Skull Fang

Skull Fang is an often overlooked vertical shooter for SEGA Saturn. Why did it get lost in a sea of shooters? Is it due to the game not belonging to an established series, is it because the game didn't receive much fanfare or is the game just average? I'm willing to go with the latter. To be blunt, Skull Fang is nothing special and there are much better shooters on Saturn. While the game is largely unoriginal, I must admit, it does gain some originality points for it's unique throttle system. Like in many racing games, you can switch gears to adjust your speed, this is something that isn't seen in shooters all that often. You have the choice between 2 speed, 5 speed and there is even an automatic choice for those who do not feel like messing with it. Overall though, this feature doesn't play that big a part in the game. Sure, it is different and a nice premise, but the game is almost exactly the same when you set it on auto. There are times where it is useful to down shift so you can maneuver through a sea of bullets easier, but the fact of the matter is, it's not really needed. Let me rephrase that, it is not needed unless you are going for score. The stages all have a time limit and you are awarded bonus points for the time that is left when you complete the stage. Thus, to get a lot of points, it is advisable to set the speed all the way up so you can zoom through the stage, which makes the game quite a bit harder. Just make sure you shoot the enemies while your zooming through as you can't thrive on bonus points alone.

Like many shooters that were ported to home consoles, if you want to play this without tilting your TV, you've got to deal with a smaller screen. There are two black bars on either side covering up approximately 1/3 of your viewing space combined. Thankfully, the game features a tate mode for those of you who like it. Don't want to turn your TV on it's side? Don't worry, the game allows you to set up the controls so you can play the game in tate mode with your TV upright, without having to hold your controller funny and tilt your head. Just pretend you are playing a horizontal shooter.

There are three standard modes, not including options. They are Arcade, Extra and Trial. Arcade is a port of the arcade game. Extra seems to be same as arcade, only much easier. I suppose there could be some extra stages or something, but I didn't spend as much playtime in extra mode as I did in arcade, so I am unsure. Trial is basically a timed boss attack mode. You fight each of the bosses one by one until you run out of time. In the options mode you can set controls and volume levels. This is also where you set how you want the game to be presented. You can choose from Normal(letterboxed), Arcade(tate with modified controls for play on an upright TV) or Arcade with rotated controls(Tate with modified controls for tilted TV).

You have four different ships at your disposal, each with varying stats. You also get to choose one of four pilots. The pilots appear to offer no change to gameplay, other than bomb selection. There are two different bomb types, what you get is dependent on which pilot you choose. You get a large bomb with the bomber pilots and a shield type device with the fighter pilots. Bombs can be used as much as you like. However to prevent abuse, they must recharge after every use.

Floating around the screens are various items, including different weapons and items that add to your overall points. There is also a power up that gives you a very powerful attack that replaces your standard shot. This attack varies depending on which ship you use. While the attack is much more powerful than your standard attack, you will not be able to fire bombs when you have this power up. Pressing the bomb button causes it to self-destruct. Don't worry, this does not cause you any damage. Which brings me to my next topic: damage. Unlike most shooters, you get an energy bar. So, rather than giving you 4 one-hit-equals-death ships, you get one ship that can take a bit of abuse. Every now and then you can get shield restoration power ups from dead enemies, but these are rare. Once your ship explodes, the continue screen pops up. The game limits you to four continues, so you credit feeders will be disappointed.

The controls are OK. Your ship moves somewhat slow, but I've played worse. The left and right triggers are for switching gears. A button and X Button are Rapid fire and fire respectively. B Button can also be used to shift gears and C Button is for the bomb. It would be better if your ship was more responsive, but in the end it gets the job done.

The music in this game is your standard shooter fare. Some will like it, some won't. Nothing really special. If you like shooter music, you'll probably like this. On the sound FX front you've got the usual explosions and what not, again, nothing special. For the most part, this game follows the formula for audio to a T. There is also a little voice acting, which is pretty good.

The graphics are a strange thing. Not exactly good, but not exactly horrible. For the most part, the game is 2D with a few 3D objects scattered throughout a few stages. Some of the larger enemies have the pre-rendered plastic toy look, though I am unsure if they are really pre-rendered. Before and after a boss fight, the game will make a few slight pauses to load data. Doesn't affect gameplay, but it is still a minor annoyance. The game doesn't have too much slowdown, but it is present. There are a few cool graphical effects, one being the canyon in stage 2. In this stage, you are flying in a canyon and the background moves so that it looks like you are weaving in and out of the canyon. It is hard to explain, but when you see it I am sure you'll think to yourself that it is cool. For those wondering, the game is in complete English except for voice acting.

Overall, I'd say to pass this game by. It's not really a bad game. It just isn't worth your time when there is so much better out there. If you are looking for a good underrated shooter on Saturn, pick up Time Bokan, or if that isn't in your budget, snag Guardian Force. Both are very underrated and are way better than this. This game is pretty much average in all respects, if you want a shooter, you can do worse, but you can also do better. If you must have it, I wouldn't pay more than $30 for it.

©2002 Ed Finnegan

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