Title: Raiden Trad (NA) Raiden Densetsu (JP)
Release Date: 11/29/91
Developer: Micronics
Publisher: Electronic Brain
I am thinking about just starting a companion blog on this schmups from the 16-32 bit era, just because there were way more than I ever envisioned when first starting this blog. I was expecting a glut of RPGs and sports games, and perhaps licensed games, but schmups? I imagine this has to do with the whole "bringing the arcade to your personal tv" aspect of console games at this time. What a relic of a bygone age.
Background
This game is the port of the 1990 arcade game, Raiden. "Raiden" translates to "Thunder and Lightning" in Japanese. Raiden was originally developed by Tecmo, who at the time was an arcade powerhouse in its own right. This game, though, was developed by the group Micronics. Now, interestingly enough, this port has the moniker "densetsu" added to it for the Japanese title, meaning the "Legend of," giving it some distance between the arcade title and this port. "Densetsu" cane sometimes be used to indicate a sort of "gaiden" or "dream" game, where it is considered outside the canon of the main series. Apparently, Micronics has gained a slight reputation for this port and its shoddy quality, so perhaps that is part of the problem. In fact, Micronics, as an entity, seems to disappear after this port, only making one or two more games in general before fading out of existence.
Raiden, as a series, still has entrants to this day, and is a well-loved "score chasing" schmup, in a similar vein to Ikaruga or Jamestown. The story in this entry is relatively simplistic. You and your jet fighter hold off an invasion from space. I don't think your character even has a name; he is just a jet that takes off from an aircraft carrier.
Raiden, as a series, still has entrants to this day, and is a well-loved "score chasing" schmup, in a similar vein to Ikaruga or Jamestown. The story in this entry is relatively simplistic. You and your jet fighter hold off an invasion from space. I don't think your character even has a name; he is just a jet that takes off from an aircraft carrier.
Gameplay
Well this is the first vertical shooter we have encountered on this blog, so that adds a couple of points just for novelty's sake. Like most schmups, your goal is to make it to the end of the stage, using your base fire, as well as power-ups, to defeat all the foes that you encounter. Each stage is capped off with a boss, who function as "bullet hells," testing your maneuverability and endurance against a complex pattern of bullets.
The game is rather challenging if you like a challenge out of your schmups. The bullets move rather quickly towards you, and they destroy you in one hit. There is no grace period with this one; if you get hit, then you lose a life. As well, you lose all of your weapon upgrades if you get hit, which can sometimes spell disaster late in the game. This makes the difficulty a little too punishing for my liking. Losing all of your upgrades when you lose a life is pretty much going to guarantee a Game Over on the later levels. The bosses, especially, have such a long lifebar that your basic weapons have little hope of penetrating, at least without a great amount of determination and skill.
Well this is the first vertical shooter we have encountered on this blog, so that adds a couple of points just for novelty's sake. Like most schmups, your goal is to make it to the end of the stage, using your base fire, as well as power-ups, to defeat all the foes that you encounter. Each stage is capped off with a boss, who function as "bullet hells," testing your maneuverability and endurance against a complex pattern of bullets.
The game is rather challenging if you like a challenge out of your schmups. The bullets move rather quickly towards you, and they destroy you in one hit. There is no grace period with this one; if you get hit, then you lose a life. As well, you lose all of your weapon upgrades if you get hit, which can sometimes spell disaster late in the game. This makes the difficulty a little too punishing for my liking. Losing all of your upgrades when you lose a life is pretty much going to guarantee a Game Over on the later levels. The bosses, especially, have such a long lifebar that your basic weapons have little hope of penetrating, at least without a great amount of determination and skill.
There is no real polish to this game. It is as bare bones as it gets for a shooter. You play in a fighter jet, the enemies are all helicopters, tanks, planes, and boats with minimal tweaks to make them unique, and the levels are all very drab and plain. This is a very functional shooter, but at a time when shooters were coming out by the cartload, you really need something to stand out from the pack.
This game's framerate just chugs along at a snail's pace. When there are a good deal of projectiles on the screen, the action really slows down or, worse, stutters, which caused a couple of inadvertent deaths.
Music?
The music is okay. Nothing special really, which is a shame because Micronics was known for hiring really talented musicians for their projects.
Ads, Commercials, Art
Just a few print ads for this one.
This game's framerate just chugs along at a snail's pace. When there are a good deal of projectiles on the screen, the action really slows down or, worse, stutters, which caused a couple of inadvertent deaths.
Music?
The music is okay. Nothing special really, which is a shame because Micronics was known for hiring really talented musicians for their projects.
Just a few print ads for this one.
Final Verdict
This game is just...blah. There is nothing special about it. The action isn't fast, the music isn't good, the design is too safe and boring. Even back then, this game would bore me. I used the word functional before, but with the framerate it really isn't even that. Oh well.
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