BATSUGUN Saturn Tribute Boosted Review

Described as an “aggressive bullet barrage shooter,” CITY CONNECTION makes a compelling case to shoot-’em-up with their shoot-’em-up BATSUGUN Saturn Tribute Boosted. Should players brave this onslaught, or should this 90s-era shooter stay in the past?

BATSUGUN Saturn Tribute Boosted Review

Featuring roots that date back to the arcade and SEGA Saturn, this vertical shmup features ships with names like “Sky Marine,” “Dragon’s Whisper,” and “Judgment Flasher.” With these killer names in place, it’s up to players to traverse a world full of enemy threats, bullets, bombs, and power-ups.

Shooting action still has people laying on the fire button at will (with the occasional bomb), but BATSUGUN is unique with its experience system. By powering up your ship with XP items and killing enemies, players will become ever more powerful as they take on the world and dish out massive damage. Experience levels go up to three, and the status window serves as a visual gauge as to how much butt players are kicking.

It’s certainly a unique system – something that harkens back to the days of Konami’s Gradius series – but it just doesn’t prove to be dynamic enough. From the beginning of each loop to the end, the action remains the same. There’s detailed 32-bit sprite work and wild maneuvers as players contend with countless threats, but it proves to play things a little too safe overall.

All the same, the title is a bit on the short side. BATSUGUN is an arcade title at its core, and the true joy of this title comes from one credit clearing it. There is the ability to credit feed your way through this title, but that would be robbing players of the challenge. As a result, it doesn’t make a lasting impression – even with multiple loops.

New to BATSUGUN Saturn Tribute Boosted is a Special Ver. of the title with a number of quality of life improvements. Feel like the title is a bit too frenzied for its own good? Players can induce some of the once-maligned slowdown at the press of a button. There’s also a smaller hitbox too, making the title a bit easier overall when contending with some of these larger-than-life threats, and the ability to wield double bombs is most certainly twice as nice. This option can be chosen when starting up the title, and can be safely ignored.

No matter which version one chooses, BATSUGUN Saturn Tribute Boosted also provides the ability to quick save and make other adjustments. There’s not much outside of the title, however, which is somewhat disappointing considering the high price tag.

BATSUGUN Saturn Tribute Boosted has detailed spritework and a novel leveling system, but there’s not enough in this 90s throwback to justify the steep price tag.

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