Super short, but also sweet and very replayable for upping up the ranking scores. A good arcade rush bullethell for the n64 along with its highly entertaining nonsensical cutscenes, cheese dialogues and headbopping stage tracks.

Controllers may take some time getting used to, but the training mode tells you all you need to know and gives you the leisure you need to ease into the mechanics.

Easy is a nice breeze with a generous handout for CREDITS to try again if you fudge it, while normal and hard are there for you to cry with stronger goons and bosses boasting more menacing attacks.

The best looking N64 game, absolutely batshit insane beginning to end. No idea what happened in the story as Nintendo originally localized this without giving it English subtitles and I had my little AC unit blasting really hard next to the TV.

Incredibly impressive, short and sweet. Every level and boss is so cool & unique and the game can actually be really mechanically complex and warrant replayability because of it. It takes like an hour and a half to play and doesn't waste a second of it's runtime.

There’s still plenty of games by Treasure that I still haven’t played and hope to play, but I think I’m starting to get a good idea of what makes their best games so captivating, not incidentally because it’s showcased so strongly here. Treasure have this sort of repertoire of mechanics which serve as a constellation around a central idea - encouraging the player to view and approach encounters in different ways - which is always surprising the player with the extent of the interactivity of the experience, and I’ve noticed that how much I like each game can be strongly correlated to how frequently and strongly this central idea is expressed. I understand that this is very abstract, so let’s try and make it more concrete:

Treasure loves parries; the idea of taking a projectile being fired at you and turning it back around. The frequency with which this mechanic occurs in their games really just makes it seem like somebody at the studio thought it was cool as shit (which it is), but it also serves a wider purpose: Projectiles are rarely just obstacles to be avoided, they’re just as equally potential tools. The best iteration I’ve seen of the idea is Mischief Maker’s Cerberus Alpha but Sin and Punishment makes major use of this idea too to provide moments of realisation for the player in a variety of ways. Enemies which initially seem to be threats because they fill the screen with more projectiles are recontextualised as things which help you through your own skill to deal with them, and this is integrated with decision-making; it’s not just “Oh, I can parry this projectile” but also “Oh, I should kill this guy with the rocket launcher last, because he is just giving me rockets to parry.” It's a really great complication to the simple loop of shooting everything that appears on the screen which can make a lot of shmups feel homogenous sometimes.

The second expression is the use of alternate modes, an idea which has gone through several evolutions in Treasure’s history. In the transition from Gunstar Heroes to Alien Soldier, it was decided that allowing the player to switch aiming modes mid-level was superior to a one-time choice, not only because it was more flexible, but because choosing the best mode for the situation in real-time is a deeper expression of skill and knowledge. The next evolution, occurring in Sin and Punishment, was that this choice can be integrated with the skill curve of the game. The lock-on mode of Sin and Punishment drastically helps the player reduce their mental stack, but it makes you do less damage than the manual aiming, so while it’s always ideal to manual aim, every section is essentially asking the player “do you think you have the skill to dodge all this shit and aim simultaneously?”, which rarely has a static answer. Sections where you relied on the lock-on in one playthrough you might “graduate” to manually aiming in the next, and this is such a dynamic, player-driven approach to difficulty.

I would say almost objectively that Ikaruga is the highest expression of this connection between mode-switching and a skill curve (for reasons that I probably don’t need to explain but could probably spend way too long doing anyway), but I really like this incarnation of it simply because of its connection with the early 3D era of the N64. This was Treasure’s first foray into true 3D and their use of it in this game is so joyous and imaginative. Part of why the use of lock-on as a tool for dealing with the mental stack is so effective is because it tasks you with aiming at enemies in the background, enemies above and below you, enemies next to you and even enemies in the foreground in front of you, all of whom can be sending projectiles your way in different 3D planes, it’s a lot to deal with, but that only enhances the foundational shmup satisfaction of feeling like a god because you just dodged a seemingly undodgeable pattern of bullets - which would not be as effective if you were only fired upon from one dimension. The way the game uses shifts in perspective is incredible: traditional rail shooting and run-n-gun blends together in subtle combinations, but then you’ll suddenly fight a boss in an arena where you can rotate 360 degrees around a central point, other parts, like the railcar section evoke a shooting gallery, and there’s a full Gunstar Heroes-esque run-n-gun section in the final level, and the pace of these shifts is so fast that it feels apt to call it a tour-de-force of various 3D shooting-game concepts.

The third expression is the interplay between close and long-range combat. Treasure shooting games very often break up purely ranged combat with degrees of close-quarters combat, an idea which bookends Treasure’s major works, beginning with the claustrophobic fight against Orange on top of a plane in Gunstar Heroes and ending with the fistfight against Deko Gekisho in Star Successor, Radiant Silvergun found a way to sneak in a sword into a genre traditionally dealing only in bullets, and Sin and Punishment’s moments of melee combat are some of the best in the game - flinging Radahn off a cliff and Brad through a window just doesn’t get old. It works, again, because you have to think about the situation and choose which type of attack is best, further fostering this interactivity that purely moving a reticle over an enemy and holding down the shoot button doesn’t.

I wouldn’t say having these elements alone constitutes a good game, but harmonising them to create a complex experience is why I think this and Treasure’s other games are so great. That isn’t to say that Sin and Punishment doesn’t have its own unique things going on though: I think the approach to story here is quite interesting and complements the short yet highly-replayable structure really well. On the first go, story beats like the dream sequence or characters like Achi or even allegiances and motivations of certain characters are incredibly hard to parse, but the fact that they’re so confusing gives the story relevance beyond the first playthrough, since it makes progressively more sense each time. It’s something that I’m surprised more developers don’t take advantage of, kind of like how the way Hades’ story is structured complements its repetitious roguelite structure, this complements the replayable arcade structure.

The music is also really great. Toshiya Yamanaka has remarked that this was thanks to some programmer at Treasure who was capable of programming the N64’s pulse-code modulation, which results in higher sound quality. I don’t really understand that myself, but the music here goes hard, even if it does have some questionable repetitions.

The difficulty modes are also incredibly well done. Easy, medium and hard aren’t just differentiated by damage sliders, sections can be quite radically different on each difficulty as there are added enemies and new attacks, which is basically a perfect execution of difficulty selection in a game like this.

I would be remiss to not mention some of the flaws as I don’t think this is a perfect game. The voice acting is terrible. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some campy, trashy voice acting, but this game is clearly going for a more serious tone and that really clashes with the bad line deliveries. While I prefer the conciseness of this game in general, Star Successor has a better version of melee options, as it’s too easy in this game to spam the attack button to parry anything you want, whereas the sequel demands timing. The first level is also such a snoozefest, even on hard, that it sometimes feels like a chore to go through on a fresh run. Having such an easy first level isn’t even necessary for new players since this game already has quite a good tutorial.

On the whole though this is probably my favourite Treasure game I’ve played so far and the flaws are really not that big of a deal. Really looking forward to playing the Treasure games I haven't played yet (Dynamite Headdy, Gradius V, Bangai-O, Silhouette Mirage, possibly more)

Gameplay-wise, a relatively simple on-rails shooter that’s still really fun because of the constant crazy setpieces. Story-wise, this game is insane. It crams the entire plot of some over the top 90s anime into a 40-minute game without bothering to explain any of it. The pacing is crazy fast, and it evokes a weirdly surreal feel combined with the already odd concepts it’s tossing around. It’s really nothing too mindblowing of once you look back at it, but it’s an unhinged fun ride, and it gels well with the gameplay.

My first exposure to Sin and Punishment came through the appearance of Saki Amamiya as an assist trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl (although I'd forget about the game's actual title until years later), and while I was interested in checking the game out, I wasn't truly excited to play it until just a few weeks ago. After having an absolute blast with Gunstar Heroes earlier this month, I took a peek at the rest of the games made by Treasure, as the only other game of theirs that I was aware of at the time was Ikaruga, and when I noticed that Sin and Punishment was a part of their catalogue, I knew that I had to play it soon. After failing to find a working English translation of the game, I decided to go ahead and play the original Japanese release instead, as it still had English dialogue, and this was honestly such a great decision, because while Sin and Punishment only took about an hour or two for me to actually beat, I can't wait to get back and play it again.

Sin and Punishment is a game where practically every one of its elements is fine tuned to perfection, as it kept me totally hooked and engaged without overstaying its welcome. The on-rails gameplay here is sublime, as it blends a tight and precise control scheme with never-ending cavalcades of enemies to shoot, attacks to avoid, and projectiles to deflect to create a consistently frantic experience where you're constantly on your toes. Despite how simple the controls actually are, there's a surprising amount of depth to your in-game moves, as even choosing between lock-on and free shooting can be the deciding factor between beating a particular enemy or boss or dying and having to start over. Speaking of which, Sin and Punishment also features some amazing and chaotic boss fights, with the final boss being intense, exciting, and visually stunning to the point where I genuinely could not believe what I was seeing. In terms of difficulty, Sin and Punishment was honestly pretty tough, but getting a full grasp of your whole arsenal of attacks and abilities made everything feel fair while still putting up a good challenge.

On top of having some superb gameplay, Sin and Punishment is also one of the best looking games on the Nintendo 64. The pre-apocalypse artstyle is oozing with style and grit, and I was very impressed by the amount of detail that all of the backgrounds and enemies had, especially with how fast-paced the game is. In terms of story, Sin and Punishment was admittedly difficult to fully take in and comprehend, but even then, I still thought that it was really cool. What starts out as a game about simply fighting off an army of Ruffians ends up involving time travel, visions, and the cosmos, and the over-the-top storytelling felt like a perfect fit for the high-octane insanity and constant setpieces of the moment-to-moment gameplay, with the delightfully campy voice acting being the cherry on top. Although there are a ton of games from the Nintendo 64 that I still haven't played yet, I have no problem with saying that Sin and Punishment is my favorite one so far, and not only am I excited to replay it over and over again, but I also want to eventually play its sequel on the Wii, Sin & Punishment: Star Successor.

Treasure at their peak, in my opinion. Taking a lot of their best mechanics and ideas and just going all in on this game in particular.

Everything in this is so ridiculously well-done and over the top it honestly shocks me this was on the N64 of all thing. Exceptional controls, hardcore scoring tactics, a ludicrous (but engaging) plot, and a gritty-ass pre-apocalypse aesthetic. Game's harder than hell and is absolutely worth your time and a half to play.

Highest marks.

suco de videogame com polpa e tudo - todas as ideias que alguém que não precisaria se preocupar com a logística de fazer um jogo teria e escreveria num caderno de rascunhos ou na aula de desenho da escola. coloca aí a arma e a espada e os robôs gigantes e os mutantes e você pode rebater os tiros dos outros e tem pontuação e tempo que você pode aumentar cumprindo objetivos opcionais e você pula e tem pulo duplo e o chefe final é literalmente um planeta!!! e não apenas qualquer planeta - um clone da terra, com japão, estados unidos e todos os outros países menores que não importam pra história que ele está contando. é uma caixa de bombons em que todos os bombons são deliciosos mas estão derretidos e misturados entre si. é por isso que só dura uma horinha também, no máximo duas, pois se você já tem idade pra sofrer de ressaca também não aguentaria a dor de cabeça que decorreria de uma noite de sin & punishment - mas se você ainda não tem idade pra sofrer de ressaca, nem teria motivo pra beber (ou jogar) em primeiro lugar.

The first time I beat this my emulator froze after a fade to black in the ending cutscene right before the game’s credits rolled in, and and I sat there for a few minutes thinking it was an incredibly inspired decision to have an arcade game end like that without any kind of entry for a high score or something. The second time I beat it I saw the actual credits and realized that this game is a masterpiece (not because the credits were an incredible scene, just cause the game is very fun and immaculately designed)

Not as insane as everybody says, there’s two segments that are clearly the star of the show when it comes to big set-pieces and the rest is… forgettable, really, it also feels extremely constrained by the limitations of an ancient hardware, the developer unable to reach the visual splendor they surely imagined. As a shooter merely one year before Halo, I’m sad to admit that this does not hold up, and as an art-piece, while not without its charm, is as juvenile as it gets, full of half-assed ideas and not much more, like they watched the end of evangelion and wanted to make something like that in game form but didn’t have the time nor the money so this is the result.

Third GOTM finished for June 2023. The character models are kinda hideous, as is the voice acting, but most of the other parts of the game are good. Some really cool cinematic sequences, sometimes bogged down by tedious and repetitive shooting galleries within, made the levels feel bombastic even if the gameplay itself was simple. Changing gameplay styles periodically was really neat, if often a little dizzying given the pace at which the game moves. Really important to get a good control scheme down for playing this one, but once you do it's a pretty fun ride!