Radiant Silvergun XBLA port unlikely

By Tom Bramwell Published 6 January, 2009

Treasure discouraged by the work involved.

Treasure CEO Masato Maegawa has reiterated that the developer would like to release cult Saturn and arcade shooter Radiant Silvergun on Xbox Live Arcade, but isn't sure whether it will actually happen.

"I think we'd definitely like to see it out there. But the situation around that game is a bit different from Ikaruga, so I don't know if we'd see it on Live," Maegawa told Gamasutra.

Apparently he's not the only one who fancies it either. "Microsoft actually asked us if we could put it out," he added.

So what's the problem? Well, in Maegawa's view Treasure wouldn't be able to simply repackage the existing code, as it did with Ikaruga last April, "without having to do or add a great deal to the game".

"If you play Radiant Silvergun nowadays," he pointed out, "it's certainly aged in assorted ways, and I'm not sure they're all good."

Given Treasure's size (Maegawa said he believes 20-30 people is the ideal size for a studio, and has no ambition to grow further), and current workload (including an untitled Xbox 360 shooter and Sin & Punishment 2 for Nintendo), you can see why it's difficult to commit.

However, it's worth recalling that Treasure's spoken about its desire to re-release Radiant Silvergun in the past. Speaking to 1UP prior to the Tokyo Game Show in 2007, for example, Maegawa reportedly said that an enhanced, high-definition version of the game was a something the company would like to do in future.

As other bits of the internet would put it, if Treasure likes talking about Radiant Silvergun so much, why don't they go live there?

Radiant Silvergun - infamously one of the most difficult-to-obtain second-hand Saturn games - is a vertical scrolling shooter where players fire one of seven weapons based on particular button combinations.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (27) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Ryze #1 3 years ago

    Sounds promising for the future!

  • merkdot #2 3 years ago

    they won't do it until all their ebay auctions sell out.

  • Toothball #3 3 years ago

    Stunning game. It'd be nice to have it on Live, but I guess we'll have to make do.

  • menage #4 3 years ago

    Lazy bastards:p

    I would buy it.

  • Malek86 #5 3 years ago

    Hey, Treasure, just put out the Saturn version as it is now. No need to remake, it's already better game than Ikaruga (and that's no small feat). I would buy it. Just spruce up the resolution, if you really need the 720p. How does that sound?

  • speedjack #6 3 years ago

    I'd love to see the original Bangai-o on virtual console... PLEASE!!!

  • Eurolamer #7 3 years ago

    Guardian Heroes HD remix please.

    Oooooh if only....

  • asphaltcowboy #8 3 years ago

    I think most games that you pay £130 for are likely to feel a little overrated!

  • CapnCloudchaser #9 3 years ago

    OMG I would pay in body parts if they ever released Guardian Heroes for XBLA. Such a fantastic multiplayer game, two player co-op and up to six player battles? It was born to go online!

  • Dizzy #10 3 years ago

    Guardian Heroes!!!! Do it!

  • toy_brain #11 3 years ago

    Radiant Silvergun really isnt that great.
    I played it for a few days, found it to be an obnoxiously hard and unfriendly shooter with an overcomplicated design, then went back to playing Raystorm and G-Darius.

    Just because its obscure and expensive dosent mean its automatically great.

  • Pasco #12 3 years ago

    I bought it on release day for the standard price and still have it. It was a technical marvel back then, has very nice music and has a unique gameplay twist being something of an RPG-shooter. But bottom line, it is not a very good game. It is big but unrefined. It doesn't lend itself to be played for score and you don't have much motivation to play it more than a couple of times. It's a nice game but that's all.

    I would much rather have Treasure make new games. Although in the videos I've seen Sin & Punishment 2 looks amateurish.

  • goz #13 3 years ago

    It is, without question, the greatest shoot 'em up ever made for a million different reasons.

    "It doesn't lend itself to be played for score and you don't have much motivation to play it more than a couple of times," is the wrongest thing ever written on the Internet, and that's going some.

  • iago71 #14 3 years ago

    'Guardian Heroes HD remix please. '

    Hear hear! :)

  • retr0gamer #15 3 years ago

    I play Radiant Silvergun regularly still and it really hasn't aged a bit. The 2D is gorgeous and the 3D sections while having low geometry still are decent enough. A saturn port is probably unlikely due to how hard it is to emualte the machine but when I hear a 720p update I get worried. Highering the resolution of the 2D is a massive undertaking so I think it could be remade in 3D and totally lose it's charming mix of 2D and 3D.

  • mashk #16 3 years ago

    Good. Means my Saturn copy is still worth money.

  • Lutz #17 3 years ago

    Radient Silvergun? Meh.

    Guardian Heroes HD? Or Guardian Heroes 2? YES PLEASE SIR.

  • miiiguel #18 3 years ago

    A bit off-topic(ish), but just want to share with you guys that there are some odd rarities within the video-game world, for instance the original Banjo Kazoie game guide for the N64 was on sale @ Amazon's marketplace for 125 pounds!

  • Man_s #19 3 years ago

    After the success of Castle Crashers, I believe they should seriously consider releasing Guardian Heroes in some way or form, as some of my fellow readers stated previously. It was an amazing game and is definitely worthy of an HD, internet multiplayer revisit. Or just make a new one, either way. :)

    Radiant Silvergun would be nice too though...

  • Ranger101 #20 3 years ago

    Fuck it, give me the source code, I'll port it.

  • Ryze #21 3 years ago

    I don't understand some of these retards.

    Why the hell would balsaboy72 buy Radiant Silvergun for £130 then complain about it being a waste of money?

    Either don't buy it in the first place, or SELL IT.

  • neosalad #22 3 years ago

    i know i'd buy it, if only for the curiosity over the years fromeverything i've read abour radiant Silvergun, over the years.
    they know it would sell lots on XBLA, but if they dont think it's worththe hassle to bring out maybe they know best.

  • cherrylocke #23 3 years ago

    I think it's important that anybody should be able to play it. It's one of the shoot 'em ups I would like to play, however the price is so jacked up, so I wouldn't even try.

    I did see this game on the arcade in CEX, London - however I couldn't play it - darn it!

  • Shakey_Jake33 #24 3 years ago

    I agree with the calls for Guardian Heroes instead :)

  • riz23 #25 3 years ago

    Silhouette Mirage please.

  • evild_edd #26 3 years ago

    Please, please make this happen! Never could justify forking out for a Saturn copy, and as a massive Ikaruga fan, I'd love to play this in HD on my 360....

    "they won't do it until all their ebay auctions sell out." Latest conspiracy theory hits the web.....but I like it! ;0)

  • Pacman8MyGhostkart #27 3 years ago

    Anyone who critiques the Silvergun GTFO *Goes back to playing his Saturn copy whilst siging contentedly*