Continuing my Sega Saturn kick (can't ya tell?), here are some excellent screenshots from Battle Garegga, one of the system's finest arcade shoot-em-ups. There are countless overhead scrolling shooters on Saturn, so it's easy to become lost in the crowd, but Battle Garegga is a masterful example of the genre at its finest, and very close to the classic Toaplan arcade shooters that I love so much.
Like all overhead shooters on the Saturn, this game has the option to play in regular 4:3 mode, or in sideways 3:4 mode (Tate). Since the arcade games use monitors turned on their side, Tate mode allows for a fuller picture, uncompressed, and as close to the original game as possible. The better Saturn titles will also allow you to shift the joypad controls 90 degrees, so you can play as a side-scroller, a very welcome move over the other option, which is to lie down on the couch and literally play the game sideways. Heh. Yeah, it's usually worth it if you have a larger television.
The goal of Battle Garegga is the same as every other shoot-em-up, pure adrenaline and reflexes and tense skill. This is classic video gaming to its core. Explosions, more explosions, and when you're successfully able to dodge impossible arrays of bullets and missiles...yet more explosions. Truly, this is a pop culture monument to the ADHD Generation. And you could get your thrills, for 25 cents a hit.
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