[Excerpted from my review on Trigames] == Preface == With a name like Radiant Silvergun, Treasure's famed shooter will probably get strange, puzzled looks from the average gamer. With the types of screenshots you'll see -- that of a 2D, vertically scrolling shmup -- you'll probably get the, "who cares?" reaction. Is there no more room in today's world for an arcade shmup? It's a shame, because Radiant Silvergun happens to be one of the finest shmups ever to grace videogame history -- second, in my opinion, only to its spiritual successor, Ikaruga. == I Got Guns That Go Br-r-r-r-rat == Long story short, Radiant Silvergun looks like a typical vertically scrolling arcade shooter. There are no powerups, and there are no smart bombs per se. Instead, your entire arsenal is afforded to you right form the start, and the only collecting you'll be doing of enemy bullets. The Radiant Silvergun ship comes equipped six projectile weapons, each with its own uses: a vertical vulcan, a homing plasma, and a 45-degree angle shot. You can fire a combination of any two of the three weapons for three more weapons: the rear-firing vulcan, a lock-on electric bolt, and homing missiles that acquire their targets via a scanning mechanic. There is a seventh short-range wireframe "sword", activated by pressing the R-button on the Saturn pad. It trails wherever you move (i.e. move up, and the sword will cover your rear) and absorbs special types of enemy bullets, which build up a special meter at the top of the screen. When full, activating the sword results in a massive wireframe "scissor" attack that spans a lot of the screen. Take all these weapons together and you've got the answer to any given situation at your fingertips; now you've got to recognize those situations and make decisions based on them. You also have the ability to "level up" your weapons based on how frequently you use a particular gun, a mechanic which I thought was a unique twist on the power-up motif. I will say that I didn't agree with the resultant unbalance due to people playing favorites with certain guns. I found myself pounding on the straight-up Vulcan fire the most, and that got me into trouble when I was faced with situations where the 45-degree bolt was supposed to work most efficiently. Another questionable side effect was that your weapons get pretty powerful pretty quickly if you play in Saturn mode, as the weapon level-ups actually *get saved* across games. For instance you can start off a new game with all weapons at level 10. == Masochists == Fortunately things never get *too* easy. That's because there are always tons upon tons of matter flying at you from every angle. This is a Treasure-developed game, so know and understand that you will get pwned, to quote the vernacular. This is possibly one of the hardest games I've ever played. With the exception of the very first stages, every enemy formation has taxed my reflexes and decision making in trying to find a path through the horde of bad stuff that comes my way. True to Treasure form, the game's not content to just throw fireworks at your ship and call it a day. No, they've got to make all their bosses big, beautiful and b@stardly. All of the bosses have many segments to them, with many different patterns of bullets, missiles, lasers, and reindeer (no not really). And these aren't just dodge-shoot affairs either. You'll hide behind columns, pull some Strider-iffic moves dodging a Strider-iffic mechanical dragon, chase a boss that switches four lanes screamin' money ain't a thang (yes it switches lanes, no it doesn't rap) -- there is not one element of this game that doesn't scream "Treasure." == 2D Power == Now, remember the remark about the screenshots of a 2D shmup? This is a game that needs to be seen in action to be appreciated. All of the environments in the game are constructed in full 3D, in addition to all of the bigger enemies. (The smaller enemies and the Radiant Silvergun are 2D sprites.) The entire thing runs at an unwavering 60 frames a second. There's a staggering amount of structures, objects, special effects, and twisting twirling zooming backgrounds that bring the screen to life -- let me stop before I start drooling. Radiant Silvergun shows the 3D power of the Saturn at its fullest and possibly one of the best looking fully 3D games in the 32-bit era. In fact I'm not even sure the same results could have been pulled off on the Playstation , and on the Nintendo 64, the textures would likely look muddy and the entire thing would be a blur-fest. == Opera in Space? == Radiant Silvergun's got it locked on gameplay and graphics. The music is no different. Composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, the music was described as "opera in space" by some loon a few years ago. Hardly, although the sound samples used *are* orchestral in nature. The heroic theme heard in the first stage is retooled and repackaged in the later stages -- and not just mere remixes, mind you. Each tune has music of its own flavor, that somehow incorporates the theme in an entirely artistic way. Bottom line, if you've heard Sakimoto's previous work on Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story, you know what dramatic, symphonic, sweeping pieces await you. == Unfulfilled Wishes == It's such a shame that Radiant Silvergun never made it to the states. It's the definition of what the Saturn represented, and the pinnacle of its library. There's no way I can convey the sheer joy I get from playing this game without writing twenty pages of text. Find some way, any way, to get this game and a Japanese Saturn. If you're not a fan of 2D shoot-em-ups, I'll make the same plea I did with Ikaruga to give it the attention that it never received. And then wish it had been brought over to the States. It's a true, zen-like underappreciated masterpiece.
Radiant Silvergun for the Sega Saturn is, put simply, one of the best shooters ever. It was released one month after the arcade version. Just as any other space shooter, there is a menacing villain and some story you re... Read Full Review
this game is amazing it is a multi player shooter with outstanding music a level system great story and awesome graphics you play as a ship called the radiant silvergun you can play single player or co op the game has se... Read Full Review
