Wayforward is bringing the overlooked GBA title Sigma Star Saga to modern platforms

Wayforward that the GBA’s 2005 hidden gem, Sigma Star Saga, is getting ported to modern platforms via Limited Run Games’ proprietary Carbon Engine. On t🌊op of that, it will also be getti🔯ng re-released on GBA.

Sigma Star Saga is an interesting hybrid of RPG and horizontal shoot-’em-up, which aren’t ex꧃actly the most compatible for crossover, but Wayforward was able to make it work. It’s sort of like a normal JRPG, but the random battles are shoot-’em-up sequences.

Critics at the time were pretty lukewarm on it. However, over𒈔 recent years it𝔍 has found a fanbase in people plumbing the GBA catalog for forgotten gems.

I’ll be honest, I’ve played only about 15 minutes of Sigma Star Saga, but my husband was pretty stricken with it. What sticks most in my memory is the vibrant graphics. The original Game Boy Advance had a really difficult-to-see screen. While the GBA SP alleviated it with its front-lit screen, developers developed the technique of using really bright colors to make things more visible. The most notable examples of this are Metroid Fusion and Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance. Th🐎e style was born out of necessity, but it’s a unique aesthetic that s🍃tands out today.

While details are somewhat scarce, this seems to be planned as a pretty straightforward port. I’ve played a few of the LRG Carbon Engine re-releases lately, and outside of rewind and save states, they tend to b💧e lacking in bells and w✅histles. It’s mostly just great to see older games get new leases on life. I just really wish that they’d add in control mapping.

Sigma Star Saga will be released on PC and (unspecified) consoles sometꦑime ꦏin 2025. It will also be getting a new physical GBA release via Limited Run Games.