Source: Electronic Gaming Monthly – Issue Number 56 – March 1994
The above ad is from the March 1994 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly. I have to say, I didn’t remember this game at all when I came across this ad today. I know I was buying EGM at the time but I don’t even remember seeing this ad before. My guess is that this game was not heavily advertised and that this ad probably didn’t appear in very many issues…maybe even only one. Vic Tokai published quite a few well known and, on average, high quality games in the 8-bit and 16-bit era. S.O.S. does not appear to have been a bad game, but it is definitely not one of their more well known games.
S.O.S. was released for the Super NES in 1994 and appears to be loosely based on The Poseidon Adventure, a 1969 book and 1972 film. The goal of the game is to escape a sinking ship within an hour. It plays more or less like a combination platform/adventure game but there are some puzzle elements and some rather unique aspects to the game. You can play as one of four characters, each of which has their own story. You can also help to rescue up to seven other people, each of which has different requirements for rescue and can help you in different ways.
S.O.S. got mixed to positive reviews so it does not appear to have been a bad game. It apparently does a good job making you feel as though you are in a movie though some parts are better designed than other. Graphics and sound are fairly average for a 16-bit title. Play control is ok but could be better. Personally, timed games always tended to annoy me. For instance, I loved Impossible Mission but thought it would have been a much better game had they implemented it without a timer somehow.
S.O.S. was apparently successful enough to warrant a sequel. Septentrion: Out of the Blue was released as a follow-up in 1999 for the PlayStation. However, this game was a Japan only release. The premise is much the same as S.O.S. except that Septentrion is set in modern time (instead of 1921) and there is no time limit. I would probably like the lack of a time limit better but I could see how it removes a bit of the suspense element.
If you want to give S.O.S. a try, you will have to track down an original or be content with emulating it. Emulation is probably the better choice as original copies are absurdly priced on eBay (from $200-$600 depending on completeness and condition). It seems to be fairly rare. There are no re-releases that I am aware of. Also, don’t confuse it with Sink Or Swim. On the other hand, in addition to the original PlayStation release, Septentrion also had PSP, PlayStation 3, and PS Vita releases but as far as I know, none of them were released in North America.
