Reviewed by Matt Farrell

Arguably Treasure’s finest game, and most definitely the inspirational blueprint of the modern day shmup - Radiant Silvergun is a rare and highly sought after title. Shortly after its initial release on the Sega Titan-Video system ( ST-V ) in arcades across Japan, Radiant Silvergun then graced the oft-maligned Sega Saturn platform, and remains one the best examples of import gaming at its finest to this day. It is a game few will be able to experience, made only more so by it’s high going price on online auctions ( currently eBay sales go for 110 US dollars, but it’s been known to break the 200 mark ). To some, it is clearly overrated; to others, this is the best 2D arcade shooting experience to be had thus far.

In lieu of the usual 2D shooter bomb / shot 2 button combo, Radiant Silvergun features seven weapons, all available upon spawning and death, plus the special attack of the ‘Radiant Sword,’ achieved by collecting purple bullets with the aptly-named weapon. Yes, a sword in a shooter. Also making an appearance are a standard forward shot; 2 varieties of homing lasers, a tracking laser, a side shot, and a strong rear / weak forward shot ( an idea seemingly borrowed from Technosoft’s excellent Thunderforce series ). In a standard shooter, the player may as well glue down the ‘fire’ button, but Radiant adds strategy to the gameplay through ‘chaining’ enemies of similar colors. Destroy 3 enemies of the same color to get a small points bonus, destroy 3 more ( still the same color ) to double that bonus, and so on. Scoring also involves fighting huge bosses, all of whom are made up of several ‘parts.’ Destroy the arms and weapons of a boss before destroying the actual ‘core’ ( the only piece that does damage to it ) to get a ‘Perfect’ rating. Additionally, points are scored through finding hidden dogs ( yes, dogs ) with a homing laser. There are no powerups for the weapons, rather, they are leveled up as in an RPG through gaining points.

Playing the game in Saturn Mode saves the level of the weapons for the next play through, in Arcade Mode, Silvergun is as it was in the arcade: with fewer stages ( stages 5 and 6 are nearly doubled in size in Saturn Mode ), having to select between stages 2 or 4, and with no anime cinema at the end. Slowdown is present in this game, especially with a particular breed of homing laser, but hopefully emulation will solve this in the future. Oh, and the level design! Rarely does the player interact with the environment, especially in vertical shooters, but Silvergun is full of great moments, such as dodging through narrow walls that have as much intensity and fun as dodging through those proverbial omnipresent bullets.

From a visual standpoint, Silvergun is outstanding. Treasure has always been able to pull breathtaking visuals from the hardware in question, and Radiant Silvergun is no different. Transparencies and 3D polygons, technically the Saturn’s weakest areas, are abound in Silvergun. It also takes full advantage of the Saturn’s 2D power, with sprites filling the screen at any given moment. Although it’s an aging game on yet even older hardware, some of the ideas are so sound in execution that they are guaranteed to put smiles on faces, with the Radiant Sword’s special attack instantly springing to mind. Same deal with the last boss, but we’ll leave that as a surprise. Small explosions are wicked to watch, happening with tons of animation, so it's a shame that boss explosions are reminiscent of pizza cheese. Background graphics and effects are always well done, in some areas they even seem hand-drawn. Engrishy intros to boss fights provide great, humorous reading material.

The intro and ending cutscenes are not computer generated, but actually honest-to-god anime cartoon sequences. However, they aren’t poorly voice acted ( in Japanese ofcourse ), are well drawn, and for those who aren’t fans of the genre, are skippable. The intro is viewable by simply not doing anything on the startup screen.

The first thing stated about the audio portions of the game will be that the soundtrack is an absolute must-have. This is some of the best, most intense orchestrated music in the world, and the track Debris in particular is guaranteed to please. Sound effects have never been Saturn’s strong suit, but Treasure have made do and the result is such that they are suitable and sufficiently gratifying to listen to. Lasers and bullets sound like their names would fittingly imply. However, explosions suffered somewhat - but they’re still recognizeable.

As far as extra inclusions go, this is how an arcade port should be done. In addition to the standard arcade game, Saturn Mode features sizeable additions to stages 5 and 6, the ability to save the progress of weapon levels, as well has being able to play through stages 2 and 4 in one sitting. Unlockables include a stage select ( extremely valuable ), a ‘look hit box’ option ( allowing the ‘hit box’ of the ship and objects to be viewed, the sensitive areas that receive damage ), and altering the speed of the game and ship, respectively. All are released by ‘power-on’ time ( just leave the Saturn on overnight if you dare ). Extra continues are time released for every hour of play. The soundtrack is available from the beginning, as are the desktop wallpapers, screenplay, and character backgrounds accessible upon putting the disc into a PC CD-ROM drive.

For fans of the shooter genre, Radiant Silvergun is certainly a game that must be played at some point. The soundtrack is second to none, the gameplay is tough but fair, and the entire game reeks of Treasure’s skill and originality as a developer. Easily worth the high going price, for each of its elements alone.

Screenshot source: Treasure ( JP )

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