Batsugun

Awesome port, the lowpass filter is really nice for games with FM music, and it has all the other features you would want from a shmup port. Another solid Toaplan port from Bitwave. Thanks for giving these games the love they deserve.

also I bought the game early enough that I could be 2nd on the leaderboard which is very gratifying, so thanks for that too.

Cost me £6.67. Had I been playing the arcade machine - by the time I'd got to the end of stage 5 I'd have spent £50. Or something. Bargain.

Superb emulation. Yes I've got multiple ways to play this but the quality on offer here - Bitwave's deep understanding of the code with their options and quality of life features - means this is the best version you can get.

EDIT (2/7/2024)
Okay admittedly this would be my first time playing Batsugun, as the main reason why I picked this up was because its a precursor to CAVE's enormous legacy of Bullet Hell games, but while game is still just as hard, and even better than some of their classic games, its not without some odd jank, and not due to the port, because Bitwave did an excellent job with the game. If your playing this coming from Cave's latest games like Dodonpachi and Death smiles, your gonna notice some aspects that were later improved like its somewhat bigger hurtboxes on player ships, quarter eater difficulty, and bizarre boss patterns, I felt Boss 2 was straight up unfair, and it felt like that both forms could wall you at an instant with form 1 launching so many homing missiles, bullet waves, and fire balls that were too overwhelming to deal with and form 2's a mobile flying craft that fires fast barrages and hellfire waves that will wall you in seconds without proper knowledge, it just looks straight out of battle garegga and its a total nightmare for novices.

On a more positive note, as Toaplan's last game, you would be surprised at how simple it is to play, you only have 2 buttons (Shot and bomb + Auto fire button) and all you really need to do is hold fire and bomb if the screen seems impossible to deal with, along with a unique upgrade system of having both RPG leveling, and Dodonpachi pickups that improve your shots. Of course this game is the pre-cursor to Donpachi, the defining first game by cave, so your still putting up with a hybrid of Toaplan/bullet hell design that was ambitious for 1993 and is still excellent, but has definitely caught up with time as more games had surpassed its design. If you want to make this your first Shmup, I highly recommend the special edition as its easier to play with modern improvements, and would serve as the core template of every CAVE game in their career. The special edition has also never been released anywhere else, so you should make this game a priority if its the next game in your thirst for bullet hell games on steam.

ORIGINAL
So far I really like this port, while this is ONLY the main game (plus the special edition), the input response is really good to the point of un-noticeable. While there are not a lot of customization options, all the necessary ones are here like certain filters for enthusiasts and even a rewind feature for casual players. Especially at the price of like $8 USD it sounds like a dream come true for any shmup player. It maybe bare bones, but all you really want is pick up and play, but at the very least you can do it in the way the older players want you to experience it if you so choose. Its Batsugun, the godfather of Bullet hell games, what's there not to explain?

There is something to note that's been a reoccurring problem in Bitwave Games though its more of a nitpick at the moment, there's usually a UI problem where sometimes certain text in the options gets cut in half. I don't know if it has to do with my computer, but my requirements are way over the necessary minimum. So I don't know if its a glitch but this also happened in fire shark before I refunded it (though I have the intention of re-purchasing it) when I entered tate mode.

Feels great, smooth and looks good too, this is basically kiting and re-streaming the game so just fly back and fourth left to right hahah Im a sucker for the graphics and vibes of this one, suffers from visability issues because your own firepower is so screen filling and dazzling. But it is a classic and good fun

Batsugun is a cult classic. An exceedingly rare cult classic. Only released in arcades in Japan and Europe (and in very limited numbers). Batsugun is often seen as the progenitor of the bullet hell subgenre. In fact, many of the developers that worked on Batsugun would go on to form Cave and become the unquestionable masters of the bullet hell.

So Batsugun coming to PC is a very pleasant surprise. And not just that, this port is an exceptional one. Using, as I understand it, a custom made emulator. Bitwave have managed to preserve every little bit of the game. Down to the pixel. On top of that, the game comes with many modern conveniences. Native controller support for just about every controller out there, a multitude of scaling options, audio filtering, a lovely scanline emulation that even recreates the curve of a CRT and an instant rewind. Perfect for practicing dodging the bullet patterns before going for that high score.

Bitwave have done a wonderful job here and I'm gonna be spending many hours perfecting myself on Batsugun. The replay factor is the greatest strength of this game. This might not be an arcade cabinet from the 90s, but it's about as close as most of us will ever get.

Good Stuff. You can add scanlines and rotate your screen 90 degrees in the video options. Also input feels great. 11/10 cause i can smoke weed while playing without getting kicked out and also i am ass at shmups, so 8 euro is probably cheaper than a single playthrough on an actual machine.

Very good and solid port.

Normal and special versions, both available in the same purchase, are very well adapted for PC: no stuttering, good input response and well preserved graphics. There are plenty of gameplay and video options that suit beginners and more experienced shmup players.

The assist mechanics of slow down and rewind buttons are very smart features for those who want to improve their gameplay, and on top of that the player can still save and load game slots. Sound and music are perfect, frames are gorgeous and the special windows are useful, keeping the vintage style.

I just think the ranking system could provide the player position, even if they are in a very low rank - sometimes it can work as a stimulus.

You know what's actually a really good port of Batsugun? City Connection's take, and I won't take that back. You know what isn't even close? This one. The auto-dodge doesn't even work, ship visualizers are squished on one side (What even?), and that and several other bugs with the unique extra features, plus the poor FM emulation, make this one of Bitwave's most unstable and unlistenable releases yet. It's embarrassing how rushed this is.

Batsugun is one of my favourite games of all time. I had a Japanese Saturn years ago and played the heck of this game. I have played the game through Retroarch for a long time too and this has been my go to as the input lag is very low and the graphics/sound being very well emulated.

I went on to buy the PS4 physical of the City Connection game, i knew going in that the Saturn emulation is not the best with higher than usual latency. The best thing about the City Connection game is the arrange soundtrack which is stunning.

Bouncing between all versions i have found the Bitwave game to be very responsive, with no discernible difference to Retroarch with run ahead enabled. The sound is quite poor which to me seems overly scratchy/tinny, this can be alleviated by using the low pass filter feature. Having an option to lower the sound effect volume is my number one wish as the sound balance is too much on the sound effects, this is important to me as the soundtrack is one of the best in any shooter.

Overall the game plays extremely well and has lots of options to tweak to your liking. Going back to the City Connection version is unbearable after playing the Bitwave game and i wholeheartedly recommend this version over it.

First time playing this game. Very awesome experience. Played some of the special version, then I played the original mode. Plus, the characters have there own ending, so the replay value is high on this one. Overall, very awesome game, and I definitely recommend adding to your shoot 'em up collection. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0HTMeR_Tho&t=129s

I had no idea this was coming out so this was a really welcome surprise considering I've been working on clearing special version recently. Even if u already own the OG saturn version id still recommend just for the save states alone. I have no way of testing input lag but the game seems to run pretty well*. There's online leaderboards, replays, and a bunch of other helpful settings. All of the other Bitwave ports I've played have been really solid. Between this and the cc port Id 100% recommend this one considering every thing cc touches is hot garbage and instead of porting the arcade version (like this version, bitwave's) they ported the saturn version that was already a port. If you want to listen to the boost soundtrack there's a romhack of the sega saturn version that has it on there. Or just pull it up on youtube.

EDIT - I saw online that theres only 3.8 frames of input which is amazing!

This game is fantastic! Art, music and gameplay; its got it all!

$8 is absurdly fair for how good this is.
Most re-releases of this kind are $20+

10/10 - Fairly priced Classic that's still a joy to play!

+Great Gameplay
+Excellent Music
+Superb Visuals
+Colourful and smooth
+Very clean enemy bullets and attack patterns

Played it for the first time on MAME years ago.. happy that it finally arrived on steam and isn't ridiculously priced as the City Connection releases.
Please bring more arcade shmups to Steam. I want ARMED POLICE BATRIDER and Battle Garegga next.

Fantastic proto-bullet-hell shmup. Great pixel graphics, great soundtrack and great gameplay.

Port is done in a very competent way. Near to no input lag, packaged with the a little bit easier special version of the game.

Great!

Now I own Batsugun twice.

AFAIK this is emulating the arcade version, while City Connection's is the Saturn version.
I feel like this runs better and is a lot cheaper(you can set the frame rate to native arcade hardware, unlike CC's), but you're missing out on the Saturn's really nice arranged soundtrack.

I learned to walk on casino arcade carpeting, I was taught to read by the arcade attendants, and I thought all food was purchased from vending machines. The only currency I understood was tokens dispensed by brown metal CHANGE machines with flashing amber lights. Yet, even at the peak of those formative years, right when this game hit, I missed it. Every console port has somehow eluded me as well. Finally, after 30+ years that its existence overlapped with my life, we have met on the one platform neither of us could have imagined would exist back in 1993. I'm so happy we finally found each other.

Please ignore that MusicalMinerDude clown who, for some bizarre reason, decided to purchase every Toaplan arcade port on Steam just so he could whine that they aren't good, followed by a bunch of woefully inaccurate and ridiculous complaints. These ports are great, and this game is great. The grandaddy of bullet hells, but i think this has a much better difficulty level than its successors.

There are literally articles holding up the Toaplan Shoot 'Em Up ports as the perfect example of how to do PC ports the right way, and this guy is claiming that all of them are terrible...lol.

Great shmup, great port, great price. Light on features but I don't care, what is there suffices for me. Thanks a lot to the devs!

I had never played Batsugun before as I found other Toaplan games too old-school for my taste, but this one went straight to my top-5. The Special version is a fantastic introduction to bullet hell games, once you lower the difficulty in the menu.