The story follows a team of fighter pilots in the far future who are battling waves of enemies summoned by a mysterious crystal dug up from the Earth.

Towards the end of development, the team recruited professional gamers that held high scores in shooters to play test the game.

It received a spiritual sequel in the form of Ikaruga (2001), and was ported worldwide to the Xbox 360 in 2011, to the Nintendo Switch in 2022 and to Windows in 2023.

In addition to gaining a higher score, chains contribute to leveling up the weapon being used, increasing its effectiveness.

One year later, exhausted of supplies, they return to Earth in fighter jets known as Silverguns, fighting through hordes of enemies until they reach the crystal, which is referred to as “the Stone-Like”.

[5][8] Iuchi was also concerned there would be no place for a 2D shooter in an arcade space that was advancing more towards large and specialized 3D game machines.

[6] They hoped the game would appeal to shooting fans in the arcades while also convincing home console players that shooters were still fun.

[6] Development on Radiant Silvergun started in late 1997, and progressed smoothly as opposed to past projects where they had to scrap ideas and restart from scratch.

[6][8] The title is in reference to an early concept that had people flying through the sky holding silver guns in each hand.

The team had knowledge of the Sega Saturn's hardware from developing previous games for it, so they believed it would be easier this time around.

[8] Iuchi did not include power-ups in Radiant Silvergun because he felt they were distracting, and he often found himself dying when trying to manage different weapons and items.

[6] The team recruited animation studio Gonzo to create movie sequences with deeper story elements for the Saturn version.

[5] Gonzo had previously done animation for Treasure's Silhouette Mirage (1997) and Iuchi was happy with the outcome of their work on Radiant Silvergun.

[16] The Sega Saturn port of Radiant Silvergun received critical acclaim, with some calling it one of the best shoot 'em ups ever made.

[4][14][15] Critics agreed that Treasure successfully revived and redefined the shooter genre following a period of stagnation in the wake of the advent of fighting games during the 16-bit era.

They praised the parallax backdrops, Mode 7 style distortion effects, and use of 3D polygons to create imaginative bosses.

They felt the game was a successful attempt to push the Sega Saturn's graphical capabilities to its limits, calling it "a wonder to behold.

[15] Critics also praised Radiant Silvergun's gameplay, and most commonly highlighted its replayability thanks to the depth of its scoring system and hidden bonuses.

[4][12][14][15] Arcade called it "the kind of repeat play magnetism that makes you wonder why 2D shoot 'em ups fell from grace in the first place.

"[14] In retrospective reviews, Radiant Silvergun is considered one of the greatest shooters of all time, and one of the best Sega Saturn games.

[17][18][19][20][21] IGN called Radiant Silvergun a "milestone in shooter design" and in 2008 listed it as their number one classic shoot 'em up.

[22][23] In 2005, IGN also compiled all their reader's review ratings of the 31,000 games in their database, among which Radiant Silvergun reached the twelfth spot.

[30][31] They also appreciated the rerelease for giving more people the opportunity to play it given the Saturn version's expensive cost on second hand markets.

It was briefly pulled from the online store in North America at release due to a change in the game's content rating, but was added back six days later.