Batsugun

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Batsugun
System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: Banpresto
Developer: Gazelle
Licensor: Toaplan
Original system(s): Arcade boards
Developer(s) of original games: Toaplan
Sound driver: SCSP/CD-DA (33 tracks)
Genre: Shooting
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1996-10-25 ¥5,800 (5,974)5,800e T-20605G
Non-Sega versions <img alt="Arcade" src="https://retrocdn.net/images/thumb/5/53/Logo-arcade.png/16px-Logo-arcade.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" srcset="https://retrocdn.net/images/thumb/5/53/Logo-arcade.png/24px-Logo-arcade.png 1.5x, https://retrocdn.net/images/5/53/Logo-arcade.png 2x" />

Batsugun (バツグン) is a shooting game developed by Toaplan and Gazelle. After a 1993 arcade release, it was ported to the Sega Saturn and released exclusively in Japan in 1996. The game was the last shoot-'em-up developed by Toaplan and pioneered the "bullet hell" genre. Its designers would move on to form Cave, one of the leading developers in the genre.

Story

On a planet at the far end of the universe, the power-hungry King Renoselva has seized control of the planetary government. Prince Olisis, Renoselva's son, is shocked by the bloody coup. Stripped of his birthright and declared a traitor, the Prince retreats to a secret underwater base, where he leads the legendary Skull Hornets, a squadron of elite fighter pilots using powerful submersible jets, in a resistance movement to retake the planet from his father.

Gameplay

Batsugun is a vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up that can be played by one player or by two players simultaneously. Players can choose between three types of ships, each with its own unique weapon. Ships gain experience (tracked by experience gauges on the bottom of the screen) from shooting down enemies, collecting "P" icons, or destroying parts of the stage. A ship levels up when the gauge is filled, up to three levels, upgrading its firepower each time. A second player can join the game at any time by pressing  START . The game is considered the first "bullet hell" (or danmaku) shooter because of the dense patterns of enemy bullets that the players must dodge in each stage.

The ship moves in any direction using the D-Pad. The playable area is slightly wider than the screen, so the screen pans slightly when the ship moves toward the edges. The ship fires its main weapon by pressing or (which can be held for continuous fire; holding fires faster than ). The ship's weapon is powered up as it gains experience. It is powered up five times for every level, and there are three levels where it receives larger upgrades. The ship releases an explosive flash whenever it gains a level, which eliminates enemies that it hits. Each ship has a limited supply of bombs that can be deployed by pressing . These bombs are identical for every ship and set off an explosion that radiates from the ship. This explosion instantly destroys all enemy projectiles on the screen and destroys or damages enemies upon contact. In two-player games, players can unleash a special "Double Bomber" that covers the entire screen in a flash by detonating their bombs simultaneously.

The ship is destroyed when it is hit by an enemy or a projectile, but it respawns after a moment without restarting the stage if the player has extra lives remaining. The ship loses its weapon upgrades but does not lose any experience when it is destroyed (meaning it respawns with the baseline power for its current level). The hitboxes of the ships are smaller than in conventional shoot-'em-ups to compensate for the unusually high density of bullets in the game. The game ends if the player runs out of lives but can be continued a limited number of times.

As with other Toaplan shooters, the game loops over again from the beginning at a higher difficulty after it is completed. The player is given an extend when a loop is completed.

Options

In the options, there is a Game Mode setting that switches between "Original" and "Special Ver." The latter mode has been modified and recolors the art, shrinks the hitboxes for the player ships, replaces the regular bombs with "Double Bombers" (even in single-player games), adds a shield that appears when the experience gauge is full and lets the ship absorb an additional hit, and adds numerous hidden scoring bonuses. In this mode, there are four different game loops when the final stage is completed rather than only one. The first loop goes through all five stages, the second loop plays stages 2 through 5 (and introduces "suicide bullets," bullets that are fired from enemies after they are destroyed), the third loop plays stages 3 through 5, and the final loop plays stages 4 and 5 (for a total of 14 stages if all loops are played).

Since the original arcade game was designed for a vertically oriented screen, there are four Screen Mode settings:

• Normal 1: Adapts the screen to a horizontal display.
• Normal 2: Adapts the screen to a horizontal display and also pans the screen vertically when a player's ship moves towards the top or bottom edges of the screen.
• Arcade: The original vertical aspect ratio. The directional controls are rotated as well, so this mode assumes that the player rotates the display by 90° to replicate the original arcade experience.
• Side: The original vertical aspect ratio. The directional controls have not been rotated, so this mode assumes that the player has not rotated the display by 90°, effectively turning the game into a horizontally scrolling shooter (though on-screen elements, such as the score and the experience gauges, are not rotated).

While playing in Normal 1 or Normal 2, the player can toggle the on-screen display by pressing or (to compensate for the reduced viewable area).

There are four difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, Hard, and Very Hard). There is also an option to switch between the original arcade soundtrack or an arranged soundtrack.

Ships

Players can choose from three ships, which are equipped with different weapons with unique characteristics (including attack range, area covered, and firing speed). There are two possible pilots for each ship, depending on whether it is selected by player one or player two. The dialogue at the end of each stage differs depending on which pilots are present.

	Sky Mirage (スカイミラージュ)
	Player 1 pilot: Jeeno (ジーノ・リムルシュテット) Player 2 pilot: Schneider (ロム・シュナイダー)
	The Type-A "Sky Mirage" fires a wide beam of rapid-fire energy beams in a conical spread. As it levels up, the beams spread out to cover a wider area. Jeeno is a teenage soldier with cybernetic implants. Schneider is a war veteran who has recently been wakened from cryogenic sleep.
	Dragon's Whisper (ドラゴンズウィスパー)
	Player 1 pilot: Beltiana (ベルティアナ・ディバイン) Player 2 pilot: Alteeno (アルティーノ・トリューデュ)
	The Type-B "Dragon's Whisper" generates continuous lightning blasts in a straight path in front of it. Tapping the fire button shoots more sparks down the lightning beams. The lightning blasts increase in size as the ship is leveled up. At level 2, the weapon is supplemented with waves that are fired at diagonal angles. At level 3, the waves are upgraded to rings that increase in size as they travel. Beltiana is a young woman who seeks to avenge the death of her brother. Alteeno is the tomboyish child prodigy who is the mechanic of the Skull Hornets.
	Judgment Flasher (ジャッジメントフラッシャー)
	Player 1 pilot: Iceman (アイスマン) Player 2 pilot: Olisis (オリシス・R・グレイドバラン)
	The Type-C "Judgment Flasher" shoots energy waves straight ahead when the fire button is held. The waves to break into a spread of cone-shaped projectiles when the fire button is tapped instead. As it levels up, the spread of fire becomes wider and denser, and it gains two small support ships that shoot lasers forward. Iceman is a hired mercenary with a mysterious past (who is said to be based on the game's designer Joker JUN). Olisis is the son of King Renoselva, an exiled prince, and the leader of the Skull Hornets.

Items

	Power-Up (パワーアップ)
	Increases the ship's experience. This item is released by destroyed enemies and also given when the player's ship is destroyed.
	Bomber (ボンバー)
	Gives the ship another bomb, up to a maximum of 7. This item is released by destroyed enemies and also given when the experience gauge is filled when the ship is already at maximum level.
	Victory (ビクトリー)
	Awards 500 (small) or 1,000 (large) bonus points. These items are found in destroyed environmental objects.

Stages

	Stage 1
	Boss: Deep Purple
	This stage takes place underwater.
	Stage 2
	Boss: Madzella
	Stage 3
	Boss: Mad Steel Darkness
	Stage 4
	Boss: Jupiter
	When certain parts of the stage 4 boss, Battleship Jupiter, are destroyed, it starts releasing tanks. When there are enough tanks on-screen, they turn red. Destroying these red tanks with a bomb yields a very high score bonus.
	Stage 5
	Boss: Ground of the Galaxy

History

Legacy

In 2023, the Saturn version of the game received a re-release by City Connection called Batsugun: Saturn Tribute Boosted for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Steam.

Versions

The Saturn port runs with much less slowdown than the arcade version, making it more difficult. It includes the rare "Special" version of the game and includes both the original and an arranged soundtrack.

Production credits

Original Staff

• Programming: Tsuneki Ikeda, Seiji Iwakura, Satoshi Kohyama
• Graphic Design: Yuko Tataka, Takeshi Kawamoto, Junya Inoue
• Music Composer: Yoshitatsu Sakai

Segasaturn Staff

• Programming: Yoshihiro Matsumoto
• Special Ver. Support: Hideyuki Murata
• Music Arranger: Shingo Hirate
• Package Design: Kenji Teraoka
• Planner: Koji Ishitani
• Director: Hiroyuki Fujimoto

Thank You For Your Playing

• Presented by: Toaplan

© Toaplan 1993

© Banpresto 1996

Reprogrammed Game © Gazelle

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Batsugun/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in (JP) #1996-18: "1996-18 (1996-10-25)" (1996-10-11)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score (UK) NTSC-J 70 (JP) NTSC-J 63 (FR) NTSC-J 80 (DE) NTSC-J 50 (JP) NTSC-J 68 (JP) NTSC-J 67 (JP) NTSC-J 73 (JP) NTSC-J 85

	69
Based on 8 reviews

Batsugun

Saturn, JP
Cover
Spinecard Disc Manual Reg Card

Technical information

Main article: Batsugun/Technical information.