Designer(s) Keita Kimura Developer Human Entertainment | Initial release date 28 May 1993 Mode Single-player video game | |
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Composer(s) Kouji Niikura
Hiroyuki Naka
Hiroshi Taniguchi Platform Super Nintendo Entertainment System Publishers Human Entertainment, Tokai Communications, Field Co Ltd Genres Survival game, Adventure game Similar Human Entertainment games, Adventure games | ||
SOS, known in Japan as Septentrion (セプテントリオン), is a survival adventure video game developed by Human Entertainment and published in 1994 by Vic Tokai for the Super NES. A sequel to the game was later released in Japan for the PlayStation known as Septentrion: Out of the Blue.
Contents
Summary
Mostly inspired by the book and film The Poseidon Adventure. The game is set in 1921, and the players must escape the sinking ship Lady Crithania, which gets hit by a gigantic wave and is capsized; all within the time limit of an hour. However, the game is made more difficult by the lack of a visible timer (although it is shown if the player injures himself, in which case he will lose five minutes) and the fact the ship rotates angles constantly and gradually gets filled with water.
The game features the possibility to play as four different characters, each one with the same gameplay control and same goal, but with a different story:
Each character can take up to seven other survivors, some of which have different value to each character, and all of them have different requirements in how to get to them and how to make them follow the player. Depending on how many survivors the player finds, who they are and how valuable they are to the character the gamer plays as, the ending will vary. The best ending for each character is obtained by escaping the boiler room, the final area of the game, with their sentimental person (Amy for Capris, Harry, Stella and Jack for Redwin, Ismay for Luke, and Adela for Jeffrey) and over 25 "points" worth of survivors.
Reception
GamePro gave the game a negative review, saying that the premise is compelling but marred by too many poorly-designed segments. They summarized the game as "a movie-like trek that has great ambiance but hits some sticky spots along the way."