"Extremely satisfying Raizing shoot 'em up"

I can't believe that nobody has posted a review for this game on this site yet. I say this because this Battle Garegga is a stellar shoot 'em up, and one of the best on the Saturn even with all the competition.

Personally speaking, the standout feature of Battle Garegga has to be the way that it really encourages you to play at a very high level, not by being cheap or unfair but by giving you exceptionally tight control and throwing wave after wave of distinctive patterns of fire at you. It almost says to you 'come fight if you think you're hard enough'. Dying is this game is always your fault so you never feel cheated. Unlike more modern shooters like Mars Matrix and Gigawing 2, you always have a chance of survival whatever is thrown at you, its all a matter of skill and confidence, and although memorizing attack patterns is helpful, it's rarely essential. Often sheer 'twitch' reactions will get you by. There's a strong show-off factor in weaving and diving through streams of bullets, it's incredibly satisfying.

Technically this game shines also, a beautiful conversion leaves Battle Garegge without any real slow down and no flicker. The graphics are very impressive, not through the use of flashy effect but by the way the highly detailed visuals cteate a wonderful impression of solidity which makes destruction all the more satisfying. Music is an often neglected area of scrolling shoot 'em ups which is only to their detriment as a really great score adds volumes to the atmosphere. The music in Battle Garegga varies a lot but maintains a very high standard with its gritty sounding early techno. The music on the level named 'Cloud', I think its level 5, really does it for me. Needles to say, the game looks and plays far better on a vertical monitor.

The various planes really feel different from one another with vastly differing attributes. As this game is so busy it can initially be very confusing on the eye when trying to tell exactly which particles kill you and which don't. Shrapnel flies off everything you shoot. The fact that your smart bombs are incremental in power depending on how may bullet icons you collect is a simple but effective variation from the norm. The boss battles are the real epicentre of activity in Battle Garegga, they are very enjoyable and intimidating and the pumped-up music makes them truly memorable.

The only way in which I approach playing a shooter is seeing how far I can get on one credit. In my opinion this is the most enjoyable way of playing these types of games. Using the multiple or infinite credits really riuns a good blast. It's all the about the high score. I have owned this game for about a year and a half and I have seen as far as the last level three times. The hope that I'll finish it on one credit someday spurs me on.

This is my first review for this site, so I hope it hasn't been too much of a chore to read.

In summary; this is a fantastic example of the genre, it's almost peerless in its level of quality and has such a high degree of internal consistency. It's not a very popular opinion, but Battle Garegga for me is a far better experience than Radiant Silvergun.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/12/03, Updated 06/12/03