Lady Sia
Encyclopedia
Lady Sia is a platform game
with action-adventure
elements for the Game Boy Advance
made by RFX Interactive
and published by TDK Mediactive
. It was released in the USA on October 15, 2001 and in Europe on October 19 of the same year. Lady Sia is one of the few original games produced by RFX Interactive.
The game takes place in a fantasy world
where the player assumes the role of the Xena
-esque warrior
princess
, Lady
Sia. It is her task to defeat the T'soas, a race of anthropomorphs created by the evil warlock
Onimen, who have declared war to the other realms. Her quest leads her through four different realms, the last one being the home continent of the T'soas themselves.
A sequel was planned for the GBA in 2003 but was cancelled due to lack of interest and funding.
, had found ancient magic
in the continent
of Callyge. He used the magic to create a race of half-human/half-beasts known as the T'soas. Using huge turtle
s to transport his new army over the sea, he invaded the continent of Athorre, the human kingdom, and quickly took control. The remaining realms did not know how to react to this and their leaders forsook their alliances. The only one convinced of the need to act was the young queen
of Myriade, Lady Sia.
The story starts with Sia having called the leaders of the remaining realms together in the meeting room of her castle. She tries to convince them of the danger of the situation, but she doesn't succeed. Sia is then informed by her advisor, Barthes, that a T'soa horde is near her castle. She quickly leaves the meeting room to check the situation. She, however, is ambush
ed and locked away in a cell of Athorre's castle. She is awoken and freed by a mysterious, cloak
ed man who gives her some advice and information before running off. Now alone, Sia soon finds a new ally in a chained bird (a griffin
according to the standard description of Lady Sia) in another part of the castle. As a way of thanking her for freeing him, the bird offers to aid Sia in her quest
by bringing her to wherever she wants to go. Sia first goes search for her jade
sword
and family
ring
, which are two powerful artifacts stolen from her by the T'soas.
Before going home to save her own kingdom, Sia decides to visit the leaders of the other realms to check on their current alliance status and, if necessary, restore the old one. The other leaders; Poseidon of the Water Kingdom, Rafooza of the Fire Kingdom and the queen of the Air Kingdom, had gone home after Sia didn't return to the meeting room. Barthes had apparently told the leaders Sia was disgusted by them, that she withdrew from the alliance and that that was the reason she didn't return. Sia manages to convince each of them to join in the battle against the T'soas and Onimen.
Back in Myriade, Sia finds her kingdom completely taken over by the T'soas. Furious, she visits the important locations of her kingdom to get them out of the T'soas' hands and save what is left. Eventually, she comes face to face with one of Onimen's most powerful minions, known as the Fox Lady. The Fox Lady informs Sia that it wasn't Barthes who betrayed her, but Onimen in disguise and that he had killed Barthes. Sia defeats the Fox Lady and thereby frees her land from the T'soas.
Having restored her own land's army
and having the armies of the other realms on her side, Sia goes on ahead to prepare a safe passage for the armies. She discovers the turtles the T'soas used to cross the sea and frees them so the armies of the alliance can use them to reach Callyge. After this, she infiltrates Callyge's fortification
s on her own and ends up in a battle with Onimen. The battle ends undecided: Onimen transforms into a demon
like creature and flies away. That night, the kingdoms celebrate they've won the war. The leaders on the other hand, have a meeting to decide what to do with the T'soas now that their king and creator, Onimen, is gone. Sia proposes to make peace, as Onimen was the real enemy and not the T'soas. Before they can have a real discussion about the matter, the cloaked stranger that helped Sia escape from Athorre's castle appears. He offers to govern the T'soas for them. Sia is surprised to see him again, but is willing to accept the offer. After telling the others what the stranger did for her, they agree as well, content with the solution.
world. The game only deals with part of it, namely the three continent
s involved in the war. They all are separated from each other by sea. Two of the continents as a whole also serve as kingdom
s.
The continent of Athorre is the kingdom of the human
s. Humans in this game are standard medieval fantasy
humans: they don't possess magic, but they have a good understanding of building houses and cities, and technology
in general. Athorre was the first realm that got attacked by the T'soas. The kingdom, by the time Sia starts her quest, has been completely taken over, with the T'soas using Athorre's castle
's jail to imprison Sia and using the village Algambiade and the city Merrion to hide Sia's sword and ring. There's also an airport
on a floating island
, but it is unclear whether it was built by the humans or the T'soas. It is not revealed what happened to the royal family of Athorre when the T'soas took over (provided there was one). It appears the prisoners Sia frees on her quest are mostly humans (if not all).
A little northeast of Athorre lies an unnamed continent that contains multiple kingdoms. The elemental
kingdoms are located in the northern part of the continent. Present in the game are the Water
Kingdom, the Fire
Kingdom and the Air Kingdom. It is possible there are more, but they aren't part of the alliance or in the game. It also appears that an Earth
Kingdom was planned, but eventually not implemented. Each kingdom is ruled by a monarch
, who is capable of powerful magic
. The elemental realms are separated from Myriade by the Snowy Mountain. Myriade is located in the southern part of the continent and is the kingdom of Sia. It's a realm whose inhabitants appear to have a high knowledge of magic
, as evidenced by the locations Sia visits. It is unclear what kind of creatures all inhabit Myriade. Sia is the evidence the population consists of shapeshifters
. However, the presence of the Elven Forest and the Gremlins Machine implies that Myriade's population at least also consists of elves
and gremlin
s.
The continent of Callyge is located in the northeast of the map. It is where the T'soas originate from. Created by Onimen (who resides there as well), they use Callyge as their headquarters
from which they attack the other realms. The seaports protect Callyge from attacks. Callyge seems to have been deserted for a long time before Onimen came, as he mentions he found the knowledge to his magic in the abandoned fortification
s of Callyge. Also, the T'soas in Callyge don't live in house
s but in tent
s.
al platformer
with action-adventure
elements. As such, the player will not only have to watch out for the numerous enemies, but also make sure not to fall off the platforms. Sia won't take damage from a big fall. The world she has to cross is separated in four areas, each divided in four levels, a main boss fight and a bonus level. At the start of each level (with the exception of the bonus level) Sia will remark why she is there. A level either focuses on fighting or acrobatics
. Sia has a standard three lives per level, but the player can temporary acquire more by collecting gems. If the player loses a life, he/she has to restart at the beginning of the level or at the last checkpoint, which mostly is a golden whirlwind
like image that turns into an image of Sia when activated and can usually be found halfway through a level. If all lives are lost, Sia is "thrown in jail" and the player gets ten seconds to decide whether to continue or quit. Regardless, the checkpoint data is not saved and the level has to be done from the start again. Apart from the main quest of reaching the end of the level, the player can also try to get a perfect score for that level. A perfect score is 100 points: five points per health point, one point per magic point
, one point per gem
Sia can collect and five points per freed prisoner. This means one has to collect all 25 gems, free all five prisoners and end the level with a full health bar and magic bar. Getting a perfect score for each of one area's four levels grants access to the bonus level. A perfect score can be obtained there as well, but it won't have any effect. The first three levels of the second area also have a second part. Because Sia has to prove her worth to the other leaders, she has to battle two of them after completing their levels and race the third one. Sia's status after these boss battles has no effect on her score for that level. After completing four levels, the main boss of that area has to be defeated. Doing so grants access to the next area. All levels and boss battles can be redone as many times as the player wants.
and blessed with several magical abilities. The main way of combat
is melee sword
combat. During the first level, the player has to fight with an average sword, but already in the second level, the player can get Sia's jade
sword back, which is more powerful. It also allows the player to use the three combo moves. It automatically replaces the weaker sword. Sia's magical
abilities are mostly used for ranged combat. During the first level, her magical abilities are limited to shooting small balls of energy
in one of eight directions. In the third level, Sia regains her family
ring
. This item allows the player to charge an energyball before releasing it, so that it becomes more powerful. Completing the first three levels of the second area adds three more spells to the repertory. The Water Spell is a defensive spell and makes Sia invulnerable for ten seconds. The Fire Spell creates an explosion that hits every enemy on the screen and damages them (and kills only the weakest enemies). The Air Spell does the opposite: it hits only the closest enemy, but is guaranteed to kill it in that one hit. Sia's final magical ability is shapeshifting
. As a shapeshifter, she has the ability to turn into a "sasquatch". The game does not allow the player to do this at will. Sia's sasquatch form can only be used when she automatically shapeshifts during three of the four main boss battles. In that state, Sia cannot use magic (and therefore has to rely on melee combat again), but is a lot stronger than in her human form and has more melee combat abilities (ground pound, shield and dash).
Lady Sia was one of the earliest games released for the Game Boy Advance
, leaving it without much competition
(in terms of platformers
for the GBA) when it was released. The game was received well by the press, getting grades ranging from "good" to "great". In particular, it was praised for its beautiful, anime
-inspired, hand-drawn
graphics
that often had a slightly cartoonic feel to them. However, the press also considered this one of Lady Sias weaknesses, as it often was considered to be hard to see what was part of the background and what belonged to the interactive
part of the game.
Another aspect Lady Sia was praised for was its solid gameplay that IGN
described as "a decent balance between" standard platformers and Final Fight
clones. Sia herself has a remarkable number of abilities at her disposal. Although this prevented combat from being too repetitive, most reviewers felt Sia's abilities could have used a little more fine-tuning. For example, some reviewers thought Sia's elemental spells were a little hard to cast, as performing them required a button combination involving the control pad. Thus, the player needs some room to move, which, due to the platform structure, isn't always an option. Some of her sword combos had a similar shortcoming. GameSpy
wrote: "They often cause her to slide off platforms or into enemies." The reviewers also criticized the fact that if Sia hit a checkpoint, it saved her current magic and health status. This made the checkpoint practically worthless if activated when the player only has a little bit of health left. GameSpot
considered this and the combos to be the game's only two weaknesses.
In the end, most reviews were quite positive about Lady Sia. IGN
summarized it with the quote, "Lady Sias a good one," and GameSpot
did so with: "Thanks to its solid control, clever puzzles, and stellar production values, Lady Sia is easily worth a trip to the local game shop." Gamespy
concluded that there were some better platform games on the market, but that Lady Sia was still a worthwhile game.
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
with action-adventure
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
elements for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
made by RFX Interactive
RFX Interactive
-Game Boy Color:* Antz Racing - * Dinosaur'us - * Merlin - * Tonic Trouble - * Toonsylvania - * Inspector Gadget: Operation Madkactus - -Game Boy Advance:* Dinotopia: The Timestone Pirates -...
and published by TDK Mediactive
TDK Mediactive
TDK Mediactive was a California-based video game publisher owned by TDK that published video games based on licensed properties such as:* Conan * Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis * Robotech: Battlecry * Robotech: The Macross Saga...
. It was released in the USA on October 15, 2001 and in Europe on October 19 of the same year. Lady Sia is one of the few original games produced by RFX Interactive.
The game takes place in a fantasy world
Fantasy world
A fantasy world is a fictional universe used in fantasy novels and games. Typical worlds involve magic or magical abilities and often, but not always, either a medieval or futuristic theme...
where the player assumes the role of the Xena
Xena
Xena is a fictional character from Robert Tapert's Xena: Warrior Princess franchise. She first appeared in the 1995–1999 television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, before going on to appear in Xena: Warrior Princess TV show and subsequent comic book of the same name...
-esque warrior
Woman warrior
The portrayal of women warriors in literature and popular culture is a subject of study in history, literary studies, film studies, folklore and mythology, gender studies, and cultural studies.-Archaeology:...
princess
Princess
Princess is the feminine form of prince . Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or his daughters....
, Lady
Lord
Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
Sia. It is her task to defeat the T'soas, a race of anthropomorphs created by the evil warlock
Warlock
The term warlock in origin means "traitor, oathbreaker".In early modern Scots, the word came to be used as the male equivalent of witch ....
Onimen, who have declared war to the other realms. Her quest leads her through four different realms, the last one being the home continent of the T'soas themselves.
A sequel was planned for the GBA in 2003 but was cancelled due to lack of interest and funding.
Storyline
Onimen, a powerful warlockWarlock
The term warlock in origin means "traitor, oathbreaker".In early modern Scots, the word came to be used as the male equivalent of witch ....
, had found ancient magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
in the continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
of Callyge. He used the magic to create a race of half-human/half-beasts known as the T'soas. Using huge turtle
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...
s to transport his new army over the sea, he invaded the continent of Athorre, the human kingdom, and quickly took control. The remaining realms did not know how to react to this and their leaders forsook their alliances. The only one convinced of the need to act was the young queen
Queen regnant
A queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....
of Myriade, Lady Sia.
The story starts with Sia having called the leaders of the remaining realms together in the meeting room of her castle. She tries to convince them of the danger of the situation, but she doesn't succeed. Sia is then informed by her advisor, Barthes, that a T'soa horde is near her castle. She quickly leaves the meeting room to check the situation. She, however, is ambush
Ambush
An ambush is a long-established military tactic, in which the aggressors take advantage of concealment and the element of surprise to attack an unsuspecting enemy from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind hilltops...
ed and locked away in a cell of Athorre's castle. She is awoken and freed by a mysterious, cloak
Cloak
A cloak is a type of loose garment that is worn over indoor clothing and serves the same purpose as an overcoat; it protects the wearer from the cold, rain or wind for example, or it may form part of a fashionable outfit or uniform. Cloaks are as old as human history; there has nearly always been...
ed man who gives her some advice and information before running off. Now alone, Sia soon finds a new ally in a chained bird (a griffin
Griffin
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle...
according to the standard description of Lady Sia) in another part of the castle. As a way of thanking her for freeing him, the bird offers to aid Sia in her quest
Quest
In mythology and literature, a quest, a journey towards a goal, serves as a plot device and as a symbol. Quests appear in the folklore of every nation and also figure prominently in non-national cultures. In literature, the objects of quests require great exertion on the part of the hero, and...
by bringing her to wherever she wants to go. Sia first goes search for her jade
Jade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
sword
Sword
A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
and family
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
ring
Magic ring
A magic ring is a ring, usually a finger ring, that has magical properties. It appears frequently in fantasy and fairy tales. Magic rings are found in the folklore of every country where rings are worn, and they endow the wearer with a variety of abilities, including invisibility, the granting of...
, which are two powerful artifacts stolen from her by the T'soas.
Before going home to save her own kingdom, Sia decides to visit the leaders of the other realms to check on their current alliance status and, if necessary, restore the old one. The other leaders; Poseidon of the Water Kingdom, Rafooza of the Fire Kingdom and the queen of the Air Kingdom, had gone home after Sia didn't return to the meeting room. Barthes had apparently told the leaders Sia was disgusted by them, that she withdrew from the alliance and that that was the reason she didn't return. Sia manages to convince each of them to join in the battle against the T'soas and Onimen.
Back in Myriade, Sia finds her kingdom completely taken over by the T'soas. Furious, she visits the important locations of her kingdom to get them out of the T'soas' hands and save what is left. Eventually, she comes face to face with one of Onimen's most powerful minions, known as the Fox Lady. The Fox Lady informs Sia that it wasn't Barthes who betrayed her, but Onimen in disguise and that he had killed Barthes. Sia defeats the Fox Lady and thereby frees her land from the T'soas.
Having restored her own land's army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
and having the armies of the other realms on her side, Sia goes on ahead to prepare a safe passage for the armies. She discovers the turtles the T'soas used to cross the sea and frees them so the armies of the alliance can use them to reach Callyge. After this, she infiltrates Callyge's fortification
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
s on her own and ends up in a battle with Onimen. The battle ends undecided: Onimen transforms into a demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
like creature and flies away. That night, the kingdoms celebrate they've won the war. The leaders on the other hand, have a meeting to decide what to do with the T'soas now that their king and creator, Onimen, is gone. Sia proposes to make peace, as Onimen was the real enemy and not the T'soas. Before they can have a real discussion about the matter, the cloaked stranger that helped Sia escape from Athorre's castle appears. He offers to govern the T'soas for them. Sia is surprised to see him again, but is willing to accept the offer. After telling the others what the stranger did for her, they agree as well, content with the solution.
Setting
The game Lady Sia takes place in an unnamed fantasyFantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
world. The game only deals with part of it, namely the three continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
s involved in the war. They all are separated from each other by sea. Two of the continents as a whole also serve as kingdom
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
s.
The continent of Athorre is the kingdom of the human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
s. Humans in this game are standard medieval fantasy
Medieval fantasy
Medieval fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that encompasses medieval era high fantasy and sometimes simply represents fictitious versions of historic events. This subgenre is common among role-playing games, text-based roleplaying, and high-fantasy literature....
humans: they don't possess magic, but they have a good understanding of building houses and cities, and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
in general. Athorre was the first realm that got attacked by the T'soas. The kingdom, by the time Sia starts her quest, has been completely taken over, with the T'soas using Athorre's castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
's jail to imprison Sia and using the village Algambiade and the city Merrion to hide Sia's sword and ring. There's also an airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
on a floating island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
, but it is unclear whether it was built by the humans or the T'soas. It is not revealed what happened to the royal family of Athorre when the T'soas took over (provided there was one). It appears the prisoners Sia frees on her quest are mostly humans (if not all).
A little northeast of Athorre lies an unnamed continent that contains multiple kingdoms. The elemental
Classical element
Many philosophies and worldviews have a set of classical elements believed to reflect the simplest essential parts and principles of which anything consists or upon which the constitution and fundamental powers of anything are based. Most frequently, classical elements refer to ancient beliefs...
kingdoms are located in the northern part of the continent. Present in the game are the Water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
Kingdom, the Fire
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
Kingdom and the Air Kingdom. It is possible there are more, but they aren't part of the alliance or in the game. It also appears that an Earth
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
Kingdom was planned, but eventually not implemented. Each kingdom is ruled by a monarch
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
, who is capable of powerful magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
. The elemental realms are separated from Myriade by the Snowy Mountain. Myriade is located in the southern part of the continent and is the kingdom of Sia. It's a realm whose inhabitants appear to have a high knowledge of magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
, as evidenced by the locations Sia visits. It is unclear what kind of creatures all inhabit Myriade. Sia is the evidence the population consists of shapeshifters
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
. However, the presence of the Elven Forest and the Gremlins Machine implies that Myriade's population at least also consists of elves
Elf
An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
and gremlin
Gremlin
A gremlin is an imaginary creature commonly depicted as mischievous and mechanically oriented, with a specific interest in aircraft. Gremlins' mischievous natures are similar to those of English folkloric imps, while their inclination to damage or dismantle machinery is more...
s.
The continent of Callyge is located in the northeast of the map. It is where the T'soas originate from. Created by Onimen (who resides there as well), they use Callyge as their headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
from which they attack the other realms. The seaports protect Callyge from attacks. Callyge seems to have been deserted for a long time before Onimen came, as he mentions he found the knowledge to his magic in the abandoned fortification
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
s of Callyge. Also, the T'soas in Callyge don't live in house
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
s but in tent
Tent
A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles or attached to a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using guy ropes tied to stakes or tent pegs...
s.
Gameplay
Lady Sia is a traditionTradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
al platformer
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
with action-adventure
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
elements. As such, the player will not only have to watch out for the numerous enemies, but also make sure not to fall off the platforms. Sia won't take damage from a big fall. The world she has to cross is separated in four areas, each divided in four levels, a main boss fight and a bonus level. At the start of each level (with the exception of the bonus level) Sia will remark why she is there. A level either focuses on fighting or acrobatics
Acrobatics
Acrobatics is the performance of extraordinary feats of balance, agility and motor coordination. It can be found in many of the performing arts, as well as many sports...
. Sia has a standard three lives per level, but the player can temporary acquire more by collecting gems. If the player loses a life, he/she has to restart at the beginning of the level or at the last checkpoint, which mostly is a golden whirlwind
Dust devil
A dust devil is a strong, well-formed, and relatively long-lived whirlwind, ranging from small to large . The primary vertical motion is upward...
like image that turns into an image of Sia when activated and can usually be found halfway through a level. If all lives are lost, Sia is "thrown in jail" and the player gets ten seconds to decide whether to continue or quit. Regardless, the checkpoint data is not saved and the level has to be done from the start again. Apart from the main quest of reaching the end of the level, the player can also try to get a perfect score for that level. A perfect score is 100 points: five points per health point, one point per magic point
Magic point
Magic points are units of magical power that are used in many role-playing, computer role-playing and similar games as an expendable resource that is needed to pay for magic spells and other abilities, such as special attacks...
, one point per gem
Gemstone
A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...
Sia can collect and five points per freed prisoner. This means one has to collect all 25 gems, free all five prisoners and end the level with a full health bar and magic bar. Getting a perfect score for each of one area's four levels grants access to the bonus level. A perfect score can be obtained there as well, but it won't have any effect. The first three levels of the second area also have a second part. Because Sia has to prove her worth to the other leaders, she has to battle two of them after completing their levels and race the third one. Sia's status after these boss battles has no effect on her score for that level. After completing four levels, the main boss of that area has to be defeated. Doing so grants access to the next area. All levels and boss battles can be redone as many times as the player wants.
Fighting
Sia is a very capable warriorWarrior
A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...
and blessed with several magical abilities. The main way of combat
Combat
Combat, or fighting, is a purposeful violent conflict meant to establish dominance over the opposition, or to terminate the opposition forever, or drive the opposition away from a location where it is not wanted or needed....
is melee sword
Sword
A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
combat. During the first level, the player has to fight with an average sword, but already in the second level, the player can get Sia's jade
Jade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
sword back, which is more powerful. It also allows the player to use the three combo moves. It automatically replaces the weaker sword. Sia's magical
Magic (fantasy)
Magic in fiction is the endowing of fictional characters or objects with magical powers.Such magic often serves as a plot device, the source of magical artifacts and their quests...
abilities are mostly used for ranged combat. During the first level, her magical abilities are limited to shooting small balls of energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
in one of eight directions. In the third level, Sia regains her family
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
ring
Magic ring
A magic ring is a ring, usually a finger ring, that has magical properties. It appears frequently in fantasy and fairy tales. Magic rings are found in the folklore of every country where rings are worn, and they endow the wearer with a variety of abilities, including invisibility, the granting of...
. This item allows the player to charge an energyball before releasing it, so that it becomes more powerful. Completing the first three levels of the second area adds three more spells to the repertory. The Water Spell is a defensive spell and makes Sia invulnerable for ten seconds. The Fire Spell creates an explosion that hits every enemy on the screen and damages them (and kills only the weakest enemies). The Air Spell does the opposite: it hits only the closest enemy, but is guaranteed to kill it in that one hit. Sia's final magical ability is shapeshifting
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
. As a shapeshifter, she has the ability to turn into a "sasquatch". The game does not allow the player to do this at will. Sia's sasquatch form can only be used when she automatically shapeshifts during three of the four main boss battles. In that state, Sia cannot use magic (and therefore has to rely on melee combat again), but is a lot stronger than in her human form and has more melee combat abilities (ground pound, shield and dash).
Reception
| Publication | Score | |
|---|---|---|
Nintendo World Report Nintendo World Report is a Nintendo-specific video game website that covers Nintendo's current consoles, the Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi, and Wii.-History:... |
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IGN IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment... |
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GameSpot GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which... |
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GameSpy GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current... |
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Gaming Target Gaming Target is a website covering video games and gaming culture that was founded on February 17, 1999 by Matt Swider.-History:When it launched in 1999, Gaming Target focused solely on the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color... |
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Electronic Gaming Monthly Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis... |
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Nintendo Power Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was... |
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| Compilations of multiple reviews | ||
Game Rankings GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive... |
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Metacritic Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,... |
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Lady Sia was one of the earliest games released for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
, leaving it without much competition
Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...
(in terms of platformers
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
for the GBA) when it was released. The game was received well by the press, getting grades ranging from "good" to "great". In particular, it was praised for its beautiful, anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
-inspired, hand-drawn
Traditional animation
Traditional animation, is an animation technique where each frame is drawn by hand...
graphics
Graphics
Graphics are visual presentations on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, computer screen, paper, or stone to brand, inform, illustrate, or entertain. Examples are photographs, drawings, Line Art, graphs, diagrams, typography, numbers, symbols, geometric designs, maps, engineering drawings,or...
that often had a slightly cartoonic feel to them. However, the press also considered this one of Lady Sias weaknesses, as it often was considered to be hard to see what was part of the background and what belonged to the interactive
Interactivity
In the fields of information science, communication, and industrial design, there is debate over the meaning of interactivity. In the "contingency view" of interactivity, there are three levels:...
part of the game.
Another aspect Lady Sia was praised for was its solid gameplay that IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
described as "a decent balance between" standard platformers and Final Fight
Final Fight
is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up game originally released by Capcom as a coin-operated video game in . It was the seventh game released by Capcom for their CP System arcade game hardware...
clones. Sia herself has a remarkable number of abilities at her disposal. Although this prevented combat from being too repetitive, most reviewers felt Sia's abilities could have used a little more fine-tuning. For example, some reviewers thought Sia's elemental spells were a little hard to cast, as performing them required a button combination involving the control pad. Thus, the player needs some room to move, which, due to the platform structure, isn't always an option. Some of her sword combos had a similar shortcoming. GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
wrote: "They often cause her to slide off platforms or into enemies." The reviewers also criticized the fact that if Sia hit a checkpoint, it saved her current magic and health status. This made the checkpoint practically worthless if activated when the player only has a little bit of health left. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
considered this and the combos to be the game's only two weaknesses.
In the end, most reviews were quite positive about Lady Sia. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
summarized it with the quote, "Lady Sias a good one," and GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
did so with: "Thanks to its solid control, clever puzzles, and stellar production values, Lady Sia is easily worth a trip to the local game shop." Gamespy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
concluded that there were some better platform games on the market, but that Lady Sia was still a worthwhile game.