Batsugun
THE FINAL CHAPTER IN TOAPLAN’S SHMUP SAGA
Set out on a breathtaking journey with Batsugun, Toaplan’s shoot-’em-up swansong! Choose your hero from a roster of six charismatic pilots and three distinctive ship types, each brimming with personality. Immerse yourself in a world of dazzling graphics, devastating firepower, and an enchanting soundtrack, creating a sensory experience you won’t soon forget. The accessible gameplay ensures that seasoned veterans and newcomers alike can revel in the unmatched thrill of victory!
In addition, the rebalanced Batsugun Special is also included, and features a visual overhaul with new colors and altered enemy behavior. A smaller hitbox and a shield protecting the ship from one hit, makes it easier which is needed as the barrage of enemy projectiles ups the ante for the true bullet hell factor. Batsugun Special introduces multiple loops, increasing difficulty with each completion. Can you master all four loops?
“As we prepare to launch with the Skull Hornets, our mission stands clear: overthrow the oppressive regime of King Renoselva A. Gladebaran VII. The path ahead is fraught with adrenaline-pumping battles and perilous missions. Our comrades and I are eager, but the question lingers: can we restore liberty to our people and emerge victorious?”
ORIGINAL GAME FEATURES:
- Embark on an enthralling sci-fi adventure where every encounter feels like a mini-boss battle at minimum, demanding your utmost vigilance to survive.
- Unleash mighty weapons like the Sky Mirage, Dragon’s Whisper, and Judgement Flash to eradicate enemy threats.
- Boost your firepower with experience points from defeated enemies.
- Immerse yourself in the captivating space melodies of Yoshitatsu Sakai.
QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENTS:
- Minimal Input Lag: Emulation, input processing, and rendering all complete on the same frame.
- Quick Save using F1-F10, Reload with Shift+ F1-F10
- Online leaderboards for Single Credit, No Assist, and Assisted plays.
- Instrument panels with extra gameplay information and artwork.
- Rewind the game between 10-18 minutes, depending on the action.
- Capture sharable replays to immortalize your interstellar victories (or funny moments).
- Assist Features such as auto-fire at multiple rates.
- Very Easy Mode: Lower the difficulty to breeze through the adventure.
- Pixel perfect or full-screen scaling in windowed or full-screen mode.
- Rotate the gameplay in 90-degree increments.
- Steam Achievements
- Choose between Raw Input on Windows or Steam Input.
- Hone your skills in the ultra customizable practice mode!
Game Discussion
Steam User 16
OVERVIEW:
Batsugun name, for any seasoned fan of the shmup genre, is a name that you have been familiar with on and off across the past decades. This was my case too so, considering I was still lacking first hand experience of the title I decided that 2025 was the year to venture myself into the mysteries and check how fair its renowned legacy really was.
Players select from six distinct pilots, each commanding unique spacecraft with varying abilities. The game combines traditional shmup elements with innovative mechanics, such as an experience-based weapon upgrade system and formidable bosses that enhance its bullet hell characteristics. The Steam version includes the original arcade release and the "Batsugun Special," featuring visual enhancements, a smaller hitbox, and a shield for added protection. Notably, this version introduces multiple difficulty loops, challenging players to master increasingly complex stages.
Pros
-» Gameplay: Adjustable difficulty settings, including a "Very Easy Mode," cater to both newcomers and seasoned players, ensuring a broad appeal. Improvements such as minimal input lag, quick save/load options, online leaderboards, assist features like auto-fire, and a customizable practice mode enrich the gameplay experience
-» Soundtrack and sound effects: drums driven melodies with warp like sound effects amount to a nice mix
-» Graphics: The game boasts from detailed pixel art and animations, wraping eachother as an amazing present for diehard fans.
-» Bosses: While the majority of the action is focused on avoiding bullets, there are also specific weak points on each boss that players must target to deal the most damage. These weak points often require precise positioning, as the player needs to maneuver their ship into tight spaces while avoiding a hail of bullets. This mechanic makes the bosses feel more interactive, as the player has to balance their offensive strategies with the need to stay alive.
-» Replayability: offers a faithful and enriched experience of a classic shmup, making it a valuable addition for both genre enthusiasts and newcomers interested in gaming history. The 2 players remote play further enhances its merit
-» Difficulty: The difficulty curve keeps players on their toes, making victory against a boss feel like a hard-earned achievement, and similarly requiring the need of balance between ofensive and survival playstyles.
-» Bullet style: Appealing but be aware that regular bullets fill the screen with dense patterns, while homing projectiles and larger, slower-moving shots create a variety of difficulties for the player to avoid. The game's enemies often shoot in patterns that seem random at first but require a level of memorization and planning, typical of the bullet hell spectrum.
Cons
-» This game stands truly as a solid pillar of the Shmup genre, so I would feel ashamed and ungrateful if I tainted it here
SUMMARY:
8.8/10 gaming scale
Final Thoughts: Batsugun, as one of the early pioneers of the bullet hell subgenre, offers a unique approach to bullet patterns and gameplay that influenced the evolution of shmups. After clearing the main campaign and, as I comeback for new sessions or new updates arise by developers, I intend to keep revising this review.
Steam User 5
Go into the game's Options menu, change "Game" to "Special" and play an even better version.
Base game is good tho :)
Steam User 2
¡Input lag on point!
Wonderfull borders to choose from, now with scanlines there's just one type but it has multiple option to adjust to your taste.
Phenomenal practice settings and the audio department was crazy with the low/high pass filters, reverb etc. like huh? amazing!
Now the game itself has aged pretty well, any shmup enthusiast will enjoy this, it still feels pretty darn good...
For unexperienced players from stage 3 onwards you'll start to get memo'd here and there but it's not necessary a bad thing, just learn it with the practice settings and rewind function the port provides you
I absolutely recommend this.
6.8/7
Steam User 0
Honestly glad a friend gifted this to me so i can better understand the greatness of toaplan as a swang song this and special make an amazing package well worth the price just be warned if youre used to modern danmaku this game plays more like a trad shmup in terms of what its expecting from you so a lot more memorization less trying to figure out how to get through a field of bullets
Steam User 0
This is the cheaper Batsugun on steam (there are 2 versions) and it is bare bones, but it have a nice rewind feature and it just works! Very good shmup.
Steam User 0
Better than the other one, because of the decent framerate and the decent pricing.
Steam User 0
Superb port of an absolute classic shoot-em up game that bridges the gap from old school shumps to modern bullet hell games. Full of great QoL features such as save states, level selects, multiple difficulty options etc. The perfect beginner intro to the shoot em up genre!