Silpheed
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| Silpheed | |
|---|---|
 Cover art |
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| Developer(s) | Game Arts |
| Publisher(s) | Game Arts, Sierra, Sega |
| Designer(s) | Takeshi Miyaji |
| Platform(s) | PC-8801, FM-7, MS-DOS, TRS-80 CoCo, Apple IIGS, Mega-CD |
| Release date(s) | 1986, 1993 |
| Genre(s) | Shoot 'em up Third-person rail shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Silpheed (シルフィード Shirufīdo) (pronounced "Sil-Feed") is a video game series developed by Game Arts and designed by the late Takeshi Miyaji.[1] It made its debut on the Japanese PC-8801 in 1986, and was ported to the Fujitsu FM-7 and MS-DOS formats soon after. It was later remade for the Mega-CD and has a sequel called Silpheed: The Lost Planet for the PlayStation 2.
Silpheed is the name of the spacecraft that the player controls. Like many shooter games, the story involves using the Silpheed as Earth's last effort to save itself from destruction by a powerful enemy invasion. The game was notable for its early use of real-time 3D polygonal graphics and a tilted third-person perspective.[2]
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[edit] Computer versions
The original Silpheed game was created for the PC-8801 in 1986. Another version for the FM-7 was released in 1988. In the same year, the game was brought to the United States for the first time by Sierra On-Line who ported the game to PCs and other platforms. Despite the rather limited hardware used, the game featured real-time 3D polygonal graphics and a tilted third-person perspective.[2]
[edit] Mega-CD version
The Mega-CD port of Silpheed features polygon ships over a pre-rendered video background; this method is also seen in other video game titles, such as Namco's StarBlade in 1991, Sony Imagesoft's Bram Stoker's Dracula in 1992, and Micronet's A/X-101 in 1994 for the Sega CD.
Because of its polygon graphics and advertising based on it, the game is often compared to Nintendo's Star Fox for the Super NES, which came about the same time, and both games were perceived as competitors. However, Silpheed made less of an impact than Star Fox. Many gamers felt unimpressed of Silpheed's "traditional" vertical shooter, against Star Fox 's more involved arcade sim shooter, which was uncommon for the time in a console.[citation needed]
The game's story concerns a space war campaign when terrorists - led by a man named Zakarite - hack into the mother computer of Earth, granting them control over all the space weaponry of the solar system. The Earth's only hope is a small fleet outside the computer's reach, provided with a squadron of SA-77 Silpheed dogfighters (referred to as "prototypes" in the manual for the PC version). In the ending credits sequence of this version there are cinematic animations of scenes depicting the fighters flying through stages in the game.
[edit] Reception
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Dragon |  [3] |
| ACE | 905 / 1000[4] |
The PC/MS-DOS version of the game was reviewed in 1989 in Dragon #151 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars, concluding that "Silpheed is highly addictive, extremely colorful, and requires hours of enjoyable practice to master."[3] Computer Gaming World gave the same version a positive review, praising the original music for the game.[5] The British gaming magazine ACE gave the game a score of 905 out of 1000.[4]
[edit] Legacy
A sequel was released, Silpheed: The Lost Planet, for the PlayStation 2 in 2000. It was developed by Game Arts alongside Treasure.
A space combat simulator game was released by Square Enix for the Xbox 360 titled Project Sylpheed. It is not directly tied into the Silpheed storyline, but was instead billed as a spiritual successor.
[edit] References
- ^ "Silpheed designer dies aged 45". Edge. Next-Gen.biz. August 1 2011. http://www.next-gen.biz/news/silpheed-designer-dies-aged-45. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
- ^ a b Travis Fahs (July 24, 2008). "Silpheed Review". IGN. http://uk.retro.ign.com/articles/893/893504p1.html. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- ^ a b Lesser, Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk (November 1989). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (151): 52–56.
- ^ a b Minson, John (September 1989). "Silpheed". ACE (24): 59. http://amr.abime.net/review_6922. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
- ^ Carter, Shiela (August 1989). "Samurai Space Pilot". Computer Gaming World: pp. 22
