A Look Back at 21 Years of Sigma Star Saga

What the report says


 
 Sigma Star Saga is exactly 21 years old today and I asked creator Matt Bozon from WayForward all about its history and some fun things, too.For your benefit, Video Chums doesn't indiscriminately promote press releases, Kickstarter campaigns, or industry-fed rumours. 📰A.J. ▸ Folks have been playing Sigma Star Saga for decades so what elements do you find make it such a timeless game? v1d30chumz xzyewyzteyzcMatt ▸ In all the years since the release of the original Sigma Star Saga, I can't think of another game that combines a side-scrolling shoot-'em-up with a top-down action-RPG.

It was a very experimental idea at the time, and it's still tons of fun today. The Game Boy Advance was WayForward's version of the 16-bit golden age, and the quality of the sprite art seems to have stood the test of time. It's got a charming and colorful look that you don't see a lot these days!A.J. ▸ When rebalancing for Sigma Star Saga DX, which areas did the team focus on to cater to modern audiences and how were these implemented while keeping the spirit of the original intact?Matt ▸ Nearly all of the changes were in response to legacy feedback from players.

Back in 2005, you couldn't just patch a GBA game - you put it out into the world and did your best to make sure it delivered on quality. However, we did keep logs of what players and reviewers said about the game over the years, so we focused on things like cutting down the encounter rate and boosting the experience gain, as well as similar changes to keep up the pace: faster shooting, faster character movement, and better clues on the map. Character dialog was tuned up to be more snappy and less cumbersome, with additional clarification added about where to go and what to do next.

Key details

Of course, we also had to fix a few bugs that snuck into the original product, like sometimes randomly getting a ship that was too big for the narrow passageways found in some of the random encounters. Once we addressed player feedback, we also did some housekeeping such as improving hit boxes and hit detection. In general, this is probably what the final game would have been like if patches had been possible back in the GBA days. Sigma Star Saga DX Review A.J. ▸ Revisiting such an iconic game must have been nostalgic so during development of Sigma Star Saga DX, were there any surprises or forgotten details that reminded you of just how special of a game it is?Matt ▸ It was fun to reopen the old custom-built tools and look through the maps, sprites, and all of the elements that were still sitting there, just under the hood waiting to be unearthed.

There were so many random battle maps, random mini bosses to load in, ships to pilot, weapon combinations...just a ton of gameplay options, some that likely haven't even been discovered yet. Or, at least, have never been found and documented by players.A.J. ▸ Now that Sigma Star Saga DX has been out for a while, how do you find modern gamers received it compared to players when it originally released and is there anything that modern gamers resonate with that particularly delights the team?Matt ▸ We've seen a lot of kind words regarding how well the visuals hold up even after 20 years, and a lot of positive feedback about the story, in particular about how surprisingly deep and complex it is for a GBA game.

The Gun Data system also continues to receive a lot of praise. We hope that players will try out every new piece of Gun Data they find; even if something, based on the description, doesn't seem better than your current loadout, there's loads of fun and challenge to be had just by experimenting. You never know when you'll discover a certain combination that clicks for you!A.J. ▸ Finally, the silly question of the day: if there was a Sigma Star Saga 2 that incorporated a 3rd genre on top of adventuring and shoot 'em up segments, what would it be and how would it be integrated?Matt ▸ Ha ha, ok...well, since the game's multiple endings are an extension of Recker's relationships, we could layer in a dating sim.

More from the announcement

That way, the player could more directly influence the storyline by interacting with other characters. But on the other hand, we should probably just add pinball.