SOS (1993 video game)

SOS, known in Japan as Septentrion (セプテントリオン, Seputentorion), is a survival adventure video game developed by Human Entertainment and published in 1994 by Vic Tokai for the Super NES. A sequel to the game was later released in Japan for the PlayStation known as Septentrion: Out of the Blue.

SOS Septentrion
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Human Entertainment
Publisher(s)	JP: Human Entertainment NA: Vic Tokai
Designer(s)	Keita Kimura
Composer(s)	Kouji Niikura Hiroyuki Naka Hiroshi Taniguchi
Platform(s)	Super NES
Release	JP: May 28, 1993 NA: April 1994
Genre(s)	Survival Adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player

Story

The game presents itself as a "Syuji Yoshida film", and is displayed from the view of an audience watching a theatre. Mostly inspired by the 1969 book and 1972 film, The Poseidon Adventure, the story is set on September 13, 1921, and the players must escape the sinking ship Lady Crithania, which is hit by a gigantic wave and capsizes off the coast of Humbleton, England.

The game features four playable characters, each with a different story:

• Capris Wisher - An architect. This young man takes his younger stepsister, Amy Markarson, to the Lady Crithania. However, Amy's sickness becomes a severe hindrance to him.
• Redwin Gardner - A pastor (changed to counsellor in the US release) , traveling with a family consisting of an unnamed mother and her children Stella and Harry Adams. Plus, Jack Hamilton, a nephew. His special skill is that Gardner possesses better persuasion.
• Jeffrey Howell - An affable senior doctor, he travels along with his wife Adela. Because he is a doctor he has ability to heal wounded survivors.
• Luke Haines - A crewman of the Lady Crithania. He suspects that the sea conditions are too much for the Lady Crithania to handle, much to the opposition of his superiors. He possesses the ship's map that enables him to better navigate paths.

At the end, an in-game credits roll displays the 'cast' alongside fictitious actor names, reinforcing the intro's metafiction story.

Gameplay

An example of the main game screen. Luke Haines stands in a stairway before the tidal wave.

The player must escape from the ship within a one-hour time limit. The timer is hidden except when the player injures themselves, in which case they fall unconscious and lose five minutes of time. After a period of time, the ship begins to periodically tilt in the water and gradually fill with water.

The player can take up to seven other survivors, some of which have different value to each playable character, and all of them have different requirements in how to get to them and how to make them follow the player. Depending on how many survivors the player finds, who they are and how valuable they are to the character player selected, the ending will vary. The best ending for each character is obtained by escaping the boiler room, the final area of the game, with their sentimental person (Amy for Capris; Harry, Stella and Jack for Redwin; Ismay Carl Townsend for Luke; and Adela for Jeffrey) and over 25 "points" worth of survivors.

Release

The game was released in Japan as Septentrion on May 28, 1993 for the Super Famicom.^[1] The game was released in North America April 1994, under the title S.O.S., and was published by Vic Tokai.^[2] It was followed up by the Japan-only release of Septentrion: Out of the Blue in 1999 for the Sony PlayStation.^[3]

Reception

Review scores

Publication	Score
Consoles +	81%[4]
Computer and Video Games	70%[5]
Edge	7/10[6]
Electronic Gaming Monthly	36/50[7][a]
Famitsu	32/40[1]
Nintendo Power	3.3/5[8][b]

Reception

The game received average reviews upon release. GamePro gave the game a mixed review, saying that the premise is compelling but marred by too many poorly designed segments. They summarized the game as "a movie-like trek that has great ambience but hits some sticky spots along the way."^[9][c] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a positive score of 32 out of 40.^[1] In 2017, Dominic Arsenault described SOS as "one of the truly original SNES titles".^[10]

Notes

1. In Electronic Gaming Monthly's review of the game, one critic gave it 8/10, and the rest gave it each a score of 7/10.
2. Nintendo Power gave the game 3.3/5 for graphics and sound, 2.5/5 for play control, 3.6/5 for challenge, and 3.8/5 for theme and fun.
3. GamePro gave the game two 3.5/5 scores for graphics and sound, 4/5 for control and 3/5 for fun factor.