If I had to choose one it wouldn't be Radiant Silvergun either, but that doesn't mean it isn't a brilliant game. It's still one of the best shooters on the Saturn - different, sure, but Ikaruga is also different and a brilliant shooter. People who hate it usually just don't want to cope with its complexity, but is that a reason to call it overrated? Would you prefer a shooter with an epic story and brilliant technological features such as RSG to play like plain old Raiden? The complexity suits the game very well and although I couldn't fall in love with it yet, I acknowledge its great effort. It's mindblowing in many aspects and worth a lot of money, a lot more than the oldschool Hyper Duel if you ask me, and that game is sometimes more expensive than RSG. Anyway, if I had to decide for only one Shooter on the Saturn, it would be either Batsugun or Battle Garegga. Because Garegga is just a bit more badass than Batsugun I'd prefer it: BATTLE GAREGGA. Although Batsugun comes as close as an asymptote to Garegga. The challenge of mastering Special version and the learning curve are amazing.
I have played most Saturn Shooters in an amateur-ish way, but since I enjoy gaming with my friends, I would probably have to go with PAL Parodius, too. The soundtrack is great, the game very fun to play, and instantly accessible for everyone who has played a similar type of shooter in the past 20 years. It's just an overall great game. Radiant Silvergun, well... you can get that for cheap on Xbox Live now and honestly, it doesn't feel that different that I'd spend the over-the-top money for the Saturn version.
The 360 version also has the advantage of allowing you to use a chaining system that doesn't require you to miss half the enemies on a stage. I'm going with Radiant Silvergun as it is, in fact, the only Saturn shooter I own.
I'm well acquainted with the arcade version of Garegga in fact it's one of the few shmups I'm half way decent at. I'll def be getting it for Saturn
I had quite a few many moons ago... Layer Section (despite the mild slowdown) was both very accessible and eyecandy, Darius Gaiden had a kick-ass soundtrack IMO, also not that hard
I'm taking it 1 level it a time with the I wanna say red plane. I almost have the first stage memorized. I haven't beaten it yet and if I die I start over and by that I mean I reset and start over. What I meant was when I played it on Retrocade I wasn't complete Garbage like I am with other shmups.
The red plane is a bad choice for beginners though because it doesn't have a piercing shot. Go for Golden Bat (Iron Mackerel with ABC config) for a start. The first stage is only 1min Polishing the boss fight could take a while through. You have to be very careful and precise, but it mustn't take too long either. Also involves 1 or 2 suicides.
