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> Results: Sigma Star Saga
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In the future, the Earth is at war with the alien Krill race. You are Ian Recker, leader of Earth's Sigma squadron of space fighter pilots. During a decisive battle with the Krill, your whole force is killed. Seeking revenge, you agree to go undercover disguised as a Krill fugitive. Along the way you befriend a sexy female Krill pilot named Psyme and as you rise in the ranks, you learn about corrupt leaders in both the Krill and Earth armies as you uncover secrets on uncharted planets.
Sigma Star Saga plays out like a typical role-playing game with overhead exploration, plenty of dialogue, and random battle encounters. But it is these random encounters that make the game unique. They are not turn-based affairs, but rather side-scrolling space shooters like Gradius or R-Type. When you shoot down enough ships, the battle is over, and you collect experience points by collecting pods from defeated craft. Explore the planets on foot and find gun data to use in battle. Mix and match different kinds of gun data for the right kind of firepower for the job. Other items, like bombs and wings, help you pass obstacles in the overhead role-playing sections.  While this new premise sounds unique and fun, it's not without its problems. The biggest one is the random encounters. Not only are the battles random, but so are the ships you pilot in each battle. Woe be to whoever has to fight one of the mini-bosses in the Krill ship that drives like an intergalactic school bus. Chances are you'll be destroyed and have to start over from the last save point. This happens much too often to be forgivable. While the mix of classic shooter and overhead role-playing is unique, both kinds of gameplay are slightly mediocre. And even though you can mix and match gun data in hundreds of combinations, there are only a couple that are really useful. Despite these problems, the game is worth a playthrough for sci-fi fans because of the compelling story. Graphics are top notch for the Game Boy Advance, full of classic 16-bit 2D charm. The epic music score is spectacular, too. Play control is responsive unless you happen to be piloting that school bus of a spaceship in some of the random encounters. Sigma Star Saga provides players with a creative action role-playing experience, and if you can overlook some of the glaring problems, it's a lot of fun.  
Reading skill is definitely a must to understand the text heavy story. Most of the violence in the story is implied, not seen, and the only things you blow up are spaceships and alien critters. Parents may object to lady alien Psyme's near nakedness, as well as some other PG scenarios in the storyline, but other than that, it's as campy and harmless as an old Star Trek episode. If they can stomach some of the game's problems, older kids who like Star Wars and other sci-fi romps may enjoy blasting off with Sigma Star Saga.
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