Review - Double Shienryu hasn't been very much publicized as it came out as part of the simple 2000 series, at budget price.

Basically, this disc includes the original Shienryu arcade game (that was ported to Saturn and Playstation back in the day) and a 3D sequel called Shienryu Explosion.

The original Shienryu is a sprite-based 2D vertical shooter with good audio-visual and challenging Raiden-like gameplay.

For the sequel, sprites have been replaced by polygons and gameplay has been significantly altered as the game isn't nearly as challenging and the pace seems to be faster.

Personally, I found Shienryu Explosion to be a very pleasant shooter. Graphically, the clean textures and the rich color palette reminded me of a Dreamcast shooter (maybe a bit like Gigawing). Explosions are well done, enemies are well designed, the ship you control is definitely cool looking, character design is strong, special effects are nicely implemented and the game scrolling is speedy and transmits a nice sense of dynamism to the action.

The audio part of the game is also well taken care of, and even gameplay feels satisfying and addictive as there are various levels of firepower (lighter or stronger, concentrated or spread) that give a bit of depth to the regular shmups action.

For example, if you choose heavy fire, your firepower will be much stronger but it will cover a smaller area and your ship's speed will be drastically reduced. This can be handy in some situations when you have to face large enemies and the screen is littered with bullets but it doesn't really work that well when you have hordes of enemies to get rid of. This is just to say that Shienryu Explosion's gameplay is interesting and varied as you'll have to adjust your strategy many times to deal with evolving situations.

Really, the only downer here is the difficulty level. This game is too easy. I finished it on my 1st try and this shouldn't be allowed in a shooter!!

All in all, if you enjoy shooters on Dreamcast, chances are you will feel right at home with this one. It's a great little game that doesn't cost much and that is definitely entertaining, if you can cope with the low difficulty level.

Bottom line: interesting compilation well worth the purchase. For shooter fans. 8/10