Saturn

 the daddy of the console world as far as shoot em ups go. this machine lays claim to being parental platform to the most innovative, aesthetically pleasing and technologically competent shooter of all time - RADIANT SILVERGUN. the machine fared far better in its native japan than in the european market where we received many lacklustre and, frankly, dull games which attempted to try and keep up with the hugely popular playstation. don't let this put you off, however, secure yourself a japanese Saturn (they all look much sexier than their european cousins anyway) and the shoot 'em up world is your oyster (if you can afford it).

ASSAULT SUIT LEYNOS/. sequel to the Megadrive original and, i think, something to do with Cybernator (or Assualt Suit Valken) on the Snes. this game is stupidly hard - probably the hardest game i've ever played - which is a shame as it's pretty cool. it's basically a side scrolling walking-shooter where you play a big mech with lots of guns and a shield. i gave up trying to get off level 3 after about a week and haven't played it since. for gaming gods only.

 

 BATSUGUN/. this game is ridiculously hard, however the weapons are equally ridiculous so you've got a fighting chance. don't let the difficulty level put you off, this game is huge fun, it's also the only shooter i know of with bigger weapons than the Donpachi series ;)

REVIEWED

BATTLE GAREGGA/. well if you've never heard of this game then you must have been living under a rock. after silvergun this is probably the most revered shooter on the saturn and with good reason. exuding the usual Raizing quality this is a fantastic vert shooter. extremely challenging but bucketloads of fun to play.loads of unlockable extras and secrets plus you can set all the menus to english. the only niggle I have is the famous 'invisible bullets' which can be nigh on impossible to spot sometimes and can make the game infuriating difficult at times. however you can make the bullets go bright red by turning on an option in the options menu if you're not so hardcore that this kind of thing is anathema to you. 

 
BLAST WIND/. another nice little shooter from Technosoft. great music as you'd expect but the gameplay is not quite up to their usual high standards and the visuals are somewhat dated. not worth the exorbitent prices many wish to charge for it but if you see it cheap, it's worth picking up. DEZAEMON 2/. not so much a shooter as a shoot 'em up maker. this software basically allows you to make your own shooter from the ground up, including drawing all sprites and backgrounds, editing enemy patterns and level layouts and even making your own soundtrack and intro screen. judging by the demo shooters included with the package expect to be able to make shooters at about the SNES/Megadrive level. i myself haven't got anywhere with it as all the instructions are in japanese and i couldn't be arsed to spend the time clicking every button to find out what it did. if you can be arsed/speak japanese, then this looks like a lot of fun.

 

 DONPACHI/. first in the famous serious of shooters by Cave. graphics are a little dated and the sound samples are appalling. the game, however, is pure gold. you must own this, simple as that.
   
DODONPACHI/. i've always enjoyed the 'pachi series of shooters despite being pretty rubbish at them. this one, the second in the series, is absolutely fantastic. as with all the 'pachi games the difficulty is exponential and by the time you get to level 3 you'll be struggling. the weapons are completely mental and although the game is often infuriating to the point of madness it's massively addictive. after playing this, i've changed my mind about Mars Matrix being better than the 'pachi series - it isn't. and if it wasn't for Border Down, this would be my favourite shooter ever. buy it now.

 

  

GEKIRINDAN/. not the greatest shooter in the world. it's a conversion of the arcade original and pretty plain to go with it. only get this if you've exhausted every other shooter.

  GRADIUS DELUXE PACK/. basically arcade conversions of Gradius and Gradius II Gofer. both great games plus you get some nice extra movies and pics and whatnot. lovely.
GUARDIAN FORCE/. cool tank based shooter which lets you move your turret independently of your tank with the shoulder buttons. takes a bit of getting used to but is quite novel. like a 2d version of conqueror (old Amiga game) with power-ups.

 

 GUNBIRD/. great cartoony shooter from Psikyo. like all Psikyo shooters this is great stuff and very bizarre.

 

 IMAGE FIGHT/X-MULTIPLY/. took me ages to track this down, but it was worth it for x-multiply, a fantastic conversion of a fantastic arcade game. image fight is good too but insanely hard.
KAITEI DAISENSOU/. think Metal Slug but in a submarine. released in the arcades as 'In The Hunt'. looks fantastic and plays really well. worth a look when you have played the 'bigger' saturn shooters.

KINGDOM GRANDPRIX/. an utterly bizarre mix between a shooter and a racing game. sounds stupid but actually works quite well in practice. you can ignore the racing and just concentrate on the killing. alternatively you can go for winning races and killing for big scores, it may sound mad but it's great. which is what you'd expect considering this is a Raizing game.

 

 LAYER SECTION/. fantastic shooter from Taito. unlike it's 3D sequels which are, to be frank, competent at best.

 
LAYER SECTION 2/. as I said, this is rather average. not awful but not great either. layer section just doesn't translate to 3D all that well.

 

 THE SUPERDIMENSION FORTRESS MACROSS/. one for die hard Macross fans only. the game is a pretty piss poor horizontal scroller spread across 2 discs. nice music is about the only positive thing I can say about this game. avoid.

 

 METAL BLACK/. conversion of the Taito arcade original. interesting power-up system, giving you a huge laser at full power. graphics look very dated now though. worth getting for the saturn shooter completist but don't bust a gut to get it.

 
PANZER DRAGOON ZWEI/. 2nd in the series of the ever expanding Panzer Dragoon World. a great game that proved that the saturn really could do 3d.

 

 RADIANT SILVERGUN/. the daddy of shoot 'em ups on the daddy of consoles. an absolute masterpiece - beautiful, immensely hard, utterly compelling.

 

SALAMANDER DELUXE PACK/. basically arcade conversions of Salamander and Salamander II. neither game are as good as their Gradius equivalents, although both are still very enjoyable. the 2nd of the 2 is the best, with some pretty good gameplay and nice visuals. definitely worth picking up.

 
   
SENGOKU BLADE/. absolutely fantastic side scroller from Psikyo. pretty much like a horizontal Gunbird set in a weird mechanical fuedal japan. great visuals, great music, nice selection of characters and nice variety in the weapons. good stuff all round. shame it's so horrendously pricey these days.

 

   SHIENRYU/. nice little shooter with lovely visuals. not groundbreaking but fun nevertheless.   SKULL FANG/. a truly awful vertical scroller, with hilariously big sprites and virtually no enjoyable gameplay. only buy this for someone you don't like or to complete your saturn shooter collection.

SONIC WINGS SPECIAL/. special because it comes with a tiny CD of some of the worst Japanese pop music I have ever heard. plus the game itself is shit. avoid.

 

STRIKERS 1945/. more psikyo loveliness. great warplane vertical shooter that spawned a number of brilliant sequels. this is a must have for any shooter fan.

 

SOUKYUGERENTAI/. a great shoot 'em up from the ever popular Raizing - great visuals, cheesy music, excessive violence and destruction. a well rounded classic.

THE GAME PARADISE/. completely mental cartoony shooter based in an arcade of all places! absolutely hilarious stupidity and not a bad shooter to boot. worth tracking down if you can find it for a reasonable price.

 

THUNDERFORCE GOLD PACK 1/. conversions of the first 2 Megadrive Thunderforce games (TF 2 and TF 3). i can only really recommend this to Thunderforce completists (such as myself) or shmupers looking for a real challenge, as both games are exceptionally difficult and unfair. plus Thunderforce 2 is really showing its age now.

THUNDERFORCE V/. believe the hype, this game is incredible. the best Thunderforce game in the series and one of the best games on the Saturn. the music is brilliant, the graphics nice and the gameplay to die for. sell your granny to buy this. for playthrough videos go to the mighty KIKEN.

REVIEWED

 
TWIN BEE DELUXE PACK/. double pack containing the original and updated Detana Twin Bee. nice little game but very cutesy with lots of squeaking girls voices and chiming bells and whatnot. if you hate cute games then put this game down and leave the shop right now. otherwise this is a worthwhile purchase if you fancy something a bit different.

 
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