Blessed by the power of Game Arts, Silpheed is a classic in my mind featuring graphics that are still impressive well into the '90s, a challenge worthy of any shooter fan, and a unique soundtrack.

Graphically, Silpheed is a marvel, featuring mostly flat shaded objects with some textured levels thrown in as well. These aren't bland four sided objects either. These are superbly designed and colored models.

All of the background stuff you'll see (asteroids, large ships, etc.) is done through full motion video, meaning it won't ever change. Fortunately, all of the backgrounds are ingeniously designed, artistically oozing with quality, and make the game a million times more enjoyable.

Witness a huge intergalactic battle with giant cruisers and destroyers firing back and forth, smaller ships whizzing in between as the larger craft explode into a million fragments. Then you'll find yourself skimming across the moon, created realistically through maps from NASA themselves! The shear depth of the video backdrops is enough to buy this game.

Unlike most other full motion video games, Silpheed's enemies, as well as your ship, were placed on top of the video, allowing you to interact with them and move around on top of the video backdrops. This is what really sold Silpheed as a 3D shooter.

The gameplay offers you four different weapons that can be equipped on either side of your ship. For example, you could equip the spread shot on the left wing and the lock-on laser on the right wing. You also get your pick of four sub weapons that are all basically bomb attacks, one of which you'll need hundreds of to defeat the final boss.

While there may not be much to come back to in the way of secrets, Silpheed is definitely one of the classic games on the Sega CD. It's ingenious and artistic design combined with the action of a traditional shooter will forever have this game etched in my mind. ~ Shawn Sackenheim, All Game Guide

Gorgeously designed models and locales ~ Shawn Sackenheim, All Game Guide

A unique but not always enjoyable soundtrack mixed with decent, but repetitive sound effects ~ Shawn Sackenheim, All Game Guide

Zooming across the beautiful backgrounds and blasting enemies is a thrill a minute ~ Shawn Sackenheim, All Game Guide

Despite being a thrill to play there really isn't much to come back to ~ Shawn Sackenheim, All Game Guide