"This game is a gift to us from the gaming gods at Treasure!"

Well, after several attempts I was finally able to acquire the legendary shooter Radiant Silvergun. This game has quite a cult following behind and, of course, is extremely rare and expensive. So, does RS stand up to all the hype? My answer is a resounding yes. Besides being a haven for 2D fighters, the Saturn was also a fantastic system for shooters, and it never shines more brightly than when the programming geniuses at Treasure get a hold of the hardware. Radiant Silvergun is truly a unique gaming experience and is a masterpiece which should be experienced by all true gamers (although, unfortunately, many of them will miss out).

Graphics:
The graphics in Radiant Silvergun will blow you away. This game is simply gorgeous to behold. The backgrounds and enemies are very colorful, and when the screen is filled with the fire of your opponents, the effect is awe-inspiring. It's incredible that Treasure managed to squeeze this game out of the Saturn. It really makes you realize that other game publishers which turned their collective noses up at the Saturn were probably just too lazy to devote themselves to writing code for Sega's underrated console.

Score: 10/10

Sound:
The sound is also an extraordinary experience. The soundtrack is awesome and also has an epic feel about it. Sound effects are perfectly done as well. I wouldn't mind having the soundtrack to this one, but it's pretty expensive also.

Score: 10/10

Gameplay:
Who makes shooters better than Treasure? No one, that's who. The gameplay is typically the superb quality you expect out of this group of developers. This game is not for the faint of heart, though, because it can be very difficult and frustrating at times. You'll have so much fun playing that it probably won't even bother you. The gameplay is typical of a shooter, with wave after wave of enemies coming at you. It's been done before, but never so well. The stages can get quite frantic, as you desperately search for a way to get past the seemingly endless enemies. One nice feature to RS is that your weapons level up the more you use them, adding an RPG-quality to the game. By the end of the game, your weapons are quite powerful, and believe me, you'll need them at their max to survive!

Score: 10/10

Replayability:
Prepare to lose many hours of your life to this game. Although it is short (typical of shooters), the replay is enormous. RS is very addictive, and you'll be coming back to the game again and again to try out a new strategy for that pesky boss, to achieve that perfect ranking on that one level, or just to have a great gameplay experience all over again. I suppose I should also mention that there is a story which is told in cutscenes between stages. It's not really necessary to understand to love the game, and the ending cinema does quite a bit toward explaining what's going on anyway.

Score: 10/10

Overall impressions:
I must admit that I was sort of nervous when I bought this game. I'm not a huge fan of shooters, but I just had to have this one. I was really worried that RS would not be worth the huge price tag. This game just completely blew away all my expectations, even considering the hype around it. If you can land a copy of this game, consider yourself a blessed gamer. Radiant Silvergun is pure gaming bliss on a CD-ROM. Do yourself a favor and put out the cash to get a piece of gaming history.

Overall score (not an average): 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/08/02, Updated 10/08/02