Pure Nintendo interviews WayForward about Sigma Star Saga DX

Pure Nintendo: I appreciate you taking the time to chat with Pure Nintendo. Please introduce yourself to our readers…

Matt Bozon: Hello! I’m Matt Bozon, one of the founding members of WayForward! I’m the studio’s creative director, and the creator/director of Sigma Star Saga! You may also know me as the director of the Shantae series!

PN: Sigma Star Saga is coming back into the gaming consciousness after 20 years. Was this done to celebrate a gaming anniversary, or had you been looking to do this for a while?

Matt: The idea to bring back Sigma Star Saga came from our head of business development, Adam Tierney, and he’d wanted to re-release the game for some time. In fact, he and I worked together for the first time on this project 20 years ago, and this was his first job assistant-directing a game. So it’s a great way to celebrate 20 years!

PN: As a late arrival on the GBA, there’s surely a good number who overlooked this game back in the day. For the unacquainted, can you please give a brief overview of Sigma Star Saga and what makes it unique?

Matt: Sigma Star Saga is a highly experimental game, and I don’t think there’s another game quite like it. It’s a combination of two game genres: top-view action-adventure, kind of like a 16-bit-era Zelda, but also a side-scrolling shmup, like Gradius or R-Type. The two game types combine to form an RPG, with experience points and random battles. While in top view, players explore the landscape as a human being, blasting enemies and finding new ability-granting tools. When random battles occur, they are warped into an aerial skirmish, where they pilot a ship and destroy the invading forces. EXP is tallied, and they are warped back to the top-view mode to continue exploring. It’s a little bit like Zelda II on NES, or maybe Blaster Master or The Guardian Legend (also NES). 

The story revolves around an Earth pilot, Ian Recker, who goes deep undercover posing as an alien invader in deep space. As he infiltrates the forces of the evil Krill Empire, he starts to fall for his Krill team leader, the fiery Psyme, and soon learns that the war between planets isn’t so cut and dry. A love triangle soon forms when Ian meets Scarlet, a brilliant human scientist who questions Recker’s allegiance. By the end of the game, players are forced to decide the fate of these two women, and the fate of their homeworlds. It’s lighthearted, sometimes dramatic, and filled with classic sci-fi tropes.     

This new “DX” version is the same game as the 2005 release, but with some quality-of-life upgrades that were suggested by fans and reviewers back in the day, and over many years. There is now a more brisk pace to the game. Random battles are less frequent, EXP gain is increased, player mobility is faster and more snappy. Maps show markers to help players find their way, auto-fire is more aggressive to save your thumb, and there are even more save points than before. Even the dialog has been punched up to insert more energy. You’ll definitely want to try it, even if you’ve played the original before! 

PN: It’s tricky to blend genres successfully. How was the WayForward team able to pull this off when so many others have missed the mark?

Matt We worked hard to make the two halves of the genre mash-up complement each other. The Gun Data items found in the top-view mode can be combined in near-endless combinations to create special weapons, which augment whichever ship you pilot in shmup mode. Likewise, the progress you make in the shmup sections advance the storyline of the top view, which in turn fuels the next phase of on-foot exploration. Experimenting with the thousands of weapon combinations makes each new random battle in space an opportunity to try new weapons, and to find your favorite before facing the inevitable boss creatures at the end of each chapter. There is a ton of play value to be found, and the game doesn’t get bogged down by menus or needless complexity. The constant swapping between exploration and arcade-game-esque battles keeps things exciting! 

PN: In this growing age of digital, why do you think there’s still such an enthusiastic audience for physical media?

Matt Regarding physical retro titles, I think we all miss the idea of buying a game, unwrapping it, looking through the manual to get hyped, and then inserting it into a system that has you literally playing the meat of the game in seconds – and the game will never be updated or be changed. We really don’t have that anymore! With more modern games, I think it’s a way to show your love for a game, and ensure that it won’t vanish someday, or be updated beyond recognition. They’re also very fun to collect, especially when there’s great box artwork to display and enjoy. 

PN: Can you give us some insights into your relationship with Limited Run?

Matt: We’ve worked with LRG for several years now, and many of our releases would have been impossible without their support! They’re wonderful folks with a genuine enthusiasm for gaming history, preservation, developers, and fans. I’m always looking forward to our next project together!

PN: WayForward has worked alongside others, from small indies to even Nintendo. After decades in this industry, what have you learned about these collaborative efforts?

Matt: That’s true. It’s been 35 years now, and it’s hard to think of a publisher, brand, or studio that we haven’t worked with at some point or another. We’ve developed hundreds of games, but each one presents a completely different opportunity. It’s very important to understand the business goals and creative goals of each project, its budget, why there’s even a need for it to exist at all — who the game is ultimately for, and which people can bring their talents to realize those goals. When you combine these things together, you can start to see a game’s potential. If we can meet or exceed that potential, I think we call it a success for everyone — especially the audience!  

PN: Should this re-release prove successful, can we expect more in the Sigma Star Sage universe?

Matt: That’s a great question! Sigma Star Saga was a work-for-hire game back in the early 2000s, made by WayForward for Namco Hometek. The property is now owned by Bandai Namco. We would love to make another entry for them. So if fans want to see more of this series, please support this release!   

PN: All of us at Pure Nintendo want to express our gratitude and best wishes on the launch.

Matt Thank you very much! See you in SPACE!

Click this link for a last chance to preorder a standard or collector’s edition. The modern-platform version is expected later this year, timing still TBD.