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Deja Review: Radiant Silvergun
We're of the firm opinion that your time is too precious, too valuable to be spent reading a full review for a game that was already reviewed many, many years ago. What's the point of applying a score to a game that's old enough to be enrolled in the sixth grade? That's why we invented Deja Review: A quick look at the new features and relative agelessness of remade, revived and re-released games. It may not have garnered the same enthusiastic posthumous cult following as its little brother, but the Sega Saturn was a very good console -- provided you were a very specific type of gamer. Unlike its contemporaries whose processing architectures were designed to excel at 3D graphics (not 3D-glasses 3D, just, you know, polygons), the Saturn's extremely complex and unconventional processor configuration was uniquely suited for 2D, sprite-based games. While the Crash Bandicoots, Crocs, and Super Mario 64s of the period were pioneering the field of depth perception, the Saturn became a safe haven for 2D skill-based games like Radiant Silvergun. Despite the fact that it was never released stateside, Treasure's manic 1998 shooter is thought of as a definitive Saturn classic, which continues to influence contemporary shmups even to this day. Now, through the magic of XBLA, an entirely new generation of gamers are being exposed to the genesis of bullet-hell, and even after 13 years, Radiant Silvergun is still a relevant, infuriating masterpiece.%Gallery-102402%
Radiant Silvergun comes to XBLA on September 14
We hope you didn't just buy a copy of Radiant Silvergun on eBay, because Treasure's XBLA shmup remake is coming to Xbox Live Arcade soon. On September 14, you'll be able to download Radiant Silvergun for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15) like it's no big deal. In addition to the classic vertically-scrolling shooter, the XBLA version includes online 2-player co-op, "Saturn" and "arcade" style game variants, multiple graphical modes, and an optional "Ikaruga" scoring system. And when you get that wrapped up, Guardian Heroes is coming sometime this fall. It's a great time to own the Saturn Xbox 360.
Treasure put a lot of work into (optional) fake transparency for Radiant Silvergun
Nobody would ever accuse Treasure of lazy development, but a recent report from a Microsoft presentation showed just how deeply into the XBLA conversion of Radiant Silvergun the company is. President Masato Maegawa told assembled press that Treasure had worked for about half a year to get the game running on Xbox in a way that closely resembled the Saturn version. Some elements had to be reprogrammed, because they relied on Saturn hardware features. Speaking of Saturn adaptations, the XBLA remake will have user-selectable transparency levels. Because the Saturn couldn't handle "real" transparencies, it used screen-door style pixel meshes to simulate it. If you want that authentic Saturn feel, you can use those, or you can opt for true transparency effect. More modern additions include online co-op, and an Ikaruga mode that implements the "chain combo" scoring system from that game, and is only playable if you have at least one achievement in XBLA Ikaruga.
XBLA Radiant Silvergun includes both arcade and Saturn modes
Before the famous (and, soon after, very expensive) Sega Saturn version of Treasure's Radiant Silvergun arrived, the shmup was an arcade game. The Saturn disc included both the arcade original and a "Saturn mode" with new voice acting, extra levels, and additional bosses. The upcoming XBLA version will maintain the choice between "arcade mode" and "Saturn mode," both with optional updated graphics, Andriasang reports. The XBLA version also offers two-player online co-op, leaderboards, and an "Ikaruga" mode, which Treasure still hasn't detailed. Radiant Silvergun will cost 1,200 Microsoft Points ($15, or so much less than the Saturn game's cost) when it comes out sometime this year.
