Treasure Sets Record Straight on XBox 360 Shmup

 This past September we got word that Treasure was developing a sequel to its famed shooters, Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga. At that point, the rumor was simply riding on a reputable writer from PLAY magazine.

The rumor is alive again thanks to one of my favorite gaming sites, insertcredit, who spotted an XBox 360 Radiant Silvergun follow-up on release calendar of G.Rev.

However, since then 1UP.com has published an interview with Treasure president, Masato Maegawa which confirmed some interesting details about the project, but also clarified some misconceptions.

You can read the interview for yourself, but I’ll hit on the major points…

  • Treasure IS working on a new shooter for the XBox 360
  • This shmup will feature 2D gameplay with 3D graphics like Ikaruga
  • The game is being designed by the same team as Ikaruga
  • It is not a sequel to Radiant Silvergun or Ikaruga
  • It is not a “spiritual successor” to either as the gameplay will be “different”
  • The project is very early in development so no release date, publisher, US localization, or gameplay details are available yet.
  • Will most likely be a retail game as opposed to an XBox Live Arcade title

I found many of these comments encouraging, but not terribly surprising. From previous published conversations with Treasure, I knew they were interested in developing for the XBox 360 (because of its ease and power) and wanted to stay with 2D gameplay.

I also figured that they would not do a direct sequel to either Radiant Silvergun or Ikaruga. I’m sure most other shmup fans would agree that they would want something significantly different for variety and creativity’s sake as long as it was up to Treasure’s high standards. Even though its project name was Project RS2 (as in Radiant Silvergun 2), Ikaruga was almost completely different from RSG aside from the basic gameplay mechanics and a few little elements here and there.

I did find it interesting that Masato Maegawa directly said that this project was not a “spiritual successor”. Unless Treasure completely blows our minds with something completely off the wall (which I’m sure they could do), this game will be considered a spiritual successor by fans regardless. I supposed Bangai-O isn’t considered in the same lineage as RSG and Ikaruga, but if the new title is remotely close to them, the package might as well be considered a trilogy.

I think I am most excited to see what Treasure can do in 2D with the power of the XBox 360. If you look back at the Games That Pushed The Limits of Consoles, you’ll notice that Treasure is mentioned quite often. They are very skilled at exploring the capabilities of a machine and maxing out the potential. From the vibe I got from the interview, Treasure seems to be taking their time with this project, so “Project RS3” should be well worth the wait.

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11 Comments

Timrever says:

That is the uglyiest cover EVER! Take it down or it’ll scare the readers (it scared me).

racketboy says:

ok — I changed it
Is that better?

Timerever says:

It sure is! Damn that … girl with that creppy looking face just scares the hell out of anyone. I never really understood what’s with Ikaruga artwork, it that new-age or something?

SegaVega says:

My expectations haven’t changed at all after this interview…I see Ikaruga as a spiritual successor to RS as far as how they both pushed the genre the same way.

Now confirmed to be a 2D vertical shooter (and with a hefty procuction time), this game should push genre like it’s predecessors did.

And it’s very likely that G.Rev have seen the game or worked on it; their little note could be sort of a suggestion.

Timerever says:

“Now confirmed to be a 2D vertical shooter (and with a hefty procuction time), this game should push genre like it’s predecessors did.”

I don’t see them saying it’s going to be a vertical shooter, and if it is I’d love to know how they’re gonna do it. You they ask people to Tate their sometimes huge Widescreen LCD TVs? And how will a vertical shooter support 16:9 ratio? MS absolutelly demands (and I agree with them) that every game must support 720p, 16:9 and 5.1 surround sound, so it will be widescreen, I just wanna know how.

But I for one would like them to do a horizontal shmup, I mean it has been a long time since a decent one got released (Border Down, can’t remember any other) and a even longer time since a really good one (Einhänder, G-Darius). The widescreen ratio would be perfect for this type of shooter and it would be a nice spin on their shmup library.

Recap says:

Hi. This is Recap from IC. What Brandon linked to on the frontpage was not Grev’s (Border Down developers) site, but G-Rev, a Japanese shop.

Ikaruga is a sequel to RS as much as Gradius V is a sequel to Ikaruga. They’re just similar games made by the same people.

Recap says:

Sorry, I didn’t mean exactly a “shop”. G-Rev is just a mainstream Japanese gaming site.

kevinski says:

I hate horizontal shmups. I’d still prefer a vertical shmup in 16:9 (not tilted). Just have more enemies approach from the side or something. Border Down was pretty bland, in my opinion.

Timerever says:

I hate horizontal shmups.
Play Einhänder or Darius Gaiden / G-Darius and you’ll change opinion.

allen says:

a vertical 16×9 shooter is easy on any widescreen tv and coiuld easily be 720p or whatever and no the games screen most likely would ot go all the way across they would have customizable background images for the sidebars and such.. it totllay irritates me to see ppl say how would a vertical shooter even work ms demands everything be 16×9 etc.. duh its called screenfill such as wallpaper which would either be selected for you or have a customize option if a vertical shooter went all the way across the screen it might be kinda weak IMO.. have you ever played ikaruga for gc on a widescreen 16×9 tv.. I have and it only fills the middle portion of the screen same as they have always done on both regular tvs and monitors scrollers always have bars on them, however with ikaruga if you play it on a 16×9 it has the option to make it horizontal assuming you wanna go through the effort you can literally turn the tv sideways and it fills the screen almost completely… either way ppl the newer games will probably have similar options only along with the background wallpaper idea i mentioned to fill the screen for those of us who dont care to turn our tv’s sideways

jbhutto says:

“Play Einhänder or Darius Gaiden / G-Darius and you’ll change opinion.”

I really have no idea why everyone is so crazy about Einhander, to me it was nothing more than an average shmup with some nice sound and graphics.

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