Radiant Silver Grandious

[Neon]

I really enjoyed it for awhile, put 50 or so hours into it...nowadays I'd rather play Garegga or a fighting game or something. RS just isn't as exciting or interesting as it once was.

Solid game though.

[Dartagnan1083]

I rotate between titles.
ANY game will get boring if you put enough time into it.
I just fired up RS for the first time in many many months just yesterday.

of course now I find myself dying at points in the game I previously found overtly easy.

[ST Dragon]

RS is cool. The best Saturn programming, graphics, sound & story by far.
But what I find annoying, is the continuous boss battles. It feels more like a never ending boss duel rather than battling through stages.

Also the level layouts have an adventure/RPG feel rather than a pure shoot em up.

Cool game but not as enjoyable as RayStorm, RayForce, Thunder Force III, V, Gynoug, etc...
Very overrated imo & no way is it worth the 150-200$ some people are asking for.

[chtimi-CLA]

Here is the main shmups week 2001 hub, check out the other articles, some fun stuff there (man, talk about memories, where'd the time go? Now it's what? 8 years):

was it that long ago?
also undamned people are right about the sat version, you have to see the phoenix boss.

[SPACE HARRIER]

Waaaayy back I bought RS for about $40.Today it's worth about $150 or more..
If you are a real collector you probably have it by now...But there are plenty of other good shmups out there...
A question...how many hidden dogs can you find in the game ???

[SheSaidDutch]

Since the game is playable on MAME I do think more people should try it out.
But they won't quite get the full experience that way.

What version is RS playable on?

I wouldn't mind atleast trying RS out.

[llabnip]

A question...how many hidden dogs can you find in the game ???

There was a dog-chain video floating around somewhere that showed the positions of all of them... there are 30 of them in saturn mode and there is a FAQ explaining where you can find them (but better to discover them on your own!)

The dog points also have some meaning... the dog at the back end of stage 3C is worth 106550 points. The numbers in Japanese have sounds associated with them and this string of digits works out to "Irem Go! Go!"

You don't have to love the game, but you must admit that Treasure really did their homework on this masterpiece.

[BulletMagnet]

Waaaayy back I bought RS for about $40.Today it's worth about $150 or more..

Wow, even back when the thing first came out 40 bucks was a pretty good price...complete with spine et al?

[Jon]

Now that you mention that, Twitch, I have a pirated copy that a fuckwad at ebay sold me as an original. Who wants it?

Yeesh! Oscar I still get bitter about that sad tale and I wasn't even the victim.

[Kiken]

Well, I probably don't have anything to say that hasn't already been said, but I basically just want to convey the fact (appology) that I've poopoo'ed RS far too much in the time that I haven't owned it. I scorned it's praise and ridiculous prices, having a viewpoint of people praising it higher than it aught to be, to ease the pain of their exuberant purchase.

Well, I recently picked up an ST-V set (for the second time) with Soukyugurentai (for the second time) AND Radiant Silvergun. I popped in the cart to play around for a bit and ended up playing for quite a while. This game is disgusting.

Some games have great scoring depth (Cave), others have depth because of their many options (Konami). Others intriguing animation or art that draws you in (Psikyo). You all who know me here, know that I am a pretty stout critic, so hear me when I say: This game has it all. Truely a crowning achievement in gaming at large.
-ud

I don't blame your pessimism toward the game, UD... you see, virtually every gleaming review you'll read of RSG from the main gaming press always praises one particular element of the game: The Saturn Mode's Experience Save Option.

After each play, you have the option to save your current weapons' levels so you can begin the game next time at a higher level. IMHO, this feature promotes poor play. It's fun to use the first couple of times so that you can get through the whole game, sure... but really, a player's focus should be on figuring out the various chaining patterns, which are totally ignored in virtually all reviews.

When I first picked up the game, I was impressed by it. But after reading all of the mindless hype, I sorta lost touch with the game. It wasn't until 3 years later when I started reading about the complicated chaining system that I went back and started to play the game the way it was intended to be played. The game has since risen in my opinion.. however, I do find the game somewhat daunting given it's length.

I don't consider it the greatest shmup or greatest Saturn game ever made, but I do find that it is a very well designed game. The cost of the Saturn version is relative... $150 for a CD game is no worse than purchasing a decent arcade PCB. It all depends on your desire to own/play/collect.

[Cugel]

No doubt RG is a great game, but I spend more time and have more fun with Garegga, Batsugun, Soukyugurentai, and Strikers 1945.

[Dartagnan1083]

Since the game is playable on MAME I do think more people should try it out.
But they won't quite get the full experience that way.

What version is RS playable on?

I wouldn't mind atleast trying RS out.

The latest version of MAME should work to some degree.
It mostly depends on your computer
The ST-V ROM is already downloadable in a 5.57MB zipfile.

I haven't tested it yet (don't need too), but a friend of mine has it on his computer, which is less than 2 years old.

[dave4shmups]

Um, I agree. Radiant Silvergun is the shit. And IMO the best most solid shmup ever made.

The one thing that bugs me about Radiant Silvergun has to do with some stage replays I've seen of this shmup; where the player got a 100% destruction rating even though they didn't destroy 100% of the enemies in the stage.

Now, I'm an old-schooler at heart, and perhaps that's why this struck me as just flat out LAME. Honestly, regardless of chaining or anything else in the game, IMO you should only get a 100% destruction rate if you destroy 100% of the stage's enemies; in other words if you peform a "no-miss" in the stage.

[dave4shmups]

Since the game is playable on MAME I do think more people should try it out.
But they won't quite get the full experience that way.

What version is RS playable on?

I wouldn't mind atleast trying RS out.

The latest version of MAME should work to some degree.
It mostly depends on your computer
The ST-V ROM is already downloadable in a 5.57MB zipfile.

I haven't tested it yet (don't need too), but a friend of mine has it on his computer, which is less than 2 years old.

I really wouldn't bother trying to emulate ANY ST-V game; they will run, but they'll run at about 2 FPS; making the game unplayable, particuarly if you're looking to get a feel for how the game plays.

[BulletMagnet]

The one thing that bugs me about Radiant Silvergun has to do with some stage replays I've seen of this shmup; where the player got a 100% destruction rating even though they didn't destroy 100% of the enemies in the stage.

I believe that the destruction % bonus in RSG refers not to the enemies you destroy during the stage, but whether ot not you destroy all the "parts" of a boss.

[llabnip]

The one thing that bugs me about Radiant Silvergun has to do with some stage replays I've seen of this shmup; where the player got a 100% destruction rating even though they didn't destroy 100% of the enemies in the stage.

I believe that the destruction % bonus in RSG refers not to the enemies you destroy during the stage, but whether ot not you destroy all the "parts" of a boss.

Correct, that % is JUST for the boss parts. The game doesn't want you to kill every enemy - you must chain colors.

[dave4shmups]

The one thing that bugs me about Radiant Silvergun has to do with some stage replays I've seen of this shmup; where the player got a 100% destruction rating even though they didn't destroy 100% of the enemies in the stage.

I believe that the destruction % bonus in RSG refers not to the enemies you destroy during the stage, but whether ot not you destroy all the "parts" of a boss.

Correct, that % is JUST for the boss parts. The game doesn't want you to kill every enemy - you must chain colors.

Ugh; I'm not sure I'd enjoy this game, then. Granted that there are plenty of shmups where you simply CAN'T destroy every enemy, but still, I come from the old-school "kill 'em all!" method of shmupping.

[russ]

Just because you can't kill everything you see doesn't mean you'll just coast through the game without shooting - if you're just chaining red enemies, you'll still get your fair share of shooting. In fact, destroying everything would be pretty damn hard (especially in stage 5). It's pretty much all about timing your shots, using things at the right moments, and dodging environmental hazards. In fact, you'll only be worrying about this half the time, since you're battling bosses throughout the other half of the game.

[TWITCHDOCTOR]

Just because you can't kill everything you see doesn't mean you'll just coast through the game without shooting - if you're just chaining red enemies, you'll still get your fair share of shooting. In fact, destroying everything would be pretty damn hard (especially in stage 5). It's pretty much all about timing your shots, using things at the right moments, and dodging environmental hazards. In fact, you'll only be worrying about this half the time, since you're battling bosses throughout the other half of the game.

See, in that respect, its similar to Ikaruga. The games can be played anyway you want, but, if you want to get far enough in them...you must chain.
I pretty much come from the old school of thought as well, Dave.
I prefer to shoot everything, or at least destroy as much as possible.
So basically yea, if you play Radiant SilverGun or Ikaruga like a traditional old school blaster, you might not really click with it. Not to mention, your score WILL suffer greatly, and score can help with life extends, which can increase your chances of a 1CC!! These games are well made, but the "depth" for me is questionable, as I usually prefer a straight-foreward blast...something along the lines of what Psikyo/Technosoft/Irem/Compile,Cave,etc would make.

Sometimes "gimmicks" just don't pull me in...as much as I enjoy Caves games, I really don't care much for Guwange either...even though I love the time period(medieval Japan) the music is great and fills the atmosphere, its just the "spirit aid" that throws me off.
Controlling your character and that other "spirit protector thing" creates too many varyables in the game for me. Still, you can develope patterns, but I find myself getting more of a blast with the likes of DoDonPachi and ESP. Rade, due to the fact that they are more "straight-foreward".

[Dylan1CC]

Here is the main shmups week 2001 hub, check out the other articles, some fun stuff there (man, talk about memories, where'd the time go? Now it's what? 8 years):

was it that long ago?
also undamned people are right about the sat version, you have to see the phoenix boss.

I mean it's been 8 years since Malc founded the site, just in case I wasn't clear.

And as Omega said, yes, Felix the Cat's exit from the forum was less than graceful. I know Akira said he was in a car accident and laid up in a hospital, but that's still no excuse for ripping people off. It's a bummer when people who seem really nice just kind of transform and then disappear. But that's the internet for ya.

[Tar-Palantir]

Now that you mention that, Twitch, I have a pirated copy that a fuckwad at ebay sold me as an original. Who wants it?

MEEEEE!! If it works