When you announce an April fools joke as a renowned studio-like Platinum game, what do you get? Well – you live up to it and develop the game you announced, of course. Sure, it’s a spiritual successor of one of the greatest arcade games from the past – but still! So let’s dive into information and talk about Sol Cresta, an arcade classic with modern vibes.
Sol Cresta’s Legacy
Back in the day, you had something called a Commodore 64 – and a friend of mine owned one, so I played a lot of old school games back in the day (grandpa talking). Moon Cresta (or something that looked pretty much the same) was one of them, and Sol Cresta (see what they did there) is in the same ship. Let’s give a little bit of context first; Moon Cresta is a shoot them up video game released by Nichibutsu for arcades in 1980. In North America, it was licensed to Sega/Gremlin and Centuri, the latter releasing it in arcades as Eagle. Incentive Software published ports of Moon Cresta for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Dragon 32, and ZX Spectrum home computers. In 2022, the original arcade version will be included as part of the Sega Astro City Mini V, a vertically-oriented variant of the Sega Astro City mini console, which is pretty neat.
Fast forward five years, and we get Terra Cresta, a 1985’s vertical-scrolling shooter arcade game developed and published by Nichibutsu. The player assumes control of a starship named the “Wing Galibur” that must destroy the Mandler army before destroying humanity. Gameplay involves shooting enemies and collecting different ship parts that provide unique weapons, such as a wave gun or a double shot. The sequel to Moon Cresta (1980) is Nichibutsu’s first big hit in arcades. After acquiring the entirety of Nichibutsu’s video game library in 2013, the rights to Terra Cresta are now owned by Hamster. In 2022, the original arcade version will be included in the Sega Astro City Mini V, a vertically-oriented variant of the Sega Astro City mini console.
Sol Cresta
Fast forward to 2020 – Platinum Games and Hamster announce Sol Cresta on the first of April. People assumed it was a joke, but Platinum was serious about developing a spiritual successor to the other two titles. An all-new title bearing the soul of the classic docking and shooting games Moon Cresta and Terra Cresta launched when reading this review. PlatinumGames’ NEO-CLASSIC ARCADE series carries on the spirit and fun of classic gaming using modern technology, and the first project in this endeavor is Sol Cresta. Sol Cresta takes the docking and formation strategies of classic shooting games Moon Cresta and Terra Cresta and elevates them with the “free-form docking” system. The flagship Yamato (Based on the Japanese Prince/Emperor) is composed of the ships Amaterasu (Goddess of the Sun), Tsukuyomi (God of the Moon), and Susano (God of the Sea) can utilize various attacks depending on how the three ships are aligned. Docking, splitting, and reforming the ships as needed is the key to defeating the invading armies of Mandler.
Gameplay
The fully-armed Yamato is composed of three ships. You’ll scramble with only one ship at first, but pick up the correct item to summon your wingmen and dock with them to power up! Dock and split to change your attack properties and use different formations to access a fantastic arsenal. This is where it gets interesting, even though the game fails to explain how the functions work. So before firing up the game mode, be sure to read about the different formations the game has to offer and which buttons to press to fire your weapons – you’ll need them.
Dock Unit 01: Amaterasu in the lead to use the Tri Laser! While not very powerful, it fires lasers in 3 directions. When you pick up the second one, you can switch to Dock Unit 02: Tsukuyomi, which in the lead uses the Electro Missile! This missile homes in on enemies and delivers a jolt on impact. A neat tool when the enemies are quick to disperse or come at you with a lot at the same time. Last is Dock Unit 03: Susano in the lead to use the Drill Shot! This fires a multi-hit drill that pierces enemies and can crack stone! During the mission, you can split the three ships apart to create unique Formations and access mighty Formation Shots for a limited time. They come at a cost since you have to gain enough power/points to use them, and they come with a bit of practice.
Difficulty
Sol Cresta is no game for the weak – it requires a lot of patience, quick hand-eye coordination, and a bit of luck to pass some of the levels. You’re in for a bit of a pickle, especially when you up the difficulty from easy to normal to hard or even harder. Or it would help if you were into a lot of fireworks since most of the time, your screen will be filled with them. Followed by the old school ‘game over’ and ‘insert a coin,’ luckily, I don’t need to bring a whole pocket full of coins anymore, but I can just hit replay. Without descending into too much of a nostalgia rant, I’m not kidding about the difficulty. Sure, Platinum Games is known for its controller-breaking games (looking at you, Bayonetta), but still… Sol Cresta was even on easy (or very easy, yeh, laugh), a bit hard for some stages. Especially the ones I’m not allowed to discuss, so I’ll challenge you to play through them all (and then some more high score challenges, of course).
Conclusion
So, to conclude – Sol Cresta is a perfect successor to the old games of days past. Hamster and Platinum Games prove again that you can revive an old franchise and put a new twist on it (or formation if you want). Each planet feels like a fresh breeze of air (filled with deathly missiles and lasers). This one is an excellent addition to your library for fans of the genre, especially if you have the vertical Switch dock, which makes playing games like Sol Cresta a bit easier. If you’re not a fan of the genre, I’ll recommend picking up one of the other titles in the field – since Sol Cresta is not an entry-level game.