A Guide to Interstellar Dogfighting

Published July 19, 2007

Project Sylpheed ™ is unique in the space-fighting genre as dozens of enemies pour out after you and your comrades at any given time. While the battles may initially seem overwhelming, the following tips and tricks should help slow down the game and add purposeful strategy to every yaw, pitch, and missile lock.

Time to put that training to use.

Game Lessons
Project Sylpheed isn't your prototypical space-shooter, so it would be unwise to dive headfirst into the single-player campaign without some help. Take a half hour or so to complete the various tutorials, and you won't be flying blind.

Guiding Circle
Timing your gunfire to hit a darting, unpredictable target two thousand meters away seems near impossible. Notice that when you're in range of an enemy, a small circle floats around the target. This targeting circle represents where you need to shoot in order for your weapon to strike the enemy on its present course.

Four-fingered Control
You can get away with using only your index fingers for the bumpers and triggers in most games, but here, you need immediate access to both bumpers and both triggers simultaneously. Get used to using your index and middle fingers early, so that by the time the challenge ratchets up, you'll have a nice comfort level with the controls.

Are you ready for the chaos?

Heavy Armor
Destroying thick-hulled enemies is a time consuming business, and when you're busy avoiding missile-locks and a horde of angry fighters, you want to be done with the deed in a hurry. Combine both missile and gunnery fire when dealing with bigger foes. Drop in behind the target, lay down constant gunfire, and target-lock missiles with LB as fast as you can.

Watch Your Speed
Effective dogfighting often comes down to proper speed control. Not only does your speed gauge on the left-hand side of your HUD measure your speed, but also the speed of your target. Take careful note of this when you're tracking an enemy and slow down well before you reach them. Then, pull the left and right triggers to lock in the same speed as your target.

Use the Afterburner
Dodging missiles is a constant in Project Sylpheed and while fancy maneuvering can do the trick, hitting the afterburners to outrun the missiles is also effective. This is particularly useful after having multiple enemies lock onto you. Simple evasive maneuvers may allow you to avoid one missile, but put you smack dab in the path of another. Use the afterburners to escape the entire situation.

Radar Up, Radar Down
When toggling your radar map on (press down on the D-pad), you can easily spot the locations of friend and foes. However, with the map being 2-D and space being 3-D, it can be counterintuitive to turn properly towards your intended target. Don't press left or right as this simply rolls your ship. Instead, press up to face the nose of your ship left on the map, and press down to turn it right.

Get ready, it's about to get hairy.

Power Level 1—Enemy Clear
Enemy fighters bear down on you not one or two at a time, but in swarms. This is especially true in the beginning stages of a battle, which makes it the ideal time to unleash your Level 1 special move. This instantly locks on to any nearby enemies, so take a wide slow turn to maximize the number of your targets.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
Unlike a typical flight-based shooter, quite a healthy dose of damage can be sustained before severely diminishing your shields and armor, so don't sweat each individual hit. Focus almost entirely on attacking during the early stages of combat, and just shoot occasional glances at your shield meter to be sure you're in good shape.

With this guide to interstellar dogfighting, you should be well on your way to success in Project Sylpheed. Good luck, pilot.

Article by Ryan Treit