Radiant Silvergun
1998
- shooter
- arcade
- science fiction
- single player
- multiplayer
- co-operative
The story
Unlike in most other shoot 'em ups, there are no power-ups. All weapons are available from the start. Weapons can 'level up', however, becoming more powerful as the player uses them to score points. There are a selection of 7 weapons that can be used at any given time: The game is designed so that there is almost always a 'right' weapon for any situation. The bosses in the game are designed so that they have multiple 'sections' which, if all destroyed before the 'core' of the boss, will award the players with point bonuses. Being able to apply the right weapons on any different boss is key to obtaining these bonuses. For example, a boss may have two sections located on either side of the screen. You could immediately go up to one and begin shooting it with a vulcan, or you could hover in the centre and hit both at the same time with the side bombs. This would increase your chance of obtaining the bonus before the time limit runs out and the boss self-destructs. The game rewards players for "chaining" enemies of just one of three colors, red, blue, or yellow. Whenever the player kills three enemies that are of the same color, who can obtain a points bonus. This also facilitates faster upgrading of weapons.
What it’s like
Hard-edged polygonal 3D sprites streak over ink-dark, star-speckled space in Radiant Silvergun, a vertical shooter whose bright, jittering explosions bloom into colour against a near-black void. The camera scrolls relentlessly upward and the screen is crowded with pulsing bullet patterns, all tinted in saturated reds, blues and yellows that read instantly at speed. The soundtrack is a driving, synth-heavy arcade score that rises into frantic peaks during boss encounters, with voice lines delivered in charmingly broken English. It is a game of focused, adrenaline-tight rhythm: short runs that build through chaining enemies of one colour, then a sudden lull before a huge, multi-part boss that must be dismantled in a timed window. Its tone is intense but playful, a fierce, joyful sort of concentration rather than dread. The violence is abstract and cartoonish, with ships and enemies bursting into light and no gore or cruelty. It suits players who love arcade scoring, pattern memorisation and the satisfaction of mastering a difficult game, particularly on a late-night session or a focused weekend challenge.
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