You have to play this game. You just have to. It is the most amazing and best shoot 'em up ever made. It rocks!
Now for the graphics. Because there is so much on screen, the developers were forces to make all the characters blocky and weird looking. This really hurts the cut-scenes, since all the characters look like old women. But when it comes to the gameplay, the game looks fantastic. There are a multitude of things happening on-screen and the camera makes the game more dramatic and cool. The creatures and enemies look great, and the environments are cool. There are so many kinds of enemies I can't remember half of them, and they are all unique. I can't stress how awesome this game looks. With things flying and running at you all the time, and constant random action, with the camera constantly moving to reveal more awesomeness, the presentation is fantastic. The best level of the game has you flying around several aircraft carriers, with soldiers, missiles launchers, guys on jet skis, jets, flying robots, and a giant satellite as your enemies, and you move around at every possible angle. It is the best shooting level of any game I've ever played. 9.6/10 (the .4 missing is because the characters look like clones of my grandmother)
Now for the music. It's…okay. It's all very similar, and kinda annoying. There are no memorable epic tunes, just the same boring arcade shoot 'em music. It does convey the feel of the game, but with different music, they could of added emotional depth - something the game lacks. But in the end, it doesn't really matter because the game is really all about shooting everything on screen. 5.9/10
Finally to the control. This is makes or breaks a game. When I first started playing, I didn't know what the heck was going on. I used a GameCube control (I got it on the VC), and after a couple of levels I got the hang of it. The controls in this game has the largest learning curve of any other game out there. Everything is very responsive, and well handled. You can change the layout of the controls, but the default is the best. You can only move left and right, not forward (except in the last regular level, kinda), roll, jump, double jump, and shoot. The game moves you forward by itself. There are two ways you can shoot. You can either to it freely, which does more damage than locking on. Locking on pretty pointless, and I found myself getting through the whole game without locking on once. If an enemy is close to you, you can tap the shoot button to use your sword, which does a crazy amount of damage. Overall, once you get used to the controls, I give them a 9/10 because they are so unique and fun to use.
Okay, now onto gameplay. The game moves you from point A to point B by itself, and it's up to you to shoot everything along the way before it kills you. Very simple. As I mentioned earlier, The control is unique, and it differentiates this game from all the other games in the genre. It is just very fun. You try to also beat your high score, and on top of that, you are on a time limit. You can get bonuses, and tokens that up your time, health, or score. These are what give Sin & Punishment a heavy arcade feel. The game isn't very long, and could be completed by a skilled person in half an hour or less. Shooting dudes and all the enemies never gets old, and the different difficulties make it a challenge. When you start the game, you get a number of continues. When you die, you go to the past checkpoint, (which is less than a minute away),but when you run out of continues, you have to start at the beginning of the level. (which there are 10 of). The two-player is nothing special, it just lets one person control the running, and the other person control the shooting. I have yet to find out of it makes the game more fun or not. Nevertheless, the gameplay is very fun and addictive. 9.5/10
Overall, this game is so much different from anything else, and so much fun, that you can't stop playing it. The feel, presentation, and everything about it so cool, that it is the second best game on the N64, and worth playing for everyone.