Game:

Sylphia (1993)

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Good day gamers! Do you have a lot of disposable income to burn and want to get something that "may" put a smile on your face? Do you like "retro" games? Then why not grab yourself a copy of the PC Engine CD's "Sylphia"!

Is it worth it? NO, but it's still a pretty fine game regardless that could use its praises being sang a little more! "Sylphia" is a fairly typical vertical shoot-em-up with a bit of an identity crisis and a theme that isn't seen often enough in the genre, adopting a Greek Fantasy setting. While the game was released in late 1993 by Tonkin House (Tokyo Shoseki Co.,Ltd.), the game's primary development was handled by the fine folks over at Compile (who have created numerous legendary shmups from the 80s and 90s) but they aren't credited AT ALL. Many of the staff members were also involved in other Compile works and the game was even listed on their personal homepage at one time as the developers until it was eventually pulled. Whether the game was ultimately sub-contracted to Tonkin House or Compile decided not to self-publish the game at the list minute, the world may never know...

Sylphia is unusual in the sense that it doesn't use the CD medium to shoehorn loads of cutscenes or unnecessary exposition (it mainly uses it for redbook-level audio tracks) and has a limited amount of scenes and illustrations that poignantly set the stage and tone of the game. The powers of the underworld controlled by Hades, the king of the dead, have been unleashed on the surface world and Zeus and the gods of Olympus are caught off guard, becoming overwhelmed and retreating to the heavens to regroup. With no one left on Earth to check Hades, his hordes roam the lands, slaughtering everyone in sight. Meanwhile, a lone girl fights courageously to defend her people from Thessaly to Athens to Olympus but is eventually overwhelmed by Hades' forces and staggers to the holy temple leaving a trail of blood. On the verge of death's door, the Olympic gods are moved by her bravery and combine the last of their power to bring hope to the people, transforming her into a demi-god with incredible power named "Sylphia the Sylph" (Fairy).

With her new power in tow, Sylphia blitzes her way through the forces of evil, killing man, machine, demons, heretics and anyone else who stands in her way of getting revenge against Hades. The game is a strange combination of "Phelios" and Compile's own "Aleste" series and the player will traverse eight stages with nice, varying locales from city ruins to old shrines to under water skirmishes in the Aegean Sea to a battle in the clouds to even a Japanese interpretation of the Greek "River Styx" (the Sanzu River or "Sanzu-no-Kawa"). The graphics are above average as well as the soundtrack with great attention to detail and a surprising amount of sheer enemy and obstacle variety to keep you on your toes. Most bosses are based off of Greek deities such as Medusa, Scylla, the Harpy and more, and many ore large (a few take up a good portion of the screen) and the game has little in the ways of slowdown. There aren't too many options to configure, but there are several difficulty settings if the game is too hard or easy for you (the default is a good challenge but is a little on the easier side after one or two attempts).

On the subject of difficulty, Sylphia is a little on the easier side no matter how you slice it. As a demi-god, the player can gain control of the four primary elements (Fire / Water / Wind / Earth with Wind naturally being OP as you are a SYLPH) and can also take three hits before losing a life. The player can upgrade their arsenal by grabbing the same element consecutively (sub weapon) as well as collecting green gems (power chips for the main weapon) that pop out from enemies and objects, maxing both at level four. There are also diamonds to collect which fill up a small gauge by your health and, when full, will give you an extra "bomb" stock in the form of Sylphia's ultimate attack, the "Lightning Bolt". When this attack is activated, she will shoot a narrow blast of energy and be temporarily invincible.

While the player will lose all their power upon death, they will conversely recover all their health if they get hit but manage to clear the stage without dying. The game is a little longer than the average shmup of the day and while it received surprisingly middling reviews from Japanese magazine reviews, it performs respectably well in regards to the PCE's capabilities. I wouldn't call it the system's top shooter, but I'd be hard-pressed not to see it on one's top ten for PCECD games and with a system with about 50 different shooters, that's not too shabby. This is a video of the game in action. Enjoy.

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