What now-gen games can learn from Radiant Silvergun

The legacy of one of the best games ever made, ten years on - and why it's still worth £100

Words: Justin Towell, GamesRadar UK

Weapons
Radiant Silvergun gives you all of its weapons from the start. No, not with a cheat. All seven kick-ass weapons are available the moment you start playing. How many games can you say that of? Modern games will often let you play with amazing weapons but only for a limited time. They either run out of ammo or are simply taken away from you when you finish a section. Not so for RS. If a weapon is fun, it's fun. You don't need to eke it out over an entire game by restricting access to it.

On the original three-buttoned arcade cabinet, each button fired a different weapon, with three more accessed by pushing two at once. Pressing all three together triggered the 'Radiant Sword' which moved behind you. This could absorb pink bullets, until it was sufficiently charged to unleash the game's only 'special' attack - the Hyper Sword. On the Saturn version, there's a button for each one, but the effect is the same. You're spoilt for choice. Check out the video to see them all in action.

Above: You're spoilt for choice, yet every single one is useful. It's all carefully considered - nothing's in just for the sake of it

 
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