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is a 1993 vertically scrolling
bullet hell Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charac ...
arcade video game Arcade video games takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. All arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an arcade ...
originally developed and published by
Toaplan was a Japanese video game developer based in Tokyo responsible for the creation of a wide array of scrolling shooters and other arcade games. The company was founded in 1979 but its gaming division was established in 1984 by former Orca and ...
in Japan and Europe by
Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. I ...
, as well as Korea by Unite Trading. The last
shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charac ...
created by Toaplan, the title takes place on a distant
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
-like
planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...
where a global takeover operative led by
king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
Renoselva A. Gladebaran VII is set into motion, as players assume the role from one of the six fighter pilots conforming the Skull Hornets
squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...
taking control of submersible jets in a last-ditch effort to overthrow the invading military force from the planet. Its
gameplay Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and pl ...
mainly consists of shooting mixed with role-playing game-esque elements using a main two-button configuration. Headed by '' Fire Shark''
designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...
Yuko Tataka, ''Batsugun'' was created by most of the same team that previously worked on several projects at Toaplan and who would later go on to join one of its offshoots after the company declared bankruptcy in 1994 to continue working in the bullet hell sub-genre. Though first launched for the arcades, the game was later
ported In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desi ...
to the Sega Saturn by
Gazelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . This article also deals with the seven species included in two further genera, '' Eudorcas'' and '' Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third ...
and published exclusively in Japan by
Banpresto (formerly Coreland Technology Inc.) was a Japanese video game video game development, developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It had a branch in Hong Kong named Banpresto H.K., which was headquartered in t ...
on 25 October 1996, featuring various changes and additions compared with the original version. ''Batsugun'' garnered positive reception from during its initial release in arcades and but was later met with mixed critical reception on the Saturn as an import title. Nevertheless, the game garnered awards from ''
Gamest was a Japanese video game magazine that specialized in covering arcade games. Published by Shinseisha, it first began in May 1986 and originally published bi-monthly, later changed to be a monthly-issued magazine in the late 1980s. The magazine a ...
'' magazine. It has been heralded by many as the first
manic shooter Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of chara ...
due to its evolution of various gameplay features in the shoot 'em up
genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
and as an inspiration for other similar titles. As of 2019, the rights to the project are owned by Tatsujin, a company founded in 2017 by former Toaplan member Masahiro Yuge and now-subsidiary of Swedish video game and media holding company, Embracer Group, alongside many other Toaplan IPs.


Gameplay

''Batsugun'' is a
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
-themed vertically scrolling bullet hell game where players assume the role of one of the six Skull Hornets pilots taking control of their respective fighter jets through five increasingly difficult levels in a last-ditch effort to overthrow a global takeover led by the army of king Renoselva A. Gladebaran VII as the main objective. The title initially appears to be very standard; Players control their craft over a constantly scrolling background and the scenery never stops moving until a
boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...
is reached. Players also have only two weapons at their disposal: the main gun that travels a max distance of the screen's height and three bombs capable of obliterating any enemy caught within its
blast radius A blast radius is the distance from the source that will be affected when an explosion occurs. A blast radius is often associated with bombs, mines, explosive projectiles ( propelled grenades), and other weapons with an explosive charge. Use ...
. A unique gameplay feature is the weapon system;''Batsugun'' manual (Sega Saturn, JP) As enemies are destroyed, players gain experience points that are separate from the score and for every experience points gained, the main gun is leveled up and becomes much stronger. This is analogous to exp and levelling up in role-playing games. The weapon can only level up twice and after achieving its maximum level, experience points will grant players an extra bomb stock instead. In addition, player can also grab "P" icons to increase the power of the current level gun. A maximum of five "P" icons can be collected per experience level and getting more after this gives extra points instead, while collecting "B" icons increases the number of bomb stock to a maximum of seven. Another gameplay feature, reminiscent of '' Aero Fighters'', is the ability to choose between three fighter ship variations: Sky Mirage (type A), Dragon's Whisper (type B) and Judgement Flasher (type C). Type A ships have a simple array of rapid-fire energy-beams that spread evenly. Type B ships shoot a straight beam of
lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...
for as long as the fire button is held, while tapping the button causes sparks to appear and travel along the beam. Lastly, Type C ships are adaptable; holding the fire button shoot energy waves straight, while tapping the button fires a spread of projectiles. Each ship type becomes more powerful by leveling up. There are multiple scoring methods for reaching high-scores to obtain extra lives in the game apart from destroying enemies, which are awarded at one-million points. Points can be gained from collecting V-shaped
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...
s and once the level is finished, points are awarded for every type of medal collected. Firing or bombing on determined locations is also crucial to reach high-scores, as certain
setpiece In film production, a set piece is a scene or sequence of scenes whose execution requires complex logistical planning and considerable expenditure of money. The term is often also used more broadly to describe a sequence in which the film-maker's ...
s in some stages hosts bonus secrets within their scenery, as well as destroying enemies on certain spots. The game employs a
respawn In video games, spawning is the live creation of a character, item or NPC. Respawning is the recreation of an entity after its death or destruction, perhaps after losing one of its lives. Despawning is the deletion of an entity from the game ...
system where a downed single player will start off immediately at the location they died at. Getting hit by enemy fire will result in losing a life, as well as a penalty of decreasing the ship's
firepower Firepower is the military capability to direct force at an enemy. (It is not to be confused with the concept of rate of fire, which describes the cycling of the firing mechanism in a weapon system.) Firepower involves the whole range of potenti ...
to its original state, in addition of all medals collected and once all lives are lost, the game is over unless the player inserts more credits into the arcade machine to continue playing. Unlike previous shoot 'em ups titles from Toaplan, there are no additional loops after completing the last stage.


Plot

The plot summary of ''Batsugun'' is explained through supplementary materials. On a distant planet similar to Earth, a global takeover codenamed Epsilon Plan led by king Renoselva A. Gladebaran VII is set into motion, with the Imperial Army successfully staging multiple coup d'états upon countries of the planet in less than two weeks. All that stands between the military forces of Renoselva and world domination are the Skull Hornets: a squadron of fighter pilots led by
prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
Olisis R. Gladebaran VIII, son of Renoselva. The Skull Hornets utilize the most powerful submersible jets the planet's
scientists A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophica ...
have ever devised.


Characters

* Jeeno: Pilot of the Type A (P1) ship. A teenage soldier with cybernetic implants by
Dr. Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...
Gabriel and a tragic past. * Schneider: Pilot of the Type A (P2) ship. A war veteran who was previously cryogenized and the
main protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
of ''
Flying Shark ''Flying Shark'', known as ''Sky Shark'' in North America, is a 1987 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game originally developed by Toaplan and published by Taito in Japan, Romstar in North America and Electrocoin in Europe. Controlling ...
''. * Beltiana: Pilot of the Type B (P1) ship. A
young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...
girl who seeks to avenge the death of her brother. * Alteeno: Pilot of the Type B (P2) ship. The
tomboy A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. W ...
ish mechanic of the Skull Hornets squadron and a child prodigy. * Iceman: Pilot of the Type C (P1) ship. A hired
mercenary A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any ...
with a turbulent past. * Olisis: Pilot of the Type C (P2) ship. Founder and director of the Skull Hornets squadron, he is the exiled prince of his home planet and fights to dethrone his father Renoselva.


Development

''Batsugun'' was created by most of the same team that previously worked on several projects at Toaplan such as ''
Grind Stormer ''Grind Stormer'' is a 1993 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game originally developed and published by Toaplan in Japan and North America. It is considered to be the spiritual successor to '' Slap Fight''. Based around a video game wi ...
'' and who would later go on to join one of its offshoots after the company declared bankruptcy in 1994 to continue working in the bullet hell sub-genre.
Translation
by Gamengai. ).
Its development was helmed by a small group at the company and most of the members had several roles during this process, with ''Fire Shark'' designer Yuko Tataka acting as both producer and co-designer alongside artists
Junya Inoue is a Japanese manga artist. He is also known by the name ''Joker Jun''. In 1991 he replied to a recruitment ad for Toaplan. Along with some other staff Inoue was transferred to Gazelle before he left to join Cave, where he worked as character an ...
and Takeshi Kawamoto.
Translation
by Gamengai.

by Gaijin Punch. ).
Cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...
co-founder Tsuneki Ikeda served as one of its programmers prior to ''
DonPachi is a 1995 vertical-scrolling shooter arcade game developed by Cave and published by Atlus in Japan. Players assume the role of a recruit selected to take part on a secret military program by assaulting enemy strongholds in order to become memb ...
'' alongside Satoshi Kōyama, Seiji Iwakura and composer Yoshitatsu Sakai.
Translation
by Shmuplations. ).

Translation
by Shmuplations. ).
Both Ikeda and Inoue have stated that several games from other companies that were popular at the time served as influence early in development.


Release

''Batsugun'' was first launched in arcades worldwide by Toaplan, Taito and Unite Trading in 1993. During the same year, a
soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...
album containing music from the title was co-published exclusively in Japan by
Scitron is a Japanese record label that publishes video game music albums. List of video game albums released A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H -  I  - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z ...
and
Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese mass media publishing company founded on October 1, 1966. The company publishes mainly physical home media on compact discs, including music, films and TV shows and video games. It is affi ...
. Several promotional materials were also released by Toaplan. A second edition, titled ''Batsugun Special Version'', was showcased to attendees at the 1994 AOU Show in Japan but it was never officially released in arcades, as Toaplan slid into bankruptcy and this special version appeared on the secondary video game collecting market after the company vanished. The special version featured a number of changes compared to the original version including a much smaller
hitbox Collision detection is the computational problem of detecting the intersection of two or more objects. Collision detection is a classic issue of computational geometry and has applications in various computing fields, primarily in computer gr ...
, a shield protecting the player from one hit, more powerful bombs, new scoring items, and the addition of multiple loops of increasing difficulty after completing the initial loop, among other changes. On 25 October 1996, ''Batsugun'' received a
conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...
to the Sega Saturn by Gazelle, an offshoot of Toaplan, and published exclusively in Japan by Banpresto. The Saturn version featured various changes and additions such as the inclusion of both the original and special versions as a 2-in-1 package, as well as an arranged soundtrack. In 2022, the original arcade version will be included as part of the Sega Astro City Mini V, a vertically-oriented variant of the Sega Astro City mini console.


Reception

''Batsugun'' was met with positive reception during its initial release in arcades. In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed it on their February 1, 1994 issue as being the seventh most-popular arcade game at the time. In the April 1994 issue of Japanese publication ''Micom BASIC Magazine'', the game was ranked on the number nine spot in popularity. ''Gamest'' simultaneously awarded the title with both the 6th "Best Shooting" and 36th "Best Character '94" awards. Nick Zverloff of ''Hardcore Gaming 101'' praised Inoue and Sakai's artwork and soundtrack respectively, among other aspects. The Sega Saturn conversion received mixed reviews from critics such as ''
Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...
'' and the Japanese ''Sega Saturn Magazine''. According to ''Famitsu'', the Saturn version sold over 7,017 copies in its first week on the market. Readers of the Japanese ''Sega Saturn Magazine'' voted to give the Saturn port a 8.4 out of 10 score, ranking at the number 245 spot, indicating a large popular following. ''
Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed ...
'' reviewed the Saturn version, deeming it "not a classic in designs terms, perhaps, but one that won't disappoint those yearning a show-off 2D title". French magazine ''Joypad'' commended the Saturn released for its boss encounters, arsenal, multiplayer and game modes, stating that "taken from the arcade game of the same name, this Saturn shoot'em-up isn't just another shoot, it's the game to own if you want to see how the genre has evolved today". Christian Blendl of German magazine ''MAN!AC'' gave the Saturn an overall mixed outlook. Zverloff of ''Hardcore Gaming 101'' criticized some of the additions in the Saturn conversion such as the arranged soundtrack.


Legacy

''Batsugun'' has been regarded by multiple publications as the first manic shooter due to its evolution of complex enemy waves, bullet patterns, firepower and hitbox. Mark R. Johnson, an author at
The University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...
in Australia, noted that its first boss unveiled a number of on-screen bullets players never witnessed before. In addition, the game was also cited as an inspiration for other titles in the shoot 'em up genre since its release such as ''
Cho Ren Sha 68K is a 1995 vertically scrolling dōjin shoot 'em up video game developed and originally published by Koichi "Famibe No Yosshin" Yoshida at Comiket for the X68000. Taking place in a ring structure, players take control of the Zanki space fighte ...
'' and '' Eschatos''. After the initial launch of ''Batsugun'', Toaplan would cease development of shooting projects prior to their closure on March 31, 1994. A sequel was planned but never released, however Inoue stated that the idea of gender-based firepower pairing envisionsed for the title was integrated into ''
Progear ''Progear'' is a 2001 Shoot 'em up#Types, horizontally scrolling Shoot 'em up#Bullet hell, bullet hell Arcade game, arcade video game developed by Cave (company), CAVE and published by Capcom for the CP System II Arcade system board, board. Set i ...
''. In more recent years, the rights to the title and many other IPs from Toaplan are now owned by Tatsujin, a company named after '' Truxtons Japanese title that was founded in 2017 by Masahiro Yuge, who are now affiliated with arcade manufacturer exA-Arcadia.


Notes


References


External links


''Batsugun''
at GameFAQs
''Batsugun''
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''Batsugun''
at
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''Batsugun''
at MobyGames
''Batsugun''
at The Toaplan Museum {{DEFAULTSORT:Batsugun 1993 video games Arcade video games Cooperative video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Science fiction video games Sega Saturn games Taito games Toaplan games Vertically scrolling shooters Video games developed in Japan Video games featuring female protagonists Video games scored by Yoshitatsu Sakai Video games set in the future Video games set on fictional planets Video games with alternate endings