Batsugun is a classic vertically scrolling, manic shooter game. First developed for arcade play by now defunct Toaplan, a slightly different version was released in 1996 for the Sega Saturn (after Toaplan went bankrupt) under the Toaplan offshoot Gazelle. This was much to the delight of manic shooter gamers. It was one of Toaplan’s last arcade games to be released, and its last shoot-em up game. In the Sega Saturn Batsugun version, an alien force is attacking earth. An elite mercenary group is called in, named The Skull Hornets, to save the planet and destroy the enemies, The Skull Hornets have special ships that can fly underwater and into the stratosphere. Players have six characters to choose from with really three variations, two types of each to accommodate two players playing simultaneously. The teams fly on one of three ships. Players control the ships with a joystick and three buttons. One button controls the main gun or fire button. The other drops bombs that spread huge energy clouds around the player’s ship. Another is the rapid fire button. The Skull Hornets must destroy the enemy and rack up experience points. There are five stages, each stage getting progressively more difficult. Players power up by collecting P icons. You collect experience points by killing your enemies. The characters in Batsugun include Jeeno, the player one, ship A character. He is an attractive teenager who has cybernetic enhancements that make him better at flying. He wears a shirt that reads “A New Hope”, perhaps a Star Wars reference? He has a tragic past, with hints that he is the presumed dead brother of Beltiana, killed in battle. Schneider is Jeeno’s co-pilot on ship A. He was the main character on Flying Shark and was cryogenically frozen until he was needed. He dresses like a cowboy and complains like most old timers do. Things were always better back in his day. Beltiana is the pilot for ship B. Her brother was believed to be killed in battle by aliens, and her mission is to avenge his death. Could her brother actually be Jeeno? Alteeno is Beltiana’s co-pilot. She’s the Skull Hornet’s top mechanic and a darn good pilot, too. She wears a hat with the letters “ATOLANP”, an anagram of Toaplan. Iceman is a real showboater, the pilot of Ship C. He thinks he’s the best pilot out there, and he always wears his sunglasses indoors and at night. Hey, the sun never sets when you’re cool, right? Olisis is his co-pilot, the founding member of the Skull Hornets. He is a former prince of the invading army, and he always wears armor and carries a rose. The ships in Batsugun all function differently, too. Ship A uses rapid fire energy beams that spread evenly. As it levels up, the beams become wider and more powerful. The ship can also fire missiles. Ship B shoots a straight beam of lightning for as long as you hold down the fire button. As it levels up, the beam becomes wider and multi-colored. Tapping the fire button can launch secondary projectiles. Ship C has variations. Holding the fire button shoots energy waves straight forward. Tapping the fire button will fire a spread of projectiles. As it levels up, it will fire homing missiles, and acquire small drone ships with their own firepower. When Batsugun was revised from the arcade to Sega Saturn, developers included in the new version a smaller hitbox, rearranged music, a lack of slowdown, and the ability to take a hit before dying. Batsugan can be considered by hard core gamers to be one of the best versions in Taoplan’s arcade library, a cult classic for manic shooter game lovers.