Line #37 VideoGame/JudgementSilversword


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/judgement_silversword.png]]
2	''Judgement Silversword'' is a VerticalScrollingShooter developed by M-KAI for the Platform/{{WonderSwan}} Color handheld system and released in 2004. It is notable for being one of the first BulletHell games to be put on a portable platform. The game travels from Earth to an alien planet across 32 stages, with stages ranging anywhere between 10 seconds to 2 minutes, and are occasionally punctuated with {{Boss Battle}}s.
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4	A GaidenGame, ''Cardinal Sins: Judgement Silversword Recycle Edition'' was [[https://web.archive.org/web/20110913085745/http://members2.jcom.home.ne.jp/jss2/recycle.htm released for free by the same author]][[note]]Archived version by Wayback Machine[[/note]]. Instead of having traditional stage design, the player goes through 7 stages, each of which bear very different objectives (i.e. destroying all enemies, collecting [[OneUp extends]], collecting medals).
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6	Both games were re-released in 2011 for the Xbox 360 as part of a bundle with ''Judgement Silversword''[='=]s {{spiritual s\|uccessor}}equel, ''VideoGame/{{Eschatos}}''. A PC version of both was released in September 18, 2015 through Platform/{{Steam}}, and can be purchased separately or together with ''Eschatos''; this version has ''JSS'' rebranded as ''Judgement Silverwird -Rebirth Edition-'' and features new music tracks. Another port of both games for Platform/NintendoSwitch was released in Japan on November 18, 2021 as part of the ''Eschatos'' rerelease on the same platform, with a [=PlayStation=] 4 version and international releases of both to come at later dates. Notably, it retains the English language option even in the Japanese release, but with some differences in text.
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8	!!WARNING - HERE COMES THE TROPES!
9	* ArrangeMode: Trial mode in ''Cardinal Sins'' is similar to Normal, but the shot distance limit for the SpreadShot is removed, enemies and their attacks are fixed, an on-screen timer is shown, and your overall rank for the regular seven stages is used to determine how many forms of the TrueFinalBoss you face, rather than guaranteeing all of them as long as you get there.
10	* AutoRevive: If you lose your last life, but there is a 1-up on the screen, the 1-up floats onto your ship's spawn point and ''becomes your next life.''
11	--> "NICE RECOVER!"
12	* {{BFS}}: Mitsurugi bears one. When it comes back in later stages, it gets a bigger sword. [[spoiler: The sword itself is also the TrueFinalBoss]].
13	* BigNo: Shooting a OneUp in CS's Sloth stage results in a textual form of this.
14	* BossOnlyLevel: The 31st and final area is nothing but a back-to-back gauntlet of bosses: Divine Expression, [[spoiler:Mitsurugi Rebirth]], and the FinalBoss, [[spoiler:[[TitleDrop Judgement Silversword]]]].
15	* BossRush: JSS's Special mode features the bosses of the game back-to-back, culminating in the new boss E3 at the end.
16	* BossWarningSiren:
17	** "WARNING - HERE COMES THE JUDGE! [ <BOSS NAME> ]"
18	** "WARNING! [ [[FinalBoss JUDGEMENT SILVERSWORD]] ]"
19	** And in [[BossRush Special]] mode: "WARNING - HERE COMES THE FINAL JUDGE! [ E3 ]"
20	* BraggingRightsReward: Killing the FinalBoss of JSS's Special mode nets you a [[OneUp 3-up]]. Considering you just finished Special mode, you don't really need any more lives. Though they do contribute to the massive game clear bonus, which is based on remaining lives.
21	* BulletHell: On a handheld, no less.
22	* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: In CS, if you run out of lives on a given stage, you are allowed to progress to the next one, but you won't get any bonus points. Subverted in that this locks you out of the Pluto stage. Averted in the Pluto stage itself and during the TrueFinalBoss, where you simply get a GameOver.
23	* DualBoss: Area 27 has you fight Mirror Shields ''Rah'' and ''Roh'' at the same time.
24	* EasierThanEasy: Training mode in JSS. Which you have to ''unlock''.
25	* EveryTenThousandPoints: Getting a OneUp works in a strange form of this trope. Every target destroyed increases a counter, and when the counter hits a hidden threshold, a 1-up appears out of the next target to be destroyed. Now here's the kicker: If you die, the counter also increases! This means it's common for a player to die and get a 1-up as a result.
26	* FreewareGame: Technically, ''Cardinal Sins'' is one, since the game is available right off of the developer's website for download. The catch is that it is not in a form that can be played on emulators and if you live outside of Japan, you probably won't be able to buy a [=WonderSwan=] easily.
27	* GainaxEnding: After defeating the Mirror in CS, [[spoiler:a monologue (in flawless English, even) scrolls and states that the apocalypse has been brought and the SevenDeadlySins have been brought upon humanity. Did ''you'' [[YouBastard cause it]]? Were you [[ShootTheShaggyDog trying to prevent it and failed]]? We may never know.]]
28	* GameplayGrading: ''Cardinal Sins'' grades on each stage.
29	* GameplayRoulette: ''Cardinal Sins''.
30	* GuideDangIt: Most of the scans in the Venus stage of ''Cardinal Sins'' are quite straightforward--cancel bullets, shoot enemies before they can escape, evade enemy attacks, etc. Even the hidden 'B' icon can be stumbled upon by accident by constantly firing throughout the stage. (Your bullets will seem to disappear when they hit where the icon is; keep shooting at that spot and it'll show up.) But how is anyone supposed to know that scan #00 requires you to [[spoiler:move to the lower-right corner and use your shield right as the stage begins]]?
31	* HiddenInPlainSight: The final boss [[spoiler: is the sword that Mitsurugi wields on the rematch.]]
32	* HomingLasers: Many enemies will fire them. Expect these to give you a harder time than the bullet barrages.
33	* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: Your ship has a shield that can be used to slow down and cancel bullets, though holding it up doesn't guarantee safety. Moreover, as it touches bullets, it weakens and shrinks; if your shield gauge hits 0%, it shatters.
34	* MercyMode: The game tends to give out more 1-ups if you keep dying.[[note]]This is because the game hands them out based on how many enemies you've destroyed, and for some reason your deaths count toward getting 1-ups.[[/note]]
35	* MultipleEndings: If you fail one or more stages in ''Cardinal Sins'', once the game [[ScoreScreen shows your grades and overall grade]], [[AWinnerIsYou the game ends with a "Thank you for playing" message.]] [[spoiler:However, if you unlock the TrueFinalBoss and defeat it, you get a much darker ending that hints at an apocalypse.]]
36	* MundaneMadeAwesome: The penultimate boss of JSS, Mitsurugi Rebirth, has an attack that doesn't kill you immediately. No, what it does is pin you to the center of the screen to allow Mitsurugi to charge up a swing, ''summon Michaelangelo's Final Judgement in the background'', and THEN kill you.
37	* MusicalNod: In the PC port of ''JSS'', BGM 02 and BGM 02B are replaced by demakes of "Survive" from ''Eschatos'', which itself is an extended arrange of these two tracks.
38	* {{Nerf}}: ''CS'' slightly nerfs the SpreadShot by limiting its range.
39	* OneUp: Rather frequently in JSS.
40	** At the end of JSS's [[BossRush Special Mode]], after defeating its FinalBoss, you get a 3-up, even though lives are no longer necessary at this point.
41	--> "EXTEND! EXTEND! EXTEND!"
42	** In CS, one stage has you collect as many of them as you can (without shooting them), and during the Pluto stage, you get a number of them equal to how many grades below A you got.
43	* RankInflation: In ''Cardinal Sins'', the maximum scan percentage you can get on the Venus stage is 10''3.2''%.
44	* ScoringPoints: Points you score at the end of each run double as experience points for your "Option Level". As you increase your Option Level, you unlock new features.
45	* SequelHook: The true ending text of ''CS'' alludes to a greater conflict on the horizon and ends with ToBeContinued, but no sequel of the game was ever published. While there is a line of {{Spiritual Successor}}s -- ''VideoGame/{{Eschatos}}'', ''VideoGame/GingaForce'', and ''Ginga Force''[='=]s spinoff ''VideoGame/NatsukiChronicles'' -- none of them are connected by lore to ''Cardinal Sins''.
46	* SevenDeadlySins: The theme of ''Cardinal Sins''[='=]s stage names.
47	* SoundtrackDissonance: In ''Cardinal Sins'', the theme for the TrueFinalBoss is a dramatic, but nevertheless slow-paced theme with what sounds like an 8-bit violin.
48	* SpreadShot: One of your three available weapons.
49	* StylisticSuck / {{Retraux}} / DeliberatelyMonochrome: During the TrueFinalBoss of CS, if you did well enough in the main game to unlock its extra forms, the background will turn white, then the entire game turns monochrome, and finally just simple black and white colors.
50	* TitleDrop:
51	** The final boss of ''JSS'' is called the Judgement Silversword
52	** The final boss of ''Cardinal Sins'' is called the Mirror of Cardinal Sins.
53	* TrueFinalBoss: Perform well enough in the main stages of ''CS'' and you're treated to the true last stage, Pluto, where you can rack up bonus points and extra lives, before facing off against the last boss, the Mirror of Cardinal Sins. The Mirror itself has True Final ''Forms'', the appearances of which are dependent upon your overall grade. Fighting all of the Mirror's forms requires an overall rank of S- or greater in the first seven stages.
54	* TryNotToDie; The final standard stage of CS, Wrath, simply states as its objective: "Don't die." (Your grade is inversely proportional to the number of times you do.)
55	* WhatTheHellPlayer: In the second stage of ''Cardinal Sins'', Sloth, you must "rescue" 1-ups. Unlike in JSS, you can shoot them and destroy them. Doing so will result in a "[[BigNo NO!]]" message.
56	* AWinnerIsYou: The standard ending of ''Cardinal Sins'' simply thanks you for playing. Averted if you meet the requirements for the final stage.

Context VideoGame / JudgementSilversword