Batsugun[a] is a 1993 vertically scrolling bullet hell arcade video game originally developed and published by Toaplan in Japan and Europe by Taito, as well as Korea by Unite Trading.

The last shoot 'em up created by Toaplan, the title takes place on a distant Earth-like planet where a global takeover operative led by king Renoselva A. Gladebaran VII is set into motion, as players assume the role from one of the six fighter pilots conforming the Skull Hornets squadron taking control of submersible jets in a last-ditch effort to overthrow the invading military force from the planet.

Though first launched for the arcades, the game was later ported to the Sega Saturn by Gazelle and published exclusively in Japan by Banpresto on 25 October 1996, featuring various changes and additions compared with the original version.

Batsugun is a science fiction-themed vertically scrolling bullet hell game where players assume the role of one of the six Skull Hornets pilots taking control of their respective fighter jets through five increasingly difficult levels in a last-ditch effort to overthrow a global takeover led by the army of king Renoselva A. Gladebaran VII as the main objective.

[2][3][4][5] The title initially appears to be standard; players control their craft over a constantly scrolling background and the scenery never stops moving until a boss is reached.

Players also have only two weapons at their disposal: the main gun that travels a max distance of the screen's height and three bombs capable of obliterating any enemy caught within its blast radius.

There are multiple scoring methods for reaching high-scores to obtain extra lives in the game apart from destroying enemies, which are awarded at one million points.

[6][7][8] Firing or bombing on determined locations is also crucial to reach high-scores, as certain setpieces in some stages hosts bonus secrets within their scenery, as well as destroying enemies on certain spots.

Getting hit by enemy fire will result in losing a life, as well as a penalty of decreasing the ship's firepower to its original state, in addition of all medals collected and once all lives are lost, the game is over unless the player inserts more credits into the arcade machine to continue playing.

[14][16][17] Its development was helmed by a small group at the company and most of the members had several roles during this process, with Fire Shark designer Yuko Tataka acting as both producer and co-designer alongside artists Junya Inoue and Takeshi Kawamoto.

[14][16][18] Cave co-founder Tsuneki Ikeda served as one of its programmers prior to DonPachi alongside Satoshi Kōyama, Seiji Iwakura and composer Yoshitatsu Sakai.

[47] Edge reviewed the Saturn version, deeming it "not a classic in designs terms, perhaps, but one that won't disappoint those yearning a show-off 2D title".

[7] Batsugun has been regarded by multiple publications as the first manic shooter due to its evolution of complex enemy waves, bullet patterns, firepower and hitbox.

[48][49][50][51][52] Mark R. Johnson, an author at The University of Sydney in Australia, noted that its first boss unveiled a number of on-screen bullets players never witnessed before.