss is super-hard, but that's about it for redeeming features.

 

I want to like this game. I really do. But it just leaves me confused.

 

Oh well, I'll play it some more and see if I can beat the regional 45th place I'm in.

 

Edit: 32nd in NE region! Yay! Almost good enough to see on the Records screen. Almost...

Edited May 20, 2008 by jbanes

[Cybergoth]

That's not Wiiware, that's Crippleware!

[Gabriel]

Edit: 32nd in NE region! Yay! Almost good enough to see on the Records screen. Almost...

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention something else about the online leaderboards. They only load the top 30 scores. Not in the top 30? Then you spent the time refreshing the leaderboards for nothing. There's no option for a friends filter or anything.

[jbanes]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention something else about the online leaderboards. They only load the top 30 scores. Not in the top 30? Then you spent the time refreshing the leaderboards for nothing. There's no option for a friends filter or anything.

I did find a solution to this. Apparently the leaderboard is published on the Japanese Star Soldier R website. (Though not on the US site... WTF?) They do combine all the regionals into one page (which kind of sucks), but at least you can see them. You can find my score (WIIRKS: 751,600) here:

 

http://www.hudson.co.jp/wii/wiiware/starso...king_j2_03.html

 

There's also a super-secret tips page here:

 

http://www.hudson.co.jp/wii/wiiware/starso...sa/e/guide.html

 

Pay attention to those and you'll take the high score in no time flat.

[ubersaurus]

Once again I must vehemently disagree with your assessment. I'm loving Star Soldier R. I dig those Caravan style timed games, where you compete for score. That's what this is, and it makes no argument that it isn't. Like Pac-Man CE, you gotta know how to actually build your score. And you can't suck, either.

 

I've played it quite a bit, and have had a good time. Very cool game, and perfect for people who want a quick game of something when they have a few minutes to kill.

 

Also the "hardcore shooter fans" over on shmups are praising this game quite a bit.

Edited May 23, 2008 by ubersaurus