Posts Tagged ‘suda 51’
The Silver Case Now Available in English on Steam
Suda 51 (Goichi Suda) is a developer who, as his name suggests, thinks outside the box. His notable titles include Killer 7, No More Heroes, Shadows of the Damned, and Lollipop Chainsaw. I am also personally a big fan of Michigan: Report from Hell and Sine Mora as well. One of the first titles he wrote and directed was a visual novel/mystery title called The Silver Case that released on the Playstation. Unfortunately it never got localized (or fan translated) and thus has never been available in English, until now. I’m told the gameplay is similar to Snatcher or Policenauts (without shooting sequences) but that Suda’s distinct sense of style and crazy plot are present. It also has a fantastic soundtrack, which is also available on Steam.
This localized and overhauled title is available now on Steam with a retail price of $19.99 (and 10% off for an initial block of days). There is a free demo available and we hope to get you a quick look in the upcoming days.
Let’s Play Michigan: Report from Hell
Here’s our complete Let’s Play of the PS2 Japan/Europe exclusive by Grasshopper Manufacture and Suda51, Michigan: Report from Hell.
Sine Mora (Grasshopper Manufacture/Digital Reality)
Many would tell you that the shmup is officially dead in the United States, especially when you consider that we’ve never been all that hot at creating titles for the genre and recent sales for retail titles (Deathsmiles, Otomedius) suck. Fortunately a venture between the eccentric Suda 51 (Killer 7, No More Heroes) with his development team Grasshopper Manufacture and Hungarian developer Digital Reality (mostly PC MMOs) brings one of the best contemporary shmups to date.
Sine Mora is all over the place. I can’t quite make out the language, but there’s clearly some German in the spoken word, although looking over the development teams perhaps I’m mistaking a Hungarian/Japanese hybrid for German. A complex story is told in the main campaign, the key to unlocking the true staple shmup options, but don’t worry if you don’t get it because it’s all text-based and has no relevance to the action. Characters are anthropomorphic versions of various animals from leopards to buffalo and even an incomprehensible robot. I was also surprised that while the activities in the game aren’t mature, it definitely deserves its M rating with some severely adult themes and language in the dialogue.
After you strip away all that, it’s just a solid horizontal shmup with gorgeous graphics in a steam punk world. That previous statement honestly sells the graphics short because as a download title the game is stunning. With 2.5D graphics (3D rendered characters on a 2D plane, much like recent fighter Street Fighter IV) it amazes me how close the actual graphics are to the concept art (see example below) and the attention to detail shows. What’s a shmup without boss battles, right? Well Sine Mora is not only filled with them, but they were all conceptually created by legendary anime artist Mahiro Maeda (of Neon Genesis Evangelion fame). Each ship also has enough detail to be distinguishable, which is useful when trying to imagine the pilots that occupy it and the strengths/weaknesses when using them. There are also big sweeping moments within the levels that allow you to enjoy the landscape and aircraft you’re piloting before returning to the battle.
Concept Art vs. Actual Visuals. Impressive, no?
Gaming History 101 