Steel Dragon EX is the Poor man's Radiant Silvergun
Why pay the equivalent of a week's rent on eBay for one of the finest shooters ever crafted when you can buy a PS2 rip-off for the price of a sandwich? Well, because Treasure's Saturn masterpiece is deep, balanced and mesmerizing and Steel Dragon EX is not.
It's not terrible - in fact the game benefits greatly from copying Silvergun 's Catherine Wheel bullet patterns and multiple-limbed bosses - it's just that Treasure's game will always be the deluxe version.
A blatantly similar-looking menu screen makes SDEX 's provenance clear, but without the genius weapon system, retainable upgrades and color-based score multiplier, it's all a vague, diluted approximation.
Above: At first glance it's Radiant Silvergun - until you wash it and all the dye comes out
