Sleeper of the Week: Silent Bomber (PSX)

[maxlords]

Sorry for the lateness of the sleeper of the week....I actually, um...forgot it was Thursday.

Anyway, ahem, moving on, we have one rather impressively ignored PSX game here today folks. That's right, the elusive Silent Bomber. This came out in the heyday of PSX RPGs and I ended up missing it myself. My bad too, as I ignored it cause it was published by Bandai, who doesn't exactly have a sterling history of domestic releases. Well, it turns out I passed up a classic and didn't even know it!

Silent Bomber is a rather unique game about a guy named Jutah (that's U-tuh for those of you that need the phonetic version!). He's got these nifty stylized bomb launchers on his hands and he's part of a rebellion to take out some oppresive government. Goal? Blow stuff up!

I mean hey, who doesn't want to blow stuff up? Repeatedly! Isn't that the point of most games? Well, this is a neat overhead view trailing third person game where you basically follow scads of more and more difficult missions through a fairly good storyline. The story isn't great, the actors are a bit flat, but holy crap is the gameplay good! And I don't just mean "oh..this is neat" and set it down good. I mean really flat out "I can't believe this game is on PSX" good.

Basically, you have 3 main things to do. Set bombs, detonate bombs, and use lock-on bombs. You have NO gun. None. Nada. Not even a slingshot. You do however have the ability to lock onto enemies and throw bombs at them, then detonate them. This makes for challenging strategic attacks, and means you have to play semi-defensively as well to avoid getting beat down. You can also jump and jump-dash (much like Alien Soldier for the Mega Drive but you do damage). The trick is mastering when and where to set the bombs and being nimble enough to avoid the many attacking enemies. Trust me, it's not as simple as it sounds.

Ultimately, Silent Bomber is an UNBELIEVABLE action game...and one that virtually no one bought. The demand for it over the last year or two has been steadily increasing, so expect them to become harder to come by over the next few years. I stumbled across my copy at a mini-mart for $10 a week ago...and man was it worth it! Average price on eBay ranges from $20-30 for a nice copy, and up to around $50 for a sealed one. They're not REALLY spendy yet but I think they will be. This is one of those titles that had a fairly low print run and little demand....and it's GOOD. All key elements for later collectibility. Get it while you can because this is one hard to find game that's WORTH the price of admission!

[Richter Belmount]

I had the chance to pick this one up when I was younger But I just had to have perfect dark for my bday then.

[Jibbajaba]

I couldn't agree more. I picked this game up complete and in great shape at a thirft store for like 4 dollars, having never heard of it. It sat on my shelf for months before I ever bothered trying to play it. The first time I played it, I couldn't believe I had let it sit there for so long. This is a really GREAT game and I understand why so many people are looking for it. There's really nothing else for me to add that you didn't already say. Nice mini-review!

Chris

[AB Positive]

Hmm... I have the feeling that this weekly thread will quickly add to the 'games I need to get' list. I had never even HEARD of this before, but it looks like soemthing I could really sink my teeth into. Thanks Max!

-AG

[Aussie2B]

I've been really wanting this game for a long time. :( Not just because it sounds really good, but because it's from Cyber Connect, creators of my beloved Tail Concerto, their other woefully ignored PlayStation game. Tail Concerto seems to be the antithesis of Silent Bomber, but they seem like the kind of company that really puts a lot of effort into their work so you can be guaranteed a game that's good. Their .hack series was rather popular, but as a developer, they still seem pretty unknown. I don't really know what they're up to these days, but I do know they made at least one Naruto fighter (for GameCube, I think).

[Nez]

Pretty good game, lots of fun fast action. Shame it cost so much paid 35 for it at gamecrazy.

[Rugal]

i have been looking for this game for about 4 years now still with no luck. I actually gave up last year looking for it.

[junglehunter]

Very nice review. I first played the demo of this (came in an OPM sampler, I believe) and I knew I HAD to have it. Stellar gameplay. The flow of the missions from start to finish is nice.

/me cues pointing stick to his thread where he has a sealed copy up for grabs...

I was in the same boat as Rugal, up until recently. I started looking for the game the instant it came out, and I didn't see any copies anywhere! I gave up about a year ago, then just recently I checked up on eBay but I didn't manage to purchase anything. I just got my copy from a local game shop and I'm sure it'll stay sealed until I find another! :P

[soniko_karuto]

w00t! i already pwn that game.

[Sotenga]

Hmmmmmmmmm... it looks VERY similar to another game that I know or have already played. For some reason, I'm thinking Cannon Spike for the Dreamcast. I dunno. Anyhoo, I may give this one a try in the future. Just give me one screenshot with a sizeable explosion, and I'm sold.

[maxlords]

Heh...it's not that similar to Cannon Spike....much more thought involved, and a much cleaner playing game IMO. I didn't like Cannon Spike at all...but I LOVE this game

[klausien]

Man, the one PSX game I am still in the hunt for. Haven't seen it in anything other than disc only condition for over two years. If someone has an extra, PM me please!

[bargora]

Yes. Silent Bomber is definitely one of the good ones. Picked it up a couple of years ago. Haven't finished it, but that just means that I have something good waiting for me.

[jajaja]

I used to play this when it was new. Its a great game yes!

[jajaja]

damn double post hehe, sorry for that.

[Kid Fenris]

Silent Bomber is arguably the best game Cyber Connect has yet created. I really dig the Bomberman-meets-Metal-Gear-Solid play mechanics, and the English voice acting is hilariously inept.

This game is also responsible for one of the strangest glitches I've ever encountered. At the scene where Jutah rescues his commanding officer from prison, the audio messed up, Jutah disappeared, and random lines of dialogue started to play in Japanese. It was made doubly odd by the fact that the game doesn't have an option for the Japanese voices. Apparently, they're still in the American edition somewhere.

As for Cyber Connect, they're now called Cyber Connect 2 for some reason, and they're working on Naruto games for Bandai. Company president Hiroshi "Piroshi" Matsuyama has said that he wants to make another Tail Concerto game. I’d like to see one, especially if it fixed the clumsy gameplay of the original.

[Aussie2B]

Company president Hiroshi "Piroshi" Matsuyama has said that he wants to make another Tail Concerto game. I’d like to see one, especially if it fixed the clumsy gameplay of the original.

Yeah, I've heard that they've shown interest in making a Tail Concerto 2 as well (they have (had?) sketches on their site for it), but they said that Bandai doesn't want them to make a sequel. :(

[Kid Fenris]

Yeah, I've heard that they've shown interest in making a Tail Concerto 2 as well (they have (had?) sketches on their site for it), but they said that Bandai doesn't want them to make a sequel.

I can't blame Bandai, as the original Tail Concerto didn't sell very well.

For those interested, the American version of TC can be had for about ten bucks. Too bad Silent Bomber isn't as common.

[PapaStu]

One of my Favorite PS games. I played the Japanese demo of this on a OPM disc or something a good 6 months before it was US released. Im pretty sure I got close to the end, but the boss battle im stuck at is incredibly hard.

This is a game for anyone who loves fast pased action. Well worth hunting down.



--Jack Epplebottom

[Gunstar_Hero UK]

I just did a little reasearch, and i was happy to see that Silent Bomber did come out over here. So im defintley gonna look out for it!

Joe.