Think of it as Star Fox with more flexibility and less linearity.  SkyGunner's worlds are entirely three-dimensional.  Instead of moving forward on a pre-determined path (most commonly referred to as a game that's "on rails"), SkyGunner gives you the ability to roam freely in each stage.  The only drawback here is that your Gunner is almost always locked onto an enemy, which causes some camera problems later in the game.  For example, the second to last boss has several things that must be hit underneath its body.  This boss can walk on walls, so you must fly between the boss and a wall to hit the targets!  The ship automatically turns around when it hits something, and that is usually when the camera moves to an awkward position (as if the game was no longer in control of it).  The automatic targeting system also limits your ability to explore each area to its fullest, but other than that, it's not a problem.

By targeting an enemy, you are able to move around him without restrictions.  The controls are smooth and the manual targeting is very precise, making it easy to maneuver your Gunner and take out the hundreds of enemies found throughout the game's five stages.

When your ship is damaged, you can recover by quickly pressing the X, square and circle buttons along with the directional pad.  The buttons must be pressed a certain number of times to recover, and that number will rise as you receive more damage.  What makes this difficult is the time limit.  If you don't hit all the buttons before the time runs out, the game will end.  If you take too long to complete a mission, you may eventually run out of fuel, ending the game.

Certain enemies can be targeted together, allowing you to kill multiple enemies simultaneously to create a chain-like effect.  It's a lot of fun to watch enemies leave this world together, and it's even more fun to perform the action.  There are special fireworks missiles that can destroy multiple enemies by hitting the leader of the pack.  If your hit is successful, the fireworks will spread to every enemy flying behind the leader.  Both of these attack methods remind me of Fantavision, an underrated PlayStation 2 puzzler.  In that game, you could link multiple fireworks and ignite them simultaneously.

Speaking of Fantavision, the special effects used in SkyGunner are very similar to the ones used in that game.  Fireworks light up the sky with dozens of pretty particle effects.  When a larger enemy ship is taken down, it slowly burns as it falls to its watery grave.  But after a while, the flame becomes too great, causing the ship to fall apart.  Tons of little pieces fall off as it crumbles, and then it disintegrates with tiny puffs of smoke.  The water effects are also pretty good.  Most of the ships, characters and buildings are cartoony, similar in style to Klonoa 2, which suits the game well.  SkyGunner is not the best looking game, but I like the graphics.  Everything was done really well.

Disappointingly, SkyGunner is an extremely short game.  It took me roughly four hours to beat it the first time around, and that was with every cut scene (which adds up to around 10-20 minutes).  If I had skipped the cut scenes and concentrated on the main objectives, I could have beaten it even faster.  This begs the question, is four hours of gameplay worth fifty dollars?  The replay value is fairly high, with a total of five playable characters and five different Gunners (each of which has its own unique advantages and disadvantages).  As I said before, this is a really fun game, and I enjoyed beating it more than once.

Some gamers may like its short length because it makes SkyGunner easy to pick up and play at any time.  There's no long-term requirement here, which is something that comes along with most good games.

But the length may still be an issue for some gamers.  You can only play the same five stages for so long before the desire for something new begins to build.  I could beat this game ten times and still enjoy it.  I'm sure that five years from now, I'll play it again and have a blast.  Without a doubt, this is a classic game.  But no matter what you do, new levels aren't going to magically appear in this game.

Despite being one of the shortest games I have ever played, I still recommend SkyGunner.  I've always wondered what Gladius or R-Type would be like in 3D.  Now I finally have an answer.  SkyGunner has its own unique set of play mechanics, so don't think for a second that it's a knock-off.  This is the best arcade flight/shooter released since Star Fox 64.  It's engrossing, it's addictive and the controls are great.

Gameplay: 8.3
SkyGunner is, for the most part, flight-shooting at its best.  There is a great deal of depth hidden underneath the game's simple exterior.

Graphics: 8 
Two words: particle effects!  It won't be hard to find them in this game because they are everywhere.  The fireworks look terrific, and I love watching the enemy ships crumble!

Sound: 7
The English voice-overs aren't bad, but you can listen to the Japanese voices (with English subtitles) if you prefer.  Musically, SkyGunners is pretty good, though its strength comes from its gameplay.

Difficulty: Medium
It won't take you long to beat SkyGunner, but mastering it is a whole other story.  Your computer-controlled comrades move extremely fast, making it difficult to earn the top score.  The game itself is pretty easy though.  I didn't even lose a single life until I battled the final boss (I died because I ran out of fuel, not because the boss managed to kill me).

Concept: 8 
This is one of the most unique flight/shooters that I have ever played.  Atlus has a real winner here.

Overall: 8.2
SkyGunner is a [mostly] seamless flying experience that I really enjoyed.  The extra gunners add to the replay value (which was already good), making this game a worthy buy.  There are a ton of games coming out right now, and even more will be released as fall approaches.  Don't let the abundance of games stop you from playing this excellent title.