Silhouette Mirage – Playstation review

Treasure is a game developer beloved by retro gamers, but completely unknown outside of that niche. Their first title was Gunstar Heroes for the Sega Genesis in 1993, a classic 2D shooter from the 16-bit generation. Before forming their own company, the developers worked for Konami. They created an obscure little game called Contra 3: Alien Wars.

Treasure would go on to make other classics, like Guardian Heroes on Sega Saturn, Sin & Punishment on the Nintendo 64, and Bangai-O on the Dreamcast. Their game library consists entirely of hidden gems of the shooter genre. Ikaruga on Dreamcast is often called their best game..

One game does tend to be passed over in the discussion of excellent Treasure games. Silhouette Mirage released in North America on January 5 2000 for the Sony PlayStation. Translated by an equally obscure publisher, Working Designs, the game received decent reviews. Metacritic scores the game a 69.

I purchased Silhouette Mirage in 2000. It entered my collection for reasons completely unrelated to the game play. On the front case is a sticker announcing the game contains a video preview for Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete, the sequel to what was my favorite jrpg. In the days before YouTube, buying the game was worth it for that one video alone.

The game now fetches anywhere from $40-80 on eBay. It’s a rare title, which makes it somewhat valuable, but is it good? The metacritic score of 69 suggests it doesn’t deserve remembering it as a classic. Let’s find out.

The first things about Silhouette Mirage that stands out is the graphics. Beautiful animated 2D sprites run all over these levels. For a system not known for its 2D capabilities, Treasure created a gorgeous game. Frame rates dip here and there, but nothing too extreme to interfere with game play.

The voice acting quickly gets annoying as the same loops replay constantly without enough variety. The soundtrack is okay, but nothing special.

A story line is present, but it’s not worth mentioning. Plot and dialogue are dull, and far too lengthy for an action game. Skipping the story scenes makes the game better. From a presentation perspective, there’s nothing much special here other than the 2D sprites. If you like this game, it’s because of the game play.

Silhouette Mirage is titled after its core game play conceit. Silhouettes are blue enemies with blue projectiles. Mirages are red enemies with red projectiles. While the enemy designs will vary throughout the game, they all work within this core concept of red and blue.

The player character, the Messenger of Justice (or Destruction to the enemies), is a hybrid of both Silhouette and Mirage. One half of her is red and the other blue. Starting the game, facing right is red and left is blue. Pressing the Triangle button switches the color sides.

Mirage (red) attacks damage Silhouette (blue enemies) and the player while their blue side is facing outward. The same works in verse. Which way you’re facing determines whether attacks damage an enemy. It’s a unique battle mechanic.

Adding another layer of depth is that like-color attacks lowers the enemy’s defense. No matter which way you’re facing, the enemy is impacted by your attack. What becomes important is positioning yourself for attacks or weakening the enemy. A combination attack is typically most effective, but the enemies are constantly moving in groups. This makes attacking from the right side difficult.

Switching color sides helps, but the action is attached to a power gauge that depletes with various actions. You can’t simply spam the switch and expect to succeed. Eventually you’ll run out of power. An empty gauge leaves your character vulnerable, and limits your options. This is the strategy of the game.

Playing through Silhouette Mirage, the controls are responsive. There was never an issue with collision detection or missteps from the button presses. Treasure knows how to make a smooth 2D shooter. They also give the Messenger a triple jump and wall run that makes exploring the game world a lot of fun.

Moving and shooting all feel great in Silhouette Mirage. Where it falters is in being fun to play through out. Difficulty ramps up very quickly, to the point where the game feels unbalanced. This isn’t a case of not being good enough at the game, but is in fact an adjustment made by Working Designs.

The upgrade system uses money. You gain money by punching it from the enemies. Working Designs increased the cost of the upgrades. By the end of level two, I was finally able to afford the first upgrade. It simply takes too long.

Enemy attacks also do more damage. This combo makes your character weaker in attack and defense. Battles become a drawn affair where you’re whittling down the enemy health rather than destroying them.

When you die the game allows you to continue the fight. The level or boss doesn’t start over again, the game simply continues. This and a save mechanic alleviate some of the difficulty added by Working Designs, but it’s still an unfair game to fight through.

If you love a challenge, you’ll find it here. For the players you thrive on Cuphead and Dark Souls, Silhouette Mirage would be a great retro game to play. If you want to finish the whole game you need to “git gud.” I did not finish this game.

My original game save has been lost through numerous system changes. I suspect it would show I never finished the game, but I genuinely can’t recall. I remember putting lots of hours into the game. Even if I bought it for a preview video, that meant I couldn’t buy another game for months. I had no choice but to play it.

My time is too precious to waste on investing in this particular game more than I already have today. Silhouette Mirage is an interesting game. The 2D sprites are beautifully animated with fun cartoon designs. The level designs have enough variety to keep you entertained. Re-balancing the difficulty might change my opinion, but I won’t be buying the Japanese version to find out.

As it is stand, Silhouette Mirage is not a hidden gem in my books. Going back to the title was an experience that isn’t worth the $40 price tag. Spend $5 on the 360 marketplace and grab the remake of the far superior Treasure classic Guardian Heroes.