When Sin and Punishment first saw Japanese release back in 2000, the Nintendo 64 was more or less dead in the eyes of most western gamers, myself included. We had our Playstations, Dreamcasts, and the impending release of the Playstation 2 to keep us busy. The game never left Japan’s shores, though it would have been a publisher’s dream localization project had it been for any other console: full English voice acting, only a handful of menus in need of translation, and as a Treasure developed title, it was guaranteed to sell to at least a few thousand raving fans. Though the game interested me quite a bit, I had no idea how to play a Japanese cart on a very US Nintendo 64, and the prospect of shelling out $80 for the game when Final Fantasy VIII was only $20 did a lot to steer me away from it.

However, I was recently pointed towards complete, sealed copies of the game selling for a mere $40 on eBay. A quick trip to Google taught me that I could either take a hacksaw to my N64 in order to remove the two plastic tabs preventing Japanese games from fitting into the console, or find myself a nice region free GameShark (which neither GameStop or EB Games sells!) to bypass the console’s state of the art region lockout technology.

That was several weeks ago, and as of yesterday I had both Sin and Punishment and a GameShark on hand. As my first import video game, I don’t think I could have picked a better candidate. As I said before, all of the game’s lines are spoken in English, and there are really only three menu options which need managing. Having lost my import cherry, I can’t help but feel like the world of importing has lost all its wonder and mystique. I just ordered the stuff off eBay. And it was pretty cheap. Is that all I’ve been shying away from all this time?

The game itself is (I seem to use those four words often) quite good. It’s you’re standard on the rails, third person Space Harrier-esque shooter. It’s also a lot longer than your typical Treasure fare, though the added game length comes mostly from the game’s numerous cutscenes. Even though everything’s in English, the game’s narrative still doesn’t make a lot of sense. There’s demons/genetically mutated monsters/things, lots of references to “blood,” and a trio of ridiculously ugly super hero kids. And the final boss is the Earth itself. (OMG SPOILERZ!) But if you’re importing a Treasure game for its story, you’re far enough off the mark to be considered pretty far off the mark. The game’s final level is pretty lackluster, as it suddenly shifts the gameplay to something resembling a side scrolling platformer. Still, it’s a small flaw from a developer known for some much more serious crimes against gaming, and the aircraft carrier level alone is worth the price of admission and stands as one of the coolest stages I’ve ever seen in a video game.

So.

I imported my first game. The game was Sin and Punishment. It is fun.