Story-wise,
Sine Mora has some strange ideas. However, these ideas work pretty well, despite an air of slight pretentiousness. And yes, it features an all-animal cast. If you take the time to read the monologues and pay attention to the in-game radio chatter, you may find yourself shocked. These bunny rabbits, moles, and ocelots deal with some serious issues. Abduction, rape, genocide --
Sine Mora covers the bases quite thoroughly. It's a very high-minded story, but your mileage will vary. Thankfully,
Sine Mora has it where it counts: the gameplay.
Sine Mora is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up game. You move about a two-dimensional plane, fire your weapon, and collect the power-ups left behind by destroyed enemies. Sounds basic enough, but Sine Mora features one idea that effectively distinguishes it from the pack. You see, your plane doesn't have a health bar. The only currency with which you can measure your "life" is time. At the beginning of each gameplay sequence, a timer starts to count down. Once it reaches zero, your plane explodes and the game is over.
There are a handful of engaging modes to fool around with in Sine Mora. There's the Story Mode, which gives you a number of continues and sends you on your merry way through the densely-spun tale of war and sadness. There's also Arcade Mode, which culls out all the story-related trappings and lets you get straight into the action. You choose from three plane types, an assortment of pilots (each of which sports his/her unique subweapon), and choose a capsule. There are sixty-three possible combinations, or Chronomes. Individual components of these Chronomes must be unlocked through play, though. Score Attack fulfills its promise pretty directly, and I'll save the last mode for the next section.
