In a surprise announcement from the September 13th Nintendo Direct video showcase, the Treasure-developed Sega Saturn classic Radiant Silvergun was just released onto the Nintendo Switch eShop, courtesy of publisher Live Wire Inc.
Well, to many of you, this may be a surprise. However, Treasure had actually teased a re-release of a “highly requested” game from their storied past for their 30th anniversary celebration in June of this year. Two weeks ago, during Tokyo Game Show, the exact game was leaked online through some unused images on the Happinet website, who hosted several company’s’ games at their own booth. For anyone unaware of of all this, you are likely pleasantly surprised.
Sega Saturn fans will know Radiant Silvergun as the critically acclaimed vertical shooter made by Treasure (Gunstar Heroes, Dynamite Headdy, Guardian Heroes) in 1998. It was also available in arcades through the Sega Saturn based Sega Titan Video arcade board. In both cases, it was only released in Japan, and in the years since, it went on to become one of the most expensive second-hand Saturn games worldwide. It was previously re-released on the Xbox Live Marketplace for Xbox 360 in 2011, where it is still available to purchase as of this writing. It would later become backward compatible on future Xbox consoles too. This Switch release will be it’s first re-release since the Xbox version.
Radiant Silvergun tasks players with using five different weapons to fight off swarms of enemies and large bosses. You can also get special point bonuses if you shoot down enemies of the same color in tandem or shoot down enemies of different colors in a certain order. The game is also complemented with a story mode complete with animated cutscenes and music by Hitoshi Sakimoto, who has also composed for the Ogre Battle, Tekken, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Valkyria Chronicles series, plus Dragon’s Crown and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, among many other games. Furthermore, the Xbox version featured a screen border featuring a handy list of your many weapons as well as leaderboards and replays, which I imagine are also in the Switch version.
You can find Radiant Silvergun on the Nintendo eShop now at $19.99 in the US and £15.29 for Europe, a steal compared to the cheapest price you can find for the Saturn original today. If you like it, you can also check out it’s spiritual successor, Ikaruga, which is also available on the Nintendo Switch eShop. Be sure to tell us all about if you like Radiant Silvergun on Switch or on Xbox in the comments below.
UPDATE: Hours after the game’s release, it was swiftly pulled from the North American eShop. Publisher Live Wire Inc. responded on Twitter stating “Currently, the Radiant Silvergun is not available for purchase in North America. We will respond immediately. We will let you know when it becomes available for purchase.” Personally, I think Treasure should cut ties with this publisher after this screw up. Hopefully the game reappears soon.
UPDATE 2: Publisher Live Wire Inc. have posted an update to Twitter regarding the delisting in North America. The game is planned to return on September 20th, and the reason for the delisting appears to be Live Wire Inc. submitting the wrong ratings information. We’ve been critical of Live Wire Inc., suggesting they maybe not publish games anymore or Treasure not work with them, and this mistake only supports that Live Wire Inc. is quite inept at their job. This is not the first time they made such a mistake with a game, and it is honestly a very stupid mistake to keep making as a publisher.
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