Sol divide sega saturn9/9/2023 ![]() ![]() The Saturn port, aside from being pretty much arcade-perfect (the unusual graphical blend of sprites and polygons, by the way, still impresses), adds a handful of nice extras, most notably a “Saturn Mode,” which not only further(!) lengthens the game and includes additional dialogue and opening/ending anime sequences, but allows you to save your powered-up weapon levels between runs if you’d rather just blast through everything without worrying too much about chaining enemies. Since your weapons power up based on how well you score, you’ll need to learn the game inside and out – playing it “casually” is NOT an option if you’re looking for “legitimate” one-credit clear. This tone extends past its trimmings right into the core gameplay – Silvergun is challenging (though mostly fair, thanks to precise control and a small hitbox) even when played with a “just try not to die” mindset, but if you want to really get anywhere in it you’ll have to devote yourself to mastering its scoring system, which primarily involves only shooting enemies of a certain color, and a lot of memorization. More than perhaps any other game of its ilk, Radiant Silvergun embodies an “epic” spirit – from its relatively lengthy structure (an hour or more per complete run-through) to its grandiose and pretentious story (accompanied by a symphonic classical soundtrack, to boot) to its seven-simultaneous-weapons setup to its bevies of bosses, and their impeccable ability to make you exclaim “you want me to steer my ship WHERE, and do WHAT?”, this game does its darndest to make you feel like you’re doing something more important than just pressing buttons in front of a screen. Not only was it the first scrolling shooter to come forth from cult developer Treasure (better-known in the West for Silvergun’s pseudo-sequel, Ikaruga), but down to this day there’s simply no other shmup quite like it. One of the few Japan-only shooters that even non-shmuppers might have heard of, Radiant Silvergun is best known for the high sale prices it attracts on eBay, but the relative few who have actually experienced it can tell you that there are many other reasons why shooter fans ought to make it their mission to try this title at some point in their lives. | Game Boy Advance | Odyssey 2 | Amiga | Radiant Silvergun Shmup Libraries: TG16/PC Engine | Genesis/Megadrive | PS1 | Saturn | Dreamcast | PS2 | Gamecube | Shmups 101 | Beginner Shmups | Defining Shmups | Hidden Gem Shmups ![]() Racketboy’s newest contributor, BulletMagnet, walks us through the Saturn’s impressive shooter lineup from the excellent all the way to the mediocre. For fans of the shmup genre, the Sega Saturn is a must-own console due to its excellent exclusives, a healthy dose of high-quality cross-platform ports, and plenty of 2D processing power. Two-dimensional shooters are some of the most intense old-school games out there due to the precision, reflexes, and memorization needed to survive these adrenaline rushes. ![]() The Sega Saturn’s Explosive Shmups Library ![]()
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