The end of the world is generally a definitive stopping point, but sometimes there’s still one last story to tell. The Tetra was in orbit around Earth and its crew were goofing around while at an excavation site back planetside scientists had uncovered both a giant crystal and the rusted-out remains of the Tetra’s robot. This didn’t make a whole lot of sense seeing as the robot was currently on the Tetra and as surprised at the news as anyone, but there wasn’t a whole lot of time to puzzle things out. The dormant crystal awoke, an enemy armada appeared out of nowhere, and before anyone could prevent it, an energy wave swept around the globe to annihilate all life on the planet. The end.
But the crew of the Tetra wasn’t trapped on the planet, although there wasn’t much for them to do beyond survive in orbit. One year later with the ship’s supplies just about completely used up they returned to Earth in the Tetra’s Silvergun fighters, not with any real plan beyond making it to the crystal that caused the destruction. On paper the plot sounds incredibly downbeat, and mild spoiler alert for a game that initially came out in 1998 and was re-released on the Xbox 360 in 2011, it doesn’t end any better, but somehow Radiant Silvergun is a fun and playful game that also just happens to be one of the single best arcade shooters ever made.
Honestly, with Radiant Silvergun’s reputation, this review is most likely redundant. It’s hard to imagine anyone with a fondness for arcade shooters not at least being aware of the game and holding an opinion on it in some fashion. The gaming magazines of the ’90s were in love with it despite being import-only, and while Radiant Silvergun was budget-bin fodder in Japan (it did OK for itself but there were plenty to go around) in the US its pricing hit triple digits decades before the retro-collectible market took off. The Xbox 360 version brought the game stateside, albeit digital-only, while last year’s Switch edition finally got a physical release outside of Japan thanks to Limited Run Games. The point is that Radiant Silvergun has been around, and after all this time and all these releases still holds its position as one of the kings of the genre.
What initially sets Radiant Silvergun apart from most shooters is its weapons system, which gives you seven different types to play with all available at the touch of a button or three. The original arcade release was a three-button affair, with the primary weapons being vulcan, homing and spread. Hitting two weapon buttons at once generated a new hybrid type, giving three more options in the form of a rear shot, scanning laser, and sweeping electrodes, and finally hitting all three at once brought out a sword that swirled around the ship and could cancel pink bullets to charge up a major screen-clearing attack. The consoles all had enough buttons that each weapon got its own, although for purists you could still hit two or more at once for the alternate weapons, but however you choose to deploy them, it’s important to be able to break out the right tool for the situation. Or, for that matter, stop shooting entirely for a bit to take advantage of the scoring system.
Enemies come in three standard colors: red, blue and yellow, with red being most common and yellow the least. Shoot three enemies of the same color, get a bonus. Keep shooting enemies of the same color and every third one gets a progressively-larger bonus, and if you’re able to keep the color-chain alive, the scoring can go through the roof. The largest scores are more a bonus for the pro players, but it’s still worth it for mere mortals to chase after decent chains due to the way the guns level up. Killing enemies with a weapon gains it a bit of experience, and as it levels up it gets predictably bigger and more effective. Keeping the chain alive, though, sees experience double with each new set of three enemies, so once you’ve played a section a few times and gotten a sense of its enemy patterns you can make the choice to play it safe and destroy everything or focus on the best chain possible for a little more firepower.
The replayability is helped by Radiant Silvergun constantly switching up its challenges from one minute to the next. Not only is the scenery constantly changing, scrolling and spinning about in ways that looked great on the Saturn and are still effective today, but open areas lead into walled sections as various constraints to player movement come and go, what feels like dozens of unique mini- and mega-bosses pop up on a regular basis, and through it all is a feeling that every single enemy in the game was carefully placed to maximize the journey. Meanwhile the music never lets up, militaristic and foreboding, but also with notes of triumph driving the action forward, reason enough to survive a bit longer even as the gameplay makes you hold on for dear life.
The PC version of Radiant Silvergun is functionally identical to the Xbox 360 and Switch versions, in that it comes with Story and Arcade modes plus the option to change the chaining from original to Ikaruga style, which doesn’t break the chain when you switch colors so long as it’s done immediately after getting the third hit on the previous color but also has a lower maximum value. Arcade mode is more forgiving with the continues, while Story lets you start over from the beginning with the powered-up weapons of the previous attempt. Both Arcade and Story also have a training mode that lets you pick any level you’ve reached for practice, which is a great way to avoid the frustration of continually dying forty-five minutes into a run.
Closing Comments:
Radiant Silvergun is considered a classic for a reason, and it holds up today as strongly as it did on release. The ship’s arsenal can feel overwhelming, but each weapon serves a purpose and has situations where it’s best used, and once you’ve learned the button layout, it becomes almost instinctual to switch from the focused vulcan gun to lock-on laser to the radiant sword, sometimes within a few seconds of each other and each one needed for the confrontation. There are multiple scoring opportunities outside of the chaining, like hidden dogs and weapon bonuses, and the more you play the easier it becomes to chase after them. The skill ceiling is high, but not overwhelming with practice, and the constant changing of encounter types prevents multiple playthroughs from feeling like a slog. Familiarity breeds a comfortable challenge rather than contempt, and it’s always possible to shore up the run by playing a little better, tweaking a well-known section to play more effectively and help shore up the run for the new bits ahead. Treasure’s library is filled with classics, from Gunstar Heroes to Bangai-O to Sin and Punishment, but Radiant Silvergun is an incredible achievement even for one of gaming history’s greatest pure-action developers.
Radiant Silvergun
