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- Bill Loguidice
Mark plays... Raiden (Arcade) - episode 3
A new series of small videos, not really reviews but just some games I happen to really like. This is episode 3.
Game: Raiden
Publisher: Seibu Kaihatsu, 1990
Platform: Arcade, Amiga, Atari Jaguar, Atari L y n x, MS-DOS, NEC PC Engine, PlayStation, Mobile Phone, Sega Megadrive Genesis, Super Nintendo, downloadable for PSP and PS3 and a version for FM-Towns is also in existence.
I am back with a 3rd episode - just trying this out for fun, me showing off a little gameplay on some of my favourite games!
Now Raiden is one of my all time favourite shmups, probably because it isn't pure bullet hell and it actually is possible to somewhat survive on reflexes without knowing all the attack patterns. It features a nice weapons system comparable to that found in many other shmups which feature weapons-upgrades. The Power Strike series on the various consoles out there feature a similar weapons system.
In the game you fly a super attack system called Raiden and the game is set in the future. What intrigues me is the level of detail in this game. You can see all sorts of things going on on the ground. There's people, cars and even cows in the fields - and they are moving as well! Probably some character based animations that just play without a special event needed in the main program code.
Red shot is called the Vulcan , it basically is fire shooting at the enemies. It's the weapon you start out with.
Blue shot is called Laser, this is the shot I really like. When you upgrade it enough it really lets you sweep around the playing field. It feels more powerful than the Red Shot. But I am not sure it is actually.
H sub weapon called Homing Missile, this really helps you out as the missiles home-in on your enemies.
M sub weapon called Nuclear Missile, it really makes a big explosion. Very effective.
The game features eight levels and the Arcade version gives you an option to continue after you died. The console conversions all play very similar and the Arcade Reflexes come in handy when playing those conversions. The version that really stands out is the L y n x port, it is amazing to see this game actually run on the old hand held.
I consider the Genesis Megadrive and the Snes versions very good conversions. The TG16 PCEngine version really performs well for an 8 bit machine. The Arcade machine runs on two V30 cpu's.
bullet hell is where the screen is nothing BUT bullets. the 'hit box' on your ship rather than being the entire ship is usually just a pixel in the center... I am not a big fan of BH games (radiant silvergun et al) tho I have some original dreamcast disks (gunbird etc), and I really love playing a game of strikers every now and again.
check out http://www.significant-bits.com/the-1-pixel-collision-box
-- Stu --
What is this "bullet hell" you guys keep talking about?
I agree, Mark! I enjoy shooters a great deal, but not "bullet hell" shooters, which a lot of them are these days (and for some time now). I prefer technique over madness.
Vintage Games book!
Xbox 360: billlog | Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Well the Shmup-genre is pretty specific and you probably either like it or you don't. But there does exist a huge difference in 'Western- and Eastern-' (Asian) shmups and you cannot just put them in the same league. Matt, I believe you've only or mostly been exposed to the Western-kind.
Space Invaders and other shmups aren't just 'clones' today, but I can see how your dad would come to such a conclusion seeing the early Western Space Invaders incarnations/rehashes. It's funny how you internalized your dad's opinion on shmups. I was a different beast and would actually try to prove my dad wrong ;-)
So what makes a Shmup a good shmup? There's no easy recipe. I'd say an almost organic feel to the way the enemies come at you, in organic flows and waves and not simple zig-zag or left-right motions. Fluidity in gameplay is something I would say is extremely important. Reflexes. There are a couple of 'Western' shmups that have master the art but most good shmups come from Asia in my opinion.
Bullet hell games are not really my style. Bullet hell is okay to some extend but it renders those games way too difficult. I want to be able to depend on reflexes too and not solely on memorized attack patterns. Did an article on shmups way back, there's a sequel in progress sitting on my harddrive somewhere. I am thinking about putting it together with some videos.
Xbox 360: Lactobacillus P | Wii: 8151 3435 8469 3138
Armchair arcade Editor | Pixellator | www.markvergeer.nl
I don't know why, but I haven't been able to get into shmups. The only ones I played a lot back in the day were Xenon (the first one), Blue Max, Deluxe Galaga, and Blood Money. My friends loved 1914 (or whatever it was), but I tend to get bored with it pretty fast. Now that I'm a bit older, I can certainly appreciate more the audiovisuals and gameplay innovations, particularly when you can see how many new things have been added since Space Invaders and Galaxian.
My dad probably contributed to my negativity by condemning all shmups as "clones." There was a period back in the 90s where it seemed that every game that came out was a shmup. There must be hundreds available for the Amiga during that time period. I guess it was just a trend like today's obsession with first-person and now third-person shooters. But really, not every new game can be something as bold as Lemmings. The great bulk of developers are content to follow the trends and work within the established formulas, and probably damn glad of it. Just imagine how difficult it would be if all new games had to be as original as Frogger or Q*bert. We might have a lot of bizarre games, but I doubt many of them would be playable.
I love the raiden series, shame mame cant decrypt later series roms. i had bought the PC version at one time, and had the l y n x version too which I didn't like. the PC version was ok but it was not the arcade version....
I can usually make through level 1+2 without dieing. Its a shame there is a power curve in this game, but if you have only 1 blue laser powerup you have a much easier time since 1 power up give you a continual 'line' of laser fire, without powering up the enemies so much to match....
-- Stu --
Yes, L ynx as in Atari L ynx has always been an issue.
Vintage Games book!
Xbox 360: billlog | Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Quite a few webservers don't particularly like this word being used. It results in unpredictable errors. I use the word twice in the above segment. With spaces in between the letters it's allright. Bill didn't you encounter this one too?
Xbox 360: Lactobacillus P | Wii: 8151 3435 8469 3138
Armchair arcade Editor | Pixellator | www.markvergeer.nl
The glitch is odd. Which one(s) did you want promoted? I should see if I can do it.
Vintage Games book!
Xbox 360: billlog | Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.