is a vertical-scrolling shooter video game developed and published for the

WonderSwan Color The is a handheld game console released in Japan by Bandai. Developed in collaboration with Gunpei Yokoi's company Koto Laboratory, it was the final piece of hardware Yokoi worked on before his death in 1997. Launched in March 1999 during the ...

by Qute.

Gameplay

''Judgement Silversword'' is a vertical-scrolling shooter game.

Development

''Judgement Silversword'' was created by independent Japanese designer "M-KAI". It was programmed using the WonderWitch, a software development kit produced by Qute that allowed consumers to produce homebrew software for the

WonderSwan The is a handheld game console released in Japan by Bandai. Developed in collaboration with Gunpei Yokoi's company Koto Laboratory, it was the final piece of hardware Yokoi worked on before his death in 1997. Launched in March 1999 during the ...

hardware family using the

C programming language C (''pronounced'' '' – like the letter c'') is a general-purpose programming language. It was created in the 1970s by Dennis Ritchie and remains very widely used and influential. By design, C's features cleanly reflect the capabilities of ...

. To promote the kit's release, Qute held a contest where programmers had to use it to make a game for the system, the winners having their games published as official releases. ''Judgement Silversword'' was one of the winning games, alongside M-KAI's sister project ''Cardinal Sins'', both of which Qute published in Japan. Development lasted roughly a month and a half. The game is believed to be inspired by

Treasure Treasure (from from Greek ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions legally define what constit ...

's 1998 arcade game ''

Radiant Silvergun is a shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Treasure. It was originally released in Japanese arcades in 1998 and subsequently ported to the Sega Saturn later that year. The story follows a team of fighter pilots in the far future ...

''. M-KAI released ''Judgement Silversword'' as a freeware demo on his personal website in 2001. The retail version was released by Qute on February 2, 2004, with the subtitle ''Rebirth Edition'' due to

Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered ...

discontinuing the WonderSwan family a year prior, Qute produced a limited print run of 500 copies, making it one of the rarest WonderSwan games released and commanding high prices in the second hand market. The 2011

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

game '' Eschatos'' includes both ''Judgement Silversword'' and ''Cardinal Sins'' as extras. The original was digitally re-released for

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

via

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

in 2018, under the title ''Judgement Silversword - Resurrection''.

Reception

Copies sold out within just a few hours of being made available, leading to Qute reissuing it due to fan demand. French publication ''Pocket Gamer'' said that the game justified the purchase of the console, praising its colorful, detailed visuals, originality and fast-paced gameplay. They also liked the game's lack of slowdown and smooth sprite animation, alongside its various different difficulty options. In retrospect, ''Hardcore Gamer'' said that the large amount of levels and impressive graphical effects made ''Judgement Silversword'' a "technologic marvel" for the WonderSwan Color. ''

Retro Gamer ''Retro Gamer'' is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering Retrogaming, retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, ''Retro Gamer'' ...

'' had a similar response, being impressed with the game's colorful visuals, intense gameplay and the ability to save high scores, adding that it was a good alternative to ''

''. ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' expressed interest in the game being ported to the

Nintendo DSi The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console released by Nintendo. The console launched in Japan on November 1, 2008, and worldwide beginning in April 2009. It is the third iteration of the Nintendo DS, and its primary market rival was ...

, saying that it could help establish a certain amount of quality for similar games available for both the DSi and the

Wii Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on past ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{mobygames, /31741 2001 video games Japan-exclusive video games Qute Corporation games Scrolling shooters Single-player video games Video games developed in Japan WonderSwan Color games