The graphics in Silhouette Mirage are decidedly... Japanese. Extremely. They're quite cute, and sometimes scarily so. They're also 2D, so don't expect some major polygonal stuff going on in this game. The fact that the PlayStation's 2D support isn't all that hot doesn't help much either. But never fear -- Silhouette Mirage is far from an ugly game, and you really endear to the cast, enemy and friend alike, as the game progresses. It's not gorgeous, but it gets the job done and gets you in the correct frame of mind. The sound is excellent, however, with the right mix of annoying voice-over and quality voice-over to make the game fit its own theme. The music is typical Treasure fare, not particularly memorable, but nothing to distract you from the game either. For a 2D platformer, Silhouette Mirage is excellently presented.

Thankfully, it has the gameplay to back it up. You are Shyna, the Messenger of Justice, and you've been sent out to fix the Edo System. Terribly unfortunately, you have a bit of "dain bramage," and can't quite recall where it is and what to do when you get there. The world is split into two types of people -- silhouettes and mirages. You are a rare mix of both. Depending on the direction you face, you have one or the other attribute. If you are in the same mode as the enemy you are fighting, you cannot kill them, but instead you steal 'magic' energy from them with every shot. If you're in the opposite mode, you can blow them to smithereens. It's a novel concept (as Treasure tends to do), and it works very well once you get the hang of it.

You start off with your typical videogame shot, and you can buy Parasites which give you different shooting abilities from the friendly neighborhood... bunny. Yeah, don't ask me, I just play the game. You can get homing rounds, gas clouds, and all other sorts of crazy crap. To get said crazy crap, you need to use the Cash Bash and get as much money from the various enemies and bosses in the game, else you can't afford diddly squat.

Ah, speaking of bosses. Each level has roughly a gazillion of the suckers, and some of them are trivial while others are complete pains in the ass. Working Designs has, as usual, tweaked the game, making it a good bit harder than the Japanese version. They also added the typical config stuff that is opened as you beat the game varying numbers of times. The game itself changes depending on how many times you beat it (if you can), which adds replay value as well. And the typical Working Designs humor is scattered about in the game, to keep you going.

And it's just a damned fun old-school 2D platformer.

Treasure + Working Designs = bitch. 'Nuff said. You'll struggle through this game your first time around, and then probably not beat it for a while after that. And then there are the -other- paths through the game. Prepare to run screaming, and then come back for more.

SM has impeccable mechanics. Everything has been thought out well, and the game plays excellently. Sure, occasionally you can beat a boss by just shooting it repeatedly when it gets stuck in a corner (the Werewolf did this for me), but sometimes you've got to figure out what the hell to do on the fly. It works, and it works well. This is a great example of a Genre That Will Not Die -- and with games like Silhouette Mirage, it shouldn't.