Sinistron is a weird one. Although it was released two years after the Turbo Grafx debuted in America it still bore the look of an early release. That’s not a knock on the game necessarily but I do think if it had been release near launch it would have fared more favorably. By 1991-92 some truly impressive games were released for the system making the game look dated in comparison. Looks aren’t everything of course but they would have helped in this case. There are some good ideas but the game’s inconsistent nature leaves Sinistron a less than favorable choice compared to its competition.
As far as weapons go the standard set are present, a laser, Vulcan cannon, and homing missiles. Two invincible pods can be picked up that orbit both sides of your ship and can be used to damage enemies (hint, hint). If you forego turbo fire you can hold down the attack button to charge up a quick circular shield that honestly has no real purpose. It lasts a split second which isn’t long enough to protect you and does weak damage. The real meat of the game’s weapon system comes from the weird nose attached to your ship.
Upon starting the game you’ll notice a golden nose on your ship that makes it look like a Platypus. As silly as it looks this is the game’s most interesting mechanic. This cone like object functions as a shield and will absorb bullets and destroy enemies on contact. More interesting than that however is that it can be opened on the fly to cover a wider range once you have collected a power-up. It also changes said weapon, making it fire wider in a 3 and 5 shot arc. With greater power comes a drawback as it leaves the very front of the ship exposed. Manipulating the nose to fit the current situation is one of the game’s best elements as without it this would be a typical shooter.
As much as I like that mechanic though I wish it were attached to a better game. Sinistron seems to be a game of two halves. The first half of the game is as rudimentary as shooters come with preset enemy formations and positioning that anyone can navigate. The only slight challenge comes from the aggressive end level bosses. It is in the second half that things become more interesting. These later levels feature a wider playing field so that your overly large ship can actually maneuver properly and a relentless onslaught of enemies that will forces memorization of enemy placement for survival. It’s a level of intensity I wish were present throughout the entire game; even though it may seem a bit cheap at times it is still manageable. You’ll just have to slog through the boring opening levels to find the greatness that awaits.
Much like the level design the difficulty is all over the place. Part of this comes from the weapon selection. No matter which option chosen they all feel weak. Keeping the nose closed produces the most powerful shot but that isn’t always an option. The later stages, specifically deep space and organ are frustratingly cheap with enemies that attack from behind or drop in out of sight due to the vertically scrolling field. If you die it starts a hopeless spiral as you start off from a checkpoint with the weak pea shooter. As I mentioned previously it isn’t impossible but it could certainly have used some semblance of balance.
Like the rest of the game Sinistron is inconsistent and a bit spartan in its presentation. Surprisingly there are a few backgrounds with a layer of parallax scrolling; the early games for the system are noted for looking flat as creators had not yet managed to work around its limitations. Seeing it here is a bit of a shock. However there are just as many ugly static backdrops. It makes up for this by having large sprites among its colorful backdrops, especially the screen filling bosses. Despite the amount of onscreen chaos at times there is no slowdown or flicker. I found the music to be far better than the graphics although that isn’t saying much.
In Closing
So where does Sinistron fall in the spectrum of Turbo Grafx shooters? It’s a decent game but unfortunately it exists on a system with far too many excellent games in the genre. Only recommended for those looking for a really high challenge.
