Batsugun
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Batsugun is a vertically scrolling "shooting 'em up" or shmup hailing from the now defunct Japanese game developer Toaplan. It was their final release.
Originally developed for the arcade, Batsugun saw two revisions—the first being released in 1993. The latter named Batsugun Special Version was shown at the AOU (Arcade Operators Union) show in Japan but was never released as Toaplan slid into bankruptcy. After Toaplan's bankruptcy the Special Version appeared on the 2nd hand market. The two revisions were released on the Sega Saturn in 1996 as a single package coded by Toaplan offshoot Gazelle.
Heralded by some as the first manic shooter, Batsugun involved employees who would go on to form and work at Cave and continue to work in this subgenre. Batsugun saw an evolution in the use of complex bullet and enemy patterns and player fire power and hit-box.
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Gameplay
As is the standard with most arcade shooters, the player controls their ship with a joystick and two buttons. One button (Fire) shoots the main guns, and the other button (Bomb) releases a smart bomb that spreads huge energy balls all around the player's ship. As you destroy enemies, you gain experience points that are separate from your score. For every 288 points you get, your main gun will level up, becoming much stronger. You can only level-up twice, so after your gun is maxed out, 288 experience points gets you an extra bomb. Apart from levelling-up your gun, you can also grab "P" icons to increase the power of the current level gun. A maximum of five "P"s can be collected- getting more only gives you extra points. "B" icons found in-game will increase your smart bomb count, to a maximum of 7. There are three ship types to select from, with alternate characters for player 2 (6 total characters). The Type A ship has a simple array of rapid-fire lasers that spread evenly. You have to keep pressing Fire to keep shooting. As you level-up, the laser shots become thicker and more powerful, and your ship also fires missiles as well. The Type B ship shoots a straight beam of lightning for as long as you hold Fire. Sparks appear and travel along the lightning beam if you repeatedly tap Fire. (This may or may not do more damage.) As you level up, the lightning beam itself turns thicker and changes colors, and secondary projectiles are shot as you tap Fire. The Type C ship is fairly adaptable- if you hold Fire, it will shoot laser waves straight forward. If you tap Fire, instead the ship will fire many spreading bullets. As you level up, it will also fire homing projectiles, and gain small drone ships that fire their own laser beams.
Scoring
Apart from destroying enemies, there is one other important source of points; As you shoot everything in sight, you'll see golden V-shaped medals (the V being for "victory"). Pick these up, since after the level is finished, you get 3,000 points for every small one, and 5,000 points for every large one you grab. If you die during a level, you lose all the medals you got, and must start collecting them again. Getting 1,000,000 points will earn you an extra life.
Difficulty
Some of the game's challenge actually comes from how powerful your weapons get. Even early on, you can amass enough power-ups to release screen-clearing waves of shots. While almost phenomenal to watch, your projectiles will sometimes obscure those of enemies, which can result in losing a life for no apparent reason. This makes it important to let off the trigger once in a while to take careful stock of which way the enemy is shooting.