If you were to ask me what my favorite development company was, I’d say Treasure without hesitation. They’ve put out a lot of simply stunning games, and among them is my favorite N64/VC title ever, Sin and Punishment.

But like all things, the game is far from perfect. Rumors are going about that another Sin and Punishment might possibly be one of the two new Wii games that Treasure is working on, and if so, here are some things that they could do to make an excellent game even better:



-STORY-

While Treasure is known more for gameplay than for story, their attempt at an epic story for Sin and Punishment was awful. Even after reading the Wikipedia page for the game, I still don’t quite get what the hell was going on. You can see the potential for awesomeness, but the way the cut scenes are in the game, you don’t know who the characters are or why they’re doing what they’re doing, who the enemies are, or what the hell a Ruffian is.

On the subject of cut scenes, while it was admirable of Treasure to put voice acting in an N64 game, it was pretty atrocious voice acting. Like many other games, they need much better voice actors.

Also, 2007 was last year. If they do a sequel or a remake, they’re going to pretty much have to fast-forward more to the future or else it’ll just be stupid.



-CONTROLS-

Saki and Airan were tough, considering how much running and gunning they did, but man, dodging obstacles and attacks from left to right, they were a bit sluggish. I know you could double-tap the control pad to get them to roll to the side, but quicker dodging skills in general would be nice. Same goes for jumping, as any platforming portions of the game had me throwing the characters directly into pits or fires.



-GAMEPLAY-

And finally, the most important thing. One of the things that made Sin and Punishment so great was it’s unique twist on the rail-shooter. However, there are plenty of things they could’ve done to improve it.

For one thing, while it never really got old, having the exact same gun for the entire game could really be a deal-breaker. More weapons with unique features, such as homing lasers, missiles, or some crazy combination weapons like what you see in Gunstar Heroes, another great Treasure title, would’ve been awesome. Or, if nothing else, perhaps some chargeable special attack that you can unleash in tight spots to clear the screen of enemies. I really could’ve used something like that in the later levels of the game.

And remember how cool it was when Saki turned into that Evangelion-looking thing? How awesome would it have been to spend more time with him in that form? And with different attacks? I can picture some epic city-smashing levels with huge bosses to fight, and it would be amazing.

Also, more gameplay in general would be nice. While I know Treasure’s games have never been very lengthy, it would be nice if the game took longer than like, an hour or less to beat. Extra modes and other bonus stuff could greatly extend the replay value of the game as well. And possibly some real multiplayer, as opposed to the weird “I control where Saki runs while you aim and shoot” kind of thing they did.

That pretty much concludes my article. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that one of the two Wii games that Treasure is apparently doing is at least in some way involved with Sin and Punishment. What do you guys think?