Looks like all of the shooters from the arcades are making their way to the Sega Saturn. At this rate, my Super Gun may be obsolete in another few months and I can sell off all of those space hungry JAMMA boards. I have a large personal collection of JAMMA boards and I would say 60% of them are shoot 'em ups. Toaplan was the original publisher of Batsugun and many of you may recognize their name. Toaplan published the classics Truxton and Fire Shark which were later released on the Mega-Drive/Genesis console. Many of their shooters have a similar theme and play pattern. For example, Batsugun features a stubby looking ship that can power up in three ways; there is the crescent shot which covers a good amount of space with each shot and does moderate damage to enemy armor. There is the lightning shot which is a strong weapon that can 'lock' onto enemies that come at you and destroy them. Finally, there is the spread-laser which covers almost as much of an arc as the crescent shot does and is a powerful weapon that should be used when you're up against megalithic bosses and enemy installations. Your fighter can pick up extras such as speed boosters, extra bombs and bonus points when you destoy certain enemies who conceal these little treats in their metallic hides. The graphics in the game look good but they are not so impressive as to draw oohs and aahs from looker-ons. The original Batsugun came out in the arcades in 1993 so you will excuse Toaplan if their graphics are not up to speed with today's rendered, glistening, prettier than thou game art. I enjoyed Batsugun when it first came out in the arcades and the Saturn version is a direct port of the arcade version so it plays like I remember it. Banpresto gives the player the option of playing the game in two screen modes. You can play the game on your regular television with black borders on the left and right of the game screen which gives the game more of a feel of being longer from top to down (like the arcade). The other screen mode requires that you turn your television on its side so that it really is longer from top to down (just like what they do in the arcades). In this mode, the game plays exactly like the arcade version and all the details on the sides of the game are present. If you have a 25" or a 31" t.v. I wouldn't exactly recommend that you heft the television on its side and risk straining your back or otherwise hurting yourself but the arcade effect looks awesome on a bigger screen television. Batsugun will be available for retail shipping on Thursday of this week. Pre-orders are welcome throughout the week for this title.

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