Batsugun

"Glorious Toaplan sunset -or- Donpachi Zero"

Batsugun (being a 2D vertical scrolling shoot-em-up) was the final shooter by Toaplan, one of the grandfathers of 2D shooter companies who's roster includes the likes of Grindstormer, Truxton 2, Fire Shark (Same! Same! Same!) and many others. Of course, there were many fine companies that proceeded Toaplan and who were equally influential, but it seems clear that without games like Batsugun, shooters might not be where they are today.

Batsugun may be the first manic shooter, it may be the first shooter with DoDonpachi-DAI-OU-JOU like firepower (once powered up your shot literally fills up half the screen!), it is one of the earlier games to include a novel and somewhat sophisticated scoring system (at least in the special version included on the Saturn port), and it is one of the first shooters I know that uses an 'experience based' power-up system (not unlike Radiant Silvergun, Mars Matrix, etc.)

With all that going for it, you'd think Batsugun would be getting nothing but love, but perhaps it was overshadowed by Donpachi (Cave's first entrance on the scene--not surprisingly, Cave was essentially the staff of Toaplan). Perhaps it's a bit easy for those who've cut their teeth on all the modern manic shmups. I can't really say why, but it always seems remarkably unfair how this game has been ignored.

GAMEPLAY: 9/10

Everything about Batsugun feels just right. The ship moves at a nice clip (neither too fast nor too slow), and the operations of your ship are intuitive--shoot & bomb. These are the game mechanics that the tradition of shooting was based upon with little embelishment, but the increased ship speed makes Batsugun feel just a little different, maybe a little newer than previous Toaplan games).

Levels are littered with those famous 'popcorn' enemies (you know, the ones that pop after only a bullet or two is pumped into them!), and with the massive firepower your ship will pick up, this becomes quite satisfying. There are of course many larger enemies with dense bullet patterns to throw at you. Skill will be required.

What's so great about those bullets (and the enemies) is how they fall right between the classic early 90's era of shooting you might have known on your SNES or Genesis, and the newer games. BATSUGUN IS A FREAKIN' BRIDGE! I can't say this enough! There are times I feel really nostalgia creeping up on me for all the 8 and 16 bit era shooters, and part of what makes this game so tasty is how it feels like it has one foot in the past and another extending out to where modern shooters are today. It's kind of like watching footage of the US space program and then seeing shots of the crowd. I mean, it's the 70's, and the crowd looks like the 70's, but they're going to the moon! Batsugun is that way. It's a rocket ship pointed at the future, but built out of all the parts from the past. Who can't love that?

Yes, the power-up carriers look a lot like the ones in Truxton, while many of the 'popcorn' enemies could have come out of countless games from this period. At one point (level 3) you're assaulted by two mechs that belong squarely in the early 90's, shooting out giant spinning ovals at you. This is truly fantastic stuff.

Difficulty evolves in a gradual manner, something which is most appreciated after modern game installments where level one is frantic as hell! In Batsugun, even the complete novice won't die until the level one boss (and an experienced 2D shooter fan (Shmupper!) won't encounter even the slightest challenge until the level 2 boss.) Personally I really like how the game doesn't start getting hard until level 3, while level 4 and 5 are reserved for kicking your butt and kicking your butt hard (respectively!)

Speaking of that difficulty, I've called Batsugun one of the first manic shooters, and that can be seen relatively early on (see level 3), where rather than dodging a few well-aimed bullets, your dodging swarms of them. By level 4, the whole thing might as well be one giant boss encounter given how much lead is flying your way (although I really don't know if orange balls constitute 'lead').

While length of the game could certainly be a detractor (only 5 levels), after the first 5 the game loops back to level 2 with significantly greater difficulty--so once again, the challenge is there, while still having room for a modest shmupper like myself to one-credit the first loop.

STORY: ???

I can't read Japanese and I really don't care about the story. It's a shooter, and story doesn't matter. As if to make matters more complicated, there are also characters that pilot each plane, but other than adding a face to go along with your ship, I don't know if this really adds to the game in anyway.

AUDIO/VISUAL: 9/10

It took 3D to make me really love 2D. Not that 3D can't be great (see Ikaruga), but 2D has had a long time to become an art form in of itself, and while Batsugun may not be the prettiest 2D shooter ever, it looks very nice. I don't want to wax romantic about all the beautiful 2D graphics in the mid 90's, but there certainly was a point where almost every game looked exquisite. This is one of them.

Also worth noting that the Saturn port CAN be tated (IE, the image is rotated 90 degrees and you can flip your TV to see the game as it appeared in the arcade.) As you might imagine, this significantly improves both the game itself and gameplay.

The sound however deserves even more credit. The soundtrack once again brings waves of nostalgia for me with its early 90's synth sound. It's very energetic and happy and does a lot to drive the game forward. This soundtrack reminds me of how great an experience arcades were in the early 90's. Games were very different then than they are now, and the music reflected that. Hmmm....

The other sound effects are more than adequate, nice explosions and shooting sounds, though it isn't anything that sets it apart from other shooters.

CONTROLS: 9/10

Controls are perfect. I don't know if the analog control works, but real shooter fans never use the analog controller. My only complaint is that you can't reconfigure the button layout, but there really isn't any need to.

REPLAY: 9/10

Real Shooter fans know that there are many kinds of shooters. More methodical ones, memorization ones, twitch-fests, scratch shooters, etc. Batsugun is a not-too-crazy twitch fest, which means it is the sort of game you can sit down and play at any time. Bored, stressed, up-tight, waiting for your girl-friend to come by, just play a few minutes of Batsugun and it will put a big smile on your face. Really, we need more shooters like this, and I see myself coming back to it a lot.

The problem however with assessing replay on an arcade style game is that they were designed to be played over and over, and they were skill-based. Really, almost every shooter (except very bad ones) have nearly unlimited replay. So it's really a lot like Street Fighter, where the amount of replay is up to your tastes in arcade games.

BUY OR RENT: ???
Batsugun cannot be rented, though it can be emulated (very poorly). The real question is whether you are a fan of shooters. If you are, you should import the game as soon as you can.

FINAL SCORE 9/10 (A truly great shoot-em-up experience not to be found elsewhere!)

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/20/04