Batsugun Limited Edition, A Great Set With One Single Flaw.
A Sega saturn Re-release I didn't see coming.
If there is any other genre that I love just as equally as I love first person dungeon crawlers, it's shmups.
If you've found yourself reading one of my posts, my assumption is you already know what a shmup is. For those who don't know, shmup is short for "shoot'em up". Trust me just look it up and fall down the arcade rabbit hole of shmups and its many sub-genres.
I recently got my hands on the Batsugun Saturn tribute Limited Edition box set. Batsugun was released in 1993 and was later ported to the Sega Saturn in 1996 in Japan. I've always heard of Batsugun's pedigree in the VG collecting community, but have never gotten a chance to test drive the game myself.
Now I pride myself on grabbing games with great gameplay, but it also needs great box art and design to go with that gameplay. I've bought pretty terrible LE's (Limited Edition) in the past and I'm happy to say Batsugun's latest port release isn't one of them.
I was shocked that the LE itself came with an Obi strip that was tailored around the box. I was even more surprised by the quality of card stock that was used for the obi. It was more durable than I had initially expected when my fingertips grabbed it.
On the lip of the opening, there were printed designs of the first and second player ships printed in high pixel quality. A nice welcomed touch.
On the inside of the inner lid, there is some concept art of some of the main characters featured in game. Another tasteful touch that I was not expecting. I will have to admit however, although the box itself has a great design and the layout is a collector's paradise. However, the box does feel quite cheap. It feels like a thinner card stock than what was being used on the obi. The quality reminds me of cheap material that is used to make playing cards for poker, that was somewhat disappointing and it boggles my mind why'd they go this route.
The structure of the internal products is well crafted. This kind of off-sets the step down quality of the main box. Pulling out each cool trinket felt like opening a brand new door to a cool little product. The LE comes with a small artbook with some concept art, and something that looks like a script for an OVA. Inside the game case on the reverse side of the cover, there is some nostalgic arcade instructions on how to operate your flying death machine. This was quite the treat, seeing as I grew up in the Era of the arcade cabs in the 90's, this was very nostalgic for me personally.
Hidden underneath the bracket housing the game and artbook, is the game's arranged soundtrack. I have not yet listened to it, mostly because its accessible in the game. Lately I have been building up quite the collection of video game soundtracks. I find myself listening to them more often than usual as of late, and soundtracks are always a welcomed addition to any Collector's edition.
In conclusion, this is a pretty good box set. The flimsy material used for the outer box itself is the only thing holding it back from a perfect score for me. Everything else featured in the set, is well worth the import cost.
-Shy-