Developer: Compile Publishr: Naxat Soft Released: 07/19/91 Genre: Shooter
In the US the Turbo Grafx-16 had a limited library. While it had a few titles in every genre no one could deny that it had an abundance of shooters. And with good reason; the system almost seemed catered to the genre. You could argue that the system did not need another one. But when it is of this quality I say the more the merrier. Seirei Senshi Spriggan would easily have been one of the top titles for the Turbo CD had it been localized. With top notch production values and excellent gameplay this is one of the easiest import recommendations I can make.
Seirei Senshi Spriggan began life as another title in the Aleste series. Evidence of this can be seen in the mechs and art direction. But at some point it became its own unique series. Spriggan stars Rikart and Jega as they pilot their mech to protect their country from the Buraizubara empire. The game has its share of cutscenes but they don’t drag on too long like Macross 2036. Sadly the plot is not relevant for those of use who don’t speak Japanese but it isn’t important.
Spriggan may be separate from the Aleste series but there are still some similarities. The four base weapons are color coded and correspond to the elements. Each element provides a specific weapon, which is important but more on that in a bit. Fire (Red) is the strongest and provides straightforward projectiles. Yellow (Earth) creates a multi-shot. Blue (Water) fires spinning shots. And finally Green (Wind) is the equivalent of a wave beam. It is a decent amount of choice and the game is extremely generous with power-ups as they appear every ten seconds. That is for a reason.
The weapon system goes a step further as it allows you to hold three elements at once and combine their effects. Depending on the combination some truly destructive weapons can be created. Certain combination even create new effects; adding earth to wind will make a homing shot. The ordinarily small water shot becomes gigantic when paired with fire. My favorite combination is red+blue+green. This combo provides a water shield that rotates around your mech and massive bursts of flame that follows a zig zag formation and covers most of the screen. It is not the most powerful but is incredibly versatile.
With the frequent weapon drops the game is practically begging you to experiment. Unfortunately you might have to write down the combos and their effects since there are so many. Like Soldier Blade you can sacrifice a weapon to use as a smart bomb. One last “weapon” if you can call it that is your wing mates. Every so often one or multiple squad members will fly in to assist. You cannot control them and they are pretty dumb but you can protect them for a little extra firepower while they are alive. Sadly that won’t be necessary.
Unlike the majority of Compile’s shooters Spriggan is an easy game. Despite your large mech your hit box is pretty small. The game is extremely chaotic and throws a ton of sprites around. However all of the weapons, even in their base form, are overpowered. Certain combinations are so strong that they make the game a cake walk. The red, green, and blue combination strikes the perfect balance between offense and defense even if it isn’t the strongest. Weapon drops are so frequent you can even spam them as bombs. Hell, weapons appear even during boss battles! While it might sound dismaying the easy difficulty is a relief. There is nothing worse than a game with great content that does everything in its power to prevent you from seeing it. Spriggan is not that title.
Spriggan was created as Naxat’s version of Hudson’s Summer Carnival. As such it also has a two minute score attack mode. Normally I do not bother with these modes as they are not terribly interesting. Not so here. Spriggan packs more into its two-minute mode than some entire games. To truly excel at it you’ll need to know the idiosyncrasies of the weapon system. The object is to destroy as many enemies as possible not stay alive and you’ll need weapons that excel at that. This mode, while fun, doesn’t make up for the lack of coop but is still a fun little diversion.
Although Spriggan may look similar to M.U.S.H.A. its art direction is different. For one it takes place in a medieval world rather than a futuristic Japan. You spend more time flying around castles and dungeons than in stylized Japanese temples. The fantasy setting allows for more varied enemies and settings though. The mech designs are similar between the two series but when they are this good can you blame them from recycling assets? Spriggan trades parallax scrolling for massive sprites and bosses. It is a worthwhile trade-off, as even though the game looks a bit flat it still looks impressive with the amount of chaos going on. The soundtrack is not as memorable as the graphics unfortunately. The composition isn’t bad but the melodies are forgettable.
In Closing
When it is all said and done Spriggan stacks up favorably within the PC Engine shooter library. With its setting, weapons system, and pacing Seirei Senshi Spriggan is all around excellent and one of my favorite games for the system. If you can find it at a decent price go for it, you won’t regret it.
