Batsugun
Contents
Batsugun バツグン
Batsugun (バツグン) is a Toaplan vertically scrolling shmup. It is regarded as an important step in the future development of bullet hell games. It primarily feels like a classic Toaplan shmup in the beginning but it eventually turns into a more bullet hell affair later on. It also features a RPG-like level up system where your shot increases in power as you shoot down enemies and gain experience points.
It was developed and released by Toaplan in Japan in 1993 and would be their last shoot 'em up they developed before declaring bankruptcy. The game was published by Taito in Europe and Unite Trading in Korea.
Batsugun Special Version was shown at the Amusement Machine Operators' Union (AOU) show in 1994 but was never released due to Toaplan's financial situation. The Special Version did eventually find its way onto the secondary market. It is prototypical of later Cave games and arrange modes. It features multiple loops which increase in difficulty with faster and a high number of bullets. Ships hitboxes are smaller, bombs are better clearing the screen, and the scoring is different.
A home console version was released for the Sega Saturn in 1996. It was developed Toaplan partner Gazelle and published by Banpresto.[1] The version features both the original version of Batsugun and Batsugun Special Version as well as an arranged soundtrack.
Gameplay Overview
Batsugun is a vertically scrolling shmup with 8 way directional movement, a shot button and a bomb button. It is similar in gameplay to other Toaplan shmups like Same! Same! Same! and Tatsujin but adds elements to them. There are 3 ship types to choose from, each with a different type of standard shot.
Controls
- Directional: 8 way directional movement
- A: Shot Button
- A (Press): Fire a bullet stream for ship A, fire a lightning stream with ship B, fire a wide shot for ship C
- A (Hold): Fire a bullet stream and then nothing for ship A, fire a continual lighting stream with ship B, and fire a narrow shot for ship C
- B: Bomb Button. Launches screen clearing bomb.
Unlockable Secrets
If a game features unlockable modes, extras, secrets character etc. such as the Mahou characters in Battle Garegga or Strong Style in DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu that are relevant to the basic system of a game, put these codes here. Otherwise, omit this section.
Characters / Ships / Styles
This game features 3 ship types (A,B,C) with different types of fire. Each ship is piloted by a 1P character and a different character for 2P.
Type A is piloted by Jeeno for 1P and Schneider for 2P.
Type B is piloted by Beltiana for 1P and Alteeno for 2P.
Type C is piloted by Iceman for 1P and Olisis for 2P.
Weapons
- Type-A: Fires a spread shot. The fire button must be tapped for continuous fire.
- Type-B: Fires a lightning stream. Holding the fire button emits a continual stream.
- Type-C Tapping the fire button shoots a wide shot. Holding the fire button fires a narrow shot.
Leveling Up: All ships can level up by gaining experience points by shooting down enemies, bosses, or parts of the stage environment. Additionally, ships can gain experience by dying and upon continuing, ships maintain their experience level even if the ship type is changed. Once enough experience points are acquired and the bottom meter is filled, the ship level goes up by 1 and its fire power is greatly increased. Ships can be leveled up twice to reach a maximum level of 3.
Items
Power Up: Slight increase to current ship's level firepower. 10000 points when ship is fully powered.
Bomb: Increases bomb stock by 1. 10000 points when bombs are fully stocked.
Small "V:" Increases score by 500 points on pickup. Increases score by 3000 points at end of stage, unless player has died since pickup.
Large "V:" Increases score by 1000 points on pickup. Increases score by 5000 points at end of stage, unless player has died since pickup.
Peach Points Pig: These are revealed upon destroy particular enemies or parts of the background. Hovering near them gets them in an "excited" state and nets the player 110 points for every 1/60th of second in this "excited" state. They are more common in Batsugun Special Version than the original.
Purple EXP Pig: These are revealed upon destroy particular enemies or parts of the background. Hovering near them gets them in an "excited" state and nets the player 1.1 experience points for every 1/60th of second in this "excited" state. They do not appear in the original Batsugun, only in Batsugun Special Version.
Rank
If the game features a relevant rank system, use this section to discuss it in more detail. Otherwise, this can be omitted.
Loops
Batsugun Special Version has 4 loops. Each time a loop is completed the player is given an extend.
Loop 1 contains stages 1-5.
Loop 2 contains stages 2-5. It introduces suicide bullets from defeated enemies.
Loop 3 contains stages 3-5. Suicide bullets become larger.
Loop 4 contains stages 4-5. Suicide bullets are much larger when spawned, and then reduce to the size in loop 3.
Batsugun original does not loop.
Scoring
Small V medals: Small "V" medals are worth 500 points upon pick up. All the ones collected are worth 3000 points at the end of the stage. All medals gained before a death are lost in the end stage tally.
Large V medals: Large "V" medals are worth 1000 points upon pick up. All the ones collected are worth 5000 points at the end of the stage. All medals gained before a death are lost in the end stage tally.
Power ups: Collecting power ups increases shot power for each up to 4 pick ups. The fifth power up collected before death is worth 1000 points. Subsequent power ups acquired add 1000 points to the previous pick up point total up to a maximum of 10,000 points. So the 8th pickup is worth 4000 points and the 14th, 15th, etc. power up is worth 10,000 points.
Peach colored pigs: 110 points for every 1/60th of second you hover near them.
Strategy
See (Template Page)/Strategy for stage maps, enemy and boss descriptions, walkthroughs, and advanced play strategies.
This section details some particular strategic information about the game and its gameplay, such as hidden 1UPs and some basic scoring tricks. For anything particularly deep or highly complex, you can probably leave it in the Strategy page.
(Currently evaluating whether or not this specific section should even include information outside of the separated Strategy pages. Worth thinking about as a community.)
Creating a new page
There are two ways to create a new entry in the wiki:
- Reference the new page that you would like to make on a page somewhere ( [[Your Page Name Here]] ), and then click the red link to be taken to the "missing page" screen. You can then click "create a new page" and start filling it out.
- In the search box on the top right, type in the name of the page you would like to make, and then search. You will be taken to a similar page as above, prompting you to create the missing page.
Story
Basic story breakdowns, plot information, and endings are included here.
If there is no story at all, or any information about the setting, then this section can be omitted. Try to include at least small things here when you can.
Development History
If available, you can include information here about the hardware, the development of the game, and its general reception. Try to have as much information in this section cited as possible.
Version Differences
- Include information here about differences in a game between various versions. This includes regional differences, patch updates/bugfixes, and the like.
Trivia
- Junya Inoue was involved with the graphic design of Batsugun before joining Cave later on.
- A manga entitled Truth Story Batsugun was released in 2017 and covers the first 3 stages of the game story. It also includes a CD of the original and arranged soundtrack as well as an interview with the developers of the game.
Gallery
See (Template Page)/Gallery for our collection of images and scans for the game.
Other
We have support for wikitables, giving us the potential to add lots of cool info in a small box on the page somewhere, but we are not using them at the moment. I'm just leaving this here so we can have it handy in case we decide to actually use them. Feel free to not use this section.
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