One of the rarest games to find on 32X. Following is a review of the Sega Saturn game of the same name, followed by a 32X/Saturn game comparison:
This Japanese only sequel to the Sega 32x game (also known as Shadow Squadron) was released late in the Saturn's life and appears to be one of the (if not THE) rarest games on the system. It's a 3D space shooter that gives a very rich and immersive experience - if you think about the scene in Star Wars where Han and Luke have to shoot down the onslaught of Tie Fighters from inside the Millennium Falcon - then that gives a very good idea of the feel and perspective of the game. I'm no expert on 3D shooters - don't generally play them and am more of a 2D kinda guy - this however has me hooked. Like the 32x game but with texture mapped polygons and a lot more levels, you and a team are assigned various missions that all take place in deepest space. What I like about this game is that it's all down to blasting. You can turn off the mission briefs (it's just blurry FMV maps and a Japanese voice over anyway) and go from mission to mission taking out stuff from little ships that flit about trying to evade you (think those last hard to get Galaxians) to huge space cruisers that pummel you with ammo as you try to blast them into pieces. You have a choice of two craft. One being worse for its arsenal but a lot more durable - the other one being the reverse. You can fly where you want and your on board tracking device lets you know where the enemies are. You have a choice of 3 views: Cockpit - probably the best; One from behind the ship - takes getting used to but not bad; And a sort of 3D camera view - this is like playing the game with a monkey on your face - i.e. nigh on impossible. Cockpit view all the way for me - it gives you that sense of actually looking out from your craft. With this game you get such a great feeling of being somewhere in space taking part in various battles and being immersed completely in a 360 degree environment. When you shoot things they colourfully explode and then the shattered debris flies off towards your ship or into space. The use of sound is brilliant. Shoot something far away and you a hear little explosion in the distance - nab something an inch from your window and you're served up a deafening crack! Either brush past or annihilate a big space cruiser and you can hear the sound towards the side as though you actually are sitting inside a craft as this huge thing goes past outside. The physics and the handling of the ship are brilliant - run into something and your ship momentarily bounces about as it tries to stabilise - this all adds to the "being there" experience. Flying out of the way of a huge space cruiser at the last second before you crash into it will actually having you ducking your head! It does me! I read somewhere that objects are lit differently depending where they are in relation to the sun. Haven't noticed this myself (been too busy blasting) but I'm sure it's true. A special mention must be made to the second half of your second mission. Here you find yourself confronted by hundreds of asteroids which you and your buddies have to take out - this is shooter fans heaven. You just reel off shot after shot as these things (that look so solid they give off a real sense of having weight to them) go up like little fireworks crunching all over the place. This, for me, is one of the all time great videogame moments...
Although you have missions (which you don't even have to pay attention to - I've got on so far without doing so) there's no real strategy (like go and get this cargo and then do this and make sure you're wearing a bowler hat - something I hate about those sort of games) and it isn't on rails unlike something like Starfox. It's one of the best uses of 3D I've found. I'm pretty down on 3D - but this game is more blasty then a lot of 2D ones you'd care to mention. It's simplistic and easy to get into. People who are into 2D shooters would probably be into this more than people who generally go for this kind of thing would be my guess. It's quite old school and is reminiscent of games such as the Atari 800 classic Star Raiders, (in fact it's the nearest you're likely to get to an update) and the coin-ops Battlezone and the original Star Wars by Atari. But even compared to these classics it removes some of the other elements and just leaves you with the pure blasty stuff. If you so wish you can play back your missions (like Ridge Racer) and you can save positions (I think) but I didn't have enough memory left to try. The second ship allows for a two player option but I haven't explored that. On the downside it's not super difficult - although I've only been playing it on medium - and you're given some quite good customising options like independent music/sound levels, and even the ability to change RGB colour levels! The game carries a hefty price tag mind and although I think it's excellent it should definitely be tried because it might not be everyone's cuppa. If, however, it had a standard new game price tag of about £50 - £60 I'd be saying get it this very second. Easily every bit the classic that Radiant is - for different reasons - but being the fan of the "pure and intense blaster with a dash of mayhem" that I am I'd rather play this any day of the week.
Review by Dave Harvey.
32X comparison:
For anyone out there wondering if the Saturn version is merely an update of the 32X version think again, it is a true sequel! If you are lucky and rich enough to have the opportunity to own both I strongly recommend you go for it. The 32X version has fewer levels than the Saturn version and the dogfights aren't as frantic (some levels in the Saturn version make you feel like a poor little X-Wing pilot in Return of the Jedi). However there are ways in which it shines above its brother. The design of the capital ships is far superior which makes taking them apart much more fun and the game has more polish than the Saturn version, the way your ship launches and moves between levels is great. You also have the same level of freedom presented by the Saturn version meaning you have full 360degree movement, not the pained and restrained movement found in the likes of Rogue Leader. The Saturn game has much more variety in mission objectives, be it taking apart an enemy armada, blasting an asteroid base or fighting over a planet. All the 32X missions are blast the fighters and capital ships in space (with the exception of an extra target on level 2 and the target on the final level). Although each level takes you closer to the sun, it starts of as a dot, then by the last level you're fighting over its surface, very cool. These games are gems that I imagine many have never heard of and fewer still will ever have the opportunity to play.
By Jonathan Coates.
Overall very good condition but see pictures for full details: ACTUAL ITEM PICTURED. Note that we only ever crop our photos. We never enhance/retouch them!
This Japanese only sequel to the Sega 32x game (also known as Shadow Squadron) was released late in the Saturn's life and appears to be one of the (if not THE) rarest games on the system. It's a 3D space shooter that gives a very rich and immersive experience - if you think about the scene in Star Wars where Han and Luke have to shoot down the onslaught of Tie Fighters from inside the Millennium Falcon - then that gives a very good idea of the feel and perspective of the game. I'm no expert on 3D shooters - don't generally play them and am more of a 2D kinda guy - this however has me hooked. Like the 32x game but with texture mapped polygons and a lot more levels, you and a team are assigned various missions that all take place in deepest space. What I like about this game is that it's all down to blasting. You can turn off the mission briefs (it's just blurry FMV maps and a Japanese voice over anyway) and go from mission to mission taking out stuff from little ships that flit about trying to evade you (think those last hard to get Galaxians) to huge space cruisers that pummel you with ammo as you try to blast them into pieces. You have a choice of two craft. One being worse for its arsenal but a lot more durable - the other one being the reverse. You can fly where you want and your on board tracking device lets you know where the enemies are. You have a choice of 3 views: Cockpit - probably the best; One from behind the ship - takes getting used to but not bad; And a sort of 3D camera view - this is like playing the game with a monkey on your face - i.e. nigh on impossible. Cockpit view all the way for me - it gives you that sense of actually looking out from your craft. With this game you get such a great feeling of being somewhere in space taking part in various battles and being immersed completely in a 360 degree environment. When you shoot things they colourfully explode and then the shattered debris flies off towards your ship or into space. The use of sound is brilliant. Shoot something far away and you a hear little explosion in the distance - nab something an inch from your window and you're served up a deafening crack! Either brush past or annihilate a big space cruiser and you can hear the sound towards the side as though you actually are sitting inside a craft as this huge thing goes past outside. The physics and the handling of the ship are brilliant - run into something and your ship momentarily bounces about as it tries to stabilise - this all adds to the "being there" experience. Flying out of the way of a huge space cruiser at the last second before you crash into it will actually having you ducking your head! It does me! I read somewhere that objects are lit differently depending where they are in relation to the sun. Haven't noticed this myself (been too busy blasting) but I'm sure it's true. A special mention must be made to the second half of your second mission. Here you find yourself confronted by hundreds of asteroids which you and your buddies have to take out - this is shooter fans heaven. You just reel off shot after shot as these things (that look so solid they give off a real sense of having weight to them) go up like little fireworks crunching all over the place. This, for me, is one of the all time great videogame moments...
Although you have missions (which you don't even have to pay attention to - I've got on so far without doing so) there's no real strategy (like go and get this cargo and then do this and make sure you're wearing a bowler hat - something I hate about those sort of games) and it isn't on rails unlike something like Starfox. It's one of the best uses of 3D I've found. I'm pretty down on 3D - but this game is more blasty then a lot of 2D ones you'd care to mention. It's simplistic and easy to get into. People who are into 2D shooters would probably be into this more than people who generally go for this kind of thing would be my guess. It's quite old school and is reminiscent of games such as the Atari 800 classic Star Raiders, (in fact it's the nearest you're likely to get to an update) and the coin-ops Battlezone and the original Star Wars by Atari. But even compared to these classics it removes some of the other elements and just leaves you with the pure blasty stuff. If you so wish you can play back your missions (like Ridge Racer) and you can save positions (I think) but I didn't have enough memory left to try. The second ship allows for a two player option but I haven't explored that. On the downside it's not super difficult - although I've only been playing it on medium - and you're given some quite good customising options like independent music/sound levels, and even the ability to change RGB colour levels! The game carries a hefty price tag mind and although I think it's excellent it should definitely be tried because it might not be everyone's cuppa. If, however, it had a standard new game price tag of about £50 - £60 I'd be saying get it this very second. Easily every bit the classic that Radiant is - for different reasons - but being the fan of the "pure and intense blaster with a dash of mayhem" that I am I'd rather play this any day of the week.
Review by Dave Harvey.
32X comparison:
For anyone out there wondering if the Saturn version is merely an update of the 32X version think again, it is a true sequel! If you are lucky and rich enough to have the opportunity to own both I strongly recommend you go for it. The 32X version has fewer levels than the Saturn version and the dogfights aren't as frantic (some levels in the Saturn version make you feel like a poor little X-Wing pilot in Return of the Jedi). However there are ways in which it shines above its brother. The design of the capital ships is far superior which makes taking them apart much more fun and the game has more polish than the Saturn version, the way your ship launches and moves between levels is great. You also have the same level of freedom presented by the Saturn version meaning you have full 360degree movement, not the pained and restrained movement found in the likes of Rogue Leader. The Saturn game has much more variety in mission objectives, be it taking apart an enemy armada, blasting an asteroid base or fighting over a planet. All the 32X missions are blast the fighters and capital ships in space (with the exception of an extra target on level 2 and the target on the final level). Although each level takes you closer to the sun, it starts of as a dot, then by the last level you're fighting over its surface, very cool. These games are gems that I imagine many have never heard of and fewer still will ever have the opportunity to play.
By Jonathan Coates.
Overall very good condition but see pictures for full details: ACTUAL ITEM PICTURED. Note that we only ever crop our photos. We never enhance/retouch them!
