Radiant Silvergun - The Actual Review

OK, well if you guys had actually read all the way to the bottom of my last post you would have seen that my comments about Radiant Silvergun weren't exactly true. And for those of you that actually believed that I found it at a local garage sale....well, keep dreaming. I did pay basically an arm and a leg for it, but to own one of the rarest Saturn Games ever..........priceless. On to the review:

Graphics: (8.5/10)
This game was released very late in the Saturn's life cyle, so there is no wonder why it looks really nice. Treasure did a nice mix of polygons and sprites, and for the most part the 3D models are very clean, and the amount of content that is usually on the screen looks great. There is a nice mix of colors, and most of the weapons look really nice. My only gripe is that some of the explosions look a bit cheese, and the level backgrounds are a bit to simple. I also think that Treasure should have used polygons to render the ships. Side note: the cover art is rad. It seriously looks better than any other saturn game, and pretty much any game these days.

Gameplay: (8.5/10)
Treasure always has a cool twist on the way their games play, and Radiant Silvergun is no different. I suppose the key to mastering this game is remembering the patterns of the enemies, and knowing when to use certain weapons. I've played the game a fair amount, since I did have a burned copy for quite some time, but I still die about 50 times playing through the arcade mode....no joke I'm certainly not a pro when it comes to schmups, but this game seems to be the most difficult schmup I've ever played. It is so awesome though when you sucessfully navigate through a screen completely filled with enemy fire. The whole Radiant Sword is an awesome idea too. Even though the game is extremely hard, I keep coming back for more punishment, so obviously it's hella fun! The control is super tight just like all of treasure's other games, and the level design stays pretty fresh thgouhout the whole game. You're always shooting enemies, but the bosses are all very unique, and the overall feel of each level is different as well.

Music and sound effects: (8/10)
Really good..I don't need to say much more than that. Again, Treasure has put together a rad sound track. How do I know? Becasue I hum the theme song in the shower. The sounds effects are not ground breaking, but certainly do the trick. Each weapon has it's own sound, and when a boss apears you get a cool warning sound.

Overall: (9/10)
The reasons I really like this game: 1) it's addictive gameplay; 2) can pick it up and play it for 30 mins every day, and it doesn' t get boring; 3) very original take on the shooter type of gameplay; 4) cool music; 5) great graphics for the SS; and 6) just overall a very fresh, fun game!

So is the game itself worth what I payed for it? I would have to say no. But obviously there is a reason I bought the real game when I already have a burned copy. Like I said above, owning a peice of Saturn history such as Radiant Silvergun is really cool. Basically my philisophy on Saturn and Dreamcast games these days are: if I download the game and really like it I will buy the original version, and this is how I felt about Radiant Silvergun. Obviously my feelings about this game go a little beyond that....but whatever...all I can say is that I'm pretty damn psyched that I actually own a copy of the game.....now if I can only find a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga!