rough and kinda scuffed at times, but it becomes part of the charm. silly yet also impactful. treasure’s 5th gen endeavors interest me most because you could definitely tell they were mainly focusing on experimentation, but to what end? for fun? for something bigger? who knows! all i know is that they enjoyed making cool little unique weirdass action titles, and i enjoy playing them.
sorta like a proto-ikaruga only to a more extreme degree. you have two colors: red and blue. enemies have two colors: red and blue. you can only kill enemies with the opposite color shots, and the enemies can only hurt you with the opposite color shots. simple in concept, but actually playing it is like wrestling a bear. since this is treasure, you can’t just change colors on the fly, oh no. instead you have a corresponding color for each side of your body. wanna shoot blue? face left. wanna shoot red? face right. this essentially turns what would’ve been a basic run-&-gun into an almost puzzle-like platformer. you must have keen spacial awareness and consider your placement on the screen at all times. they will throw enemies of multiple colors at you at once. strategy is key to taking them all out quickly while managing to avoid taking damage yourself.
now, i wouldn’t exactly call this genius but it’s an incredibly interesting gimmick for a game of its nature and, i fuck with it. visually stunning as per treasure standard, utilizing the hardware to its fullest in animating some pristine spritework. the character designs are cutesy while still maintaining that degree of edge to intimidate. silhouette mirage is a very creative game at the end of the day. constantly bombarding you with distinct set-piece after wacky boss after confusingly sweet story beat. an intriguing one, for sure. definitely not for everyone but if you have some tolerance for experimental sidescrollers, give it a go. i honestly might prefer this to ikaruga.