In the 90s, Working Designs were one of the most notable game localizers since they often targeted more niche Japanese games that probably wouldn't have gotten translated if it weren't for them. Lunar 1 & 2, Popful Mail, Alundra, the Ray series, Thunder Force V, Elemental Gearbolt, all great games that I'm glad were even localized to begin with. And you can't say Working Designs didn't care about what they did, as most of their localizations came with a ton of extras both physical and in-game, from custom manuals to blooper reels. As much as I hate to admit it, Working Designs was probably the best we had at the time.
But where my issues with Working Designs come in is when you start to get into what they've changed. As you'd expect from a 90s game localization, the scripts for all of their games were pretty dramatically modified, often with a lot more dated jokes, pop culture references, and overall bathos being added to appeal to western audiences. Honestly, this is pretty hit or miss for me. Depending on the game, the more tongue in cheek can actually fit quite well, with the already light-hearted Popful Mail being a good example. Working Designs' voice talent was also really damn solid across the board, especially for the time, and some of their voices like for Mail and the Rayearth cast still hold up as iconic versions of those characters. At their worst, however, you get an NPC from the fantasy RPG Lunar shouting out Bill Clinton in one of their most dated jokes.
If it was just the localization differences, I'd probably look back on Working Designs a lot more fondly as a charming relic of the 90s. However, what truly grinds my gears is the fact that for almost all of their localizations, they often went in and changed the gameplay to be more difficult. I always had the feeling that they sought to "improve" the game by doing this which is not only really egotistical but also frustratingly wrong, since almost all their gameplay changes ended up being for the worse. Lunar 2 forcing you to pay XP to save, Popful Mail inflating all the shop prices and forcing you to grind, most of their shmup ports cranking up the difficulty and not letting you beat the game on easy, the list goes on. There's a reason why several fan groups have been releasing "unworked designs" patches that remove these gameplay changes, they make the games worse and sully their reputation among people who don't know better.
Now why did I just spend three paragraphs ranting about a localization studio in what's supposed to be a review of Silhouette Mirage. Well, that's because the Silhouette Mirage localization is probably Working Designs' greatest sin. A nonsensical rewrite that removes all the game's biblical references, forcing an ammo system into a game that didn't need it, increasing enemy damage, inflated shop prices, it's truly horrible stuff. Out of all of Treasure's many incredible games, Silhouette Mirage is probably the game that lives in my brain rent-free the most. There's just not much like it, and yet, it's not a game I could ever really see through to the end since there hasn't ever been a definitive way to play it. The Saturn version runs and looks the best but it's not translated and lacks the extra content the PS1 version has, and while the PS1 version was localized, it was localized by Working Designs. This is a perfect example of why Working Designs can have a negative impact on the games they localize, because it meant people like myself couldn't get the full experience of a game I so desperately wanted to love.
Which is why I was so glad to find that not too long ago, Silhouette Mirage finally got an accurate fan translation for the Saturn version. Sure, I wouldn't get to experience the PS1 version's exclusive bosses, but it still meant I'd finally be able to play the most polished version of Silhouette Mirage and be able to understand what's going on in the story for once. And the verdict? This game fucking rules. Silhouette Mirage is such a dense game even by Treasure standards that it's hard to even know where to start. It crams so many ambitious ideas into its roughly two-hour length, but it's all so thematically cohesive that it all just clicks.
So I guess I'll start with the story then. Silhouette Mirage is about Shyna, a chirpy multicolored witch on a mission to restore a world that has been literally split in half by the titular Silhouette and Mirage attributes. There's a lot of lore to this game that slowly gets revealed as you play and uncover the multiple endings and going through it all would take a long time, so I just want to say how impressed I am with all the thought that went into Silhouette Mirage's world and narrative. Shyna is probably my favorite Treasure protagonist both in terms of her design and her goofy yet noble personality, I love the way each character's personality is informed by which attribute they were infected with (so the Silhouette characters are more brawn and the Mirage characters are more brain), and the way the story blends biblical references with an overall sci-fi aesthetic is very unique. The WD version definitely lost a lot from cutting all that out, I'd say.
Beyond just the story though, Silhouette Mirage has a stellar presentation. 1997 as a whole was a pretty killer year for 32 bit spritework seeing as we got games like Symphony Of The Night and Mega Man X4 that year, but I'd argue Silhouette Mirage manages to rival them in terms of sheer fluidity, color, detail, and expressiveness. All the environments pop, Koichi Kimura's character designs stand out through just how original they all look, and the bosses look as massive and surreal as you'd expect out of a Treasure game. I can't understate just how much I adore Silhouette Mirage's overall look, and no other game really manages to capture the same otherwordly feel aside from maybe the Freedom Planet games? On top of that, Silhouette Mirage has easily my favorite Treasure soundtrack, the Nazo2 unit really outdid themselves here. From rocking and funky tunes like Half And Half, Are You The Boss Or Just A +1, and Punky Pumpking Castle, to intense synth tracks like Pinch Me, Night Flight, and Pathos Zophar, to more dramatic pieces like Guardian Angel, Witches' Banquet, and Middle Eastern Zeal, this soundtrack is filled to the brim with ear-wormy bangers.
Okay, now let's actually talk about the gameplay. Silhouette Mirage builds itself around a single, simple premise: A run-and-gun where your shot type depends on the direction you're facing. So when you're facing to the right, you shoot red Mirages shots, and when you're facing to the left, you shoot blue Silhouette shots. Enemies can only be taken out by shots of the opposite attribute, and you can already see where the challenge comes in. While this mechanic may seem a bit awkward at first, Silhouette Mirage is meticulously designed around it. Shyla has a massive moveset beyond just shooting, as she can use a variety of grabs and physical moves to push her opponents into the perfect position to be taken out by the right shot type. And that's also not mentioning Shyla's fluid dash and triple jump, her dual-colored reflector move, the variety of weapon types you can pick from (though they're admittedly not the best balanced), the ability to swap colors on the fly, and the mechanic where you can deprive opponents of their magic by shooting them with their color. As a result, Silhouette Mirage almost feels like a blend between run-and-gun and beat-em-up, as there's a big emphasis on strategically using your wide array of moves to control space. Once it all clicks, Silhouette Mirage feels incredible to play and the massive amount of tactics makes for a very replayable experience.
Like many Treasure action platformers, Silhouette Mirage also boasts a solid lineup of really dynamic stages packed to the brim with boss fights. Stage 2 is the obvious standout though, having you blast through a stunning nighttime city backdrop taking down mooks on motorcycles and fighting your way across a train. It might just be one of my favorite gaming levels period. That being said, most of these stages are pretty short. If anything, I'd argue Silhouette Mirage almost borders on being a straight-up boss rush game as around half the game's length is composed of fighting boss fights. Thankfully, Silhouette Mirage probably has one of Treasure's strongest boss lineups. Zohar's fast-paced attribute-swapping encounters are the easy highlight of the game along with his brutal Za-Zohar form, but there's also the iconic train fight against the weird-ass anime girl fish Dynamis, the fight against Malak that's set on a floating platform, the hilarious bout with Samson set on the roof of a car, the hilarious casino fight against Sara, and yes, the mysterious PS1-exclusive fight against the Reaper. Silhouette Mirage manages to cram more memorable setpieces and boss encounters into its brisk length than many 10+ hour long games I've played.
Now, that's not to say I still don't have a few gripes with Silhouette Mirage though even with the Japanese version. Primarily, I'm not huge on the game's shop system. Collecting enough money to upgrade and try out the game's multiple weapons often requires you to stop in the middle of stages and take the time to shake enemies for cash which feels weirdly grindy for what's otherwise a blisteringly fast-paced game, so it's often more efficient to find the weapon you want to use, stick to it for the entire run, or even better, find the hidden fully upgraded weapons earlier on in the game. I also think the game's stage design in the second half gets almost comically short and simplified which is a shame since the first half has some pretty fun and memorable platforming setpieces. That's pretty much it though, and both of these gripes are small enough that they don't prevent Silhouette Mirage from being one of my favorite Treasure games on every other level.
Overall, Silhouette Mirage really is just everything I love about Treasure crammed into a single game. A robust and fluid moveset, inventive gameplay mechanics, dynamic stages, bombastic and memorable boss fights, tons of replayability, a needlessly fleshed-out world, wonderful characters, gorgeous spritework, and a phenomenal soundtrack, it really is the complete package. While this may not be one of Treasure's most polished games, the sheer originality of it both with its gameplay and presentation help Silhouette Mirage stand out as something unlike anything else in the medium. I'm glad I was able to finally experience Silhouette Mirage as it was originally intended to be experienced because man, this game is something truly special.
5/5 Stars
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