Radiant Silvergun: great game or overrated?

[vetus]

I have heard from lots of people (reviewers and gamers) that Radiant Silvergun is one of the most revolutionary games on the shmup genre and one of the best games of Treasure (which is one of my favourite videogames companies). So I was surprised when few years ago I have started noticing some people (basically from hardcore gaming communities) who will allegate that it's too overrated and one of the reasons in their opinion is because it's one of the rarest games for Saturn and one of the rarest games from Treasure. Also they believe that mainly the Treasure maniacs are overhype it only because it's from Treasure.

What is your opinion? Unfortunately I can't play it neither on MAME (it goes too slow on my pc) or Saturn emulator (I can't run a Saturn emulator on my pc no matter what) so I have to patienly wait for the XBLA version in order to check myself if it's so great as they say or it's overrated. At least from the videos looks great but never criticize a game from a video only (I have played lots of games which were not as good as they looked and lots of others which they didn't look so impressive but when I actually tried them they were actually enjoyable). On a second thought for a great game there will always be some people who have the opposite opinion so I would like you to aid me with your knowlegde.

[derboo]

I'm just a little bit irritated by the idea that "great" and "overrated" are mutually exclusive.

[Discoalucard]

I had a write-up halfway done about this for the blog that I never really finished.

You have to remember that most of the people calling it overrated are fans of fast-paced, score-based shooters from the likes of Cave. Radiant Silvergun is much slower pased, and while it arguably has some bullet hell moments, it's also much more manageable.

The biggest complaint against the game is that scoring is tied to the weapon upgrade system, so if you don't score well enough you'll be too weak by the game's end. That's the total wrong way to approach it, because admittedly, as an arcade game, Radiant Silvergun isn't very good. But on the Saturn, where your weapons stay permanently leveled, and each play makes you stronger, it ends up feeling like a much fuller game, almost like an RPG, where playing well will raise your levels faster. The fact that it integrates scoring closely into the game is what makes it so fantastic.

It is also pretty long, but it's not really meant to be played for score runs - again, it's applying the modern "play for short bursts to get high scores or 1cc it" mentality, which wasn't what it was designed for.

I wrote the review on the site so anything else I say will be pretty redundant. I guess I was lucky enough to play this back when it came out so I never approached it with the stigma of it being pricey or overrated.

I think the best quote I heard about this game was from one of the developers, who admitted that he didn't like shooters, and made a game that would appeal to him. Ikaruga has sort of the same mentality - in some ways they're almost slightly more like action-puzzlers. That kind of mentality of what elevates it above 98% of the genre, and more games need to be designed that way. I am convinced that a JRPG made by a person who hates JRPGs would be one of the best games ever made.

[vetus]

In that case it seems I will love this game just like Ikaruga which is my favourite shmup.

[roushimsx]

I didn't much care for it in the arcade, but I loved the hell out of the Saturn version. Persistent leveling of your weapons is such an awesome idea and is far more fun (for me!) than just earning an extra continue every hour of play time.

The core gameplay is a bit too combo-heavy for me; I liked the simplified, two color system in Ikaruga a hell of a lot more.

[kitten]

I've only played it for a few minutes, so I can't say (also, I agree with Derboo that it should be able to be both).

I hate Ikaruga, though, so I've never been terribly interested.

[X-pert74]

I wasn't aware many people had played it, period. I haven't heard much talk about it, aside from the few people who do own it loving it, and that many people would like to get it, but it's unfortunately really expensive online.

[cj iwakura]

What I've played of it seemed vastly more fun and playable than the usual Treasure hell-shmup.

I respect Ikaruga and Gradius V, but they terrify me. (I love Sin & Punishment though; both of them.)

[evilakito]

When I first heard of Radiant Silvergun, I heard that it was the considered the best 2D shooter of all time. Anytime something is considered "the best," it's hard to deny that it's overrated. But having said that, it's still an amazing game. I'm sure Cave-shooter purists will hate it, but to be honest, I think it's refreshing to play an overhead shmup that focuses on level-design and requires a bit of strategy rather than just throw a million pink and blue dots at you. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy bullet-hell, but there are so many of them now and they lack any distinguishing characteristics to make them stand out. But there is nothing else quite like Radiant Silvergun.

[muteKi]

I'm interested in playing this. I'll probably be able to get into it more easily than DDP (which, quite frankly, strikes me as far too cluttered to be enjoyable).

Not really sure why I haven't. I've played a couple other games that worked on a similar mechanic (oh hi Genetos glad you could join us) and enjoyed them, so I'd be surprised to find I wouldn't like this.

[jongoo]

Jan 20, 2011 19:09:33 GMT -5 Discoalucard said:

The biggest complaint against the game is that scoring is tied to the weapon upgrade system, so if you don't score well enough you'll be too weak by the game's end. That's the total wrong way to approach it, because admittedly, as an arcade game, Radiant Silvergun isn't very good. But on the Saturn, where your weapons stay permanently leveled, and each play makes you stronger, it ends up feeling like a much fuller game, almost like an RPG, where playing well will raise your levels faster. The fact that it integrates scoring closely into the game is what makes it so fantastic.

I don't see how RS isn't a good arcade game. What's wrong with encouraging chaining, not simply for high score, but for stronger weapons? It adds an interesting element to the gameplay.

If you play with high score in mind, the difficulty escalates at a good pace. That's why I consider keeping your weapon power with each play on the Saturn version cheating (not that it's kept me from using it before, heh).

As for the length, Arcade mode is manageable in a short sitting but Saturn mode requires about an hour and half if I recall correctly. But by the end, your weapons should be strong enough to take out the endboss with relative ease.

So, yes, I think this game is great. I also like the visuals and music. It has more story than most shooters as well.

[retr0gamer]

Radiant Silvergun isn't as good as people say it is. It's way better. I think the negativity against radiant silvergun comes from bullet hell fans that just can't accept any shmup that isn't bullet hell. I grew bored of bullet hell games and much prefer the variety of gamplay that is present in radiant silvergun. Calling Radiant Silvergun innovative is a mistake as well. It has it's gimmicks but so does every shooter to try and stand out. It is however one of the most refined shooter experiences ever, almost perfected if you will. You can nitpick at the game, the shooting stages are short and few and far between while there's loads of bosses which might not be to everyones taste. I love bosses though.

So for me it's far and away my favourite shmup ever made. It's not bullet hell and does everything I like about shooters better than any other. Only a few classics come close like Gradius V, R-type etc. So if it's not your kind of shooter you could say it's not the best shooter ever but calling it anything less than one of the best ever made is doing it a disservice.

[vetus]

Since I opened this thread about RS I would like to ask you this: can you recommend me some nice RS clones? I have seen lots of Ikaruga clones (with eXceed 2nd -VAMPIRE REX- being the only one Ikaruga-clone I really enjoyed since it combines Ikaruga with Touhou very nice) but I haven't heard so much about RS-clones (I bet there are some).

[retr0gamer]

There's not really clones of radiant silvergun like there are clones of bullet hell shooters. It's really just a damn good shooter in the old school vein with great bosses. Comparable games in this genre for me would be 19XX, Soukyugurenta,i D-Darius, Einhander, Gradius V, just off the top of my head and out of them Souky is the closest even though it plays nothing like radiant silvergun. If you want to try the game that inspired the creation of Radiant Silvergun then play Image Fight. Be warned though it's old and probably one of the toughest shooters ever made.

Also for people thinking Ikaruga is a bullet hell shooter you are just overwhelmed by it. The game is far from a bullet hell shooter but you only realise this once the game 'clicks'. Once you start seeing safezones of your colour rather than just a blanket of bullets you realise there's actually a lot of safe space unlike bullet hells where the only safe places are tiny gaps between bullets. It's more puzzle game than shooter but it takes a few plays before you enter the matrix and start seeing how good ikaruga players see

[retr0gamer]

Oh for anyone that's broke and wants to play the expensive saturn games, get your saturn chipped. We aren't all millionaires. It's worth it . Not like the money you'd be spending on expensive copies of rare games will be going to the creators, just the pockets of a collector. Do pick up the rereleases if they do come out like the XBLA Radiant Silvergun!