Radirgy

Radirgy is a shoot ’em up video game developed by MileStone Inc. and released for the Sega NAOMI arcade platform in 2005. The story follows schoolgirl Shizuru Kamigusa in an age filled with radio waves which she is allergic to. She must save her father, who is developing a remedy for her sickness, from terrorists who have taken control of his company. The game features bullet hell gameplay elements and a distinct cel shaded graphical style.

Radirgy was ported in 2006 to the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and GameCube for release in Japan—of which the latter two featured additional gameplay modes. O~3 Entertainment planned to localize the GameCube version in North America under the title Radio Allergy, but the release was canceled. The game was later localized for the Wii in a compilation of MileStone shooters, Ultimate Shooting Collection. Critics found the game challenging and unique, but overall an average experimental shooter. Radirgy has been followed by three titles, Radirgy Noa, Radirgy de Gojaru! and Radirgy Swag.

Radirgy is a vertically scrolling shoot ’em up with a bright cel shaded graphical style. The game features an arcade mode with five stages, a score attack mode, scalable difficulty, and bonus modes depending on the platform. The story follows a schoolgirl named Shizuru Kamigusa, who is allergic to radio waves. Her father works for a company developing a remedy for the condition, but a terrorist group led by Ruki Michima takes over their building. Shizuru mans a flying mecha to save her father and the medicine from the terrorists. Dialog boxes appear on the playfield to progress the story, although this feature can be disabled.

The game features bullet hell gameplay elements, providing the player with a small hit box and swarms of particles to evade. Most of the bullets come in patternless waves with the exception of bosses which feature more structured patterns. The player may choose from three different ships each with a different speed setting, and may also choose from three different weapons: spread gun, homing laser, and bubble cannon. Each weapon behaves differently, so the player must utilize different strategies with them. The player is also equipped with a sword and shield. The sword and main weapon can be used to destroy the enemies and some bullets, and can also deflect items. This deflection mechanic allows the player to “juggle” items and power-ups until they are desired. When not firing, a shield is automatically deployed which can deflect some bullets. A combo bar, which determines the score multiplier, can be increased by either using the shield to harvest energy from bullets or enemies, or using the ABSNET shield, a weapon which eliminates all minor enemies and bullets on the screen. In order to use the ABSNET shield, the player must fill a gauge by gathering blue items which drop from destroyed enemies.