Developer: Micronet Publisher: BIgnet Release: 06/91 Genre: Shooter
Raiden is one of the most enduring shooter series around, with new entries releasing as recently as 2017. The first game received ports to almost every possible platform, from the SNES to the fucking Atari Jaguar if you can believe it. Yet somehow I managed to avoid this series for years despite it being ever present during the height of the shooter era. The Sega Genesis version is the closest to the arcade of the 16-bit platforms. But does that make it good enough?
Your weapon options are few. There are only two primary weapons, the Vulcan cannon and laser. Each can upgrade four times at which point they change dramatically. The Vulcan cannon becomes a wide shot that eventually blankets the entire screen. The laser starts as a thin pencil but eventually grows thicker in width. Both have their drawbacks. The laser while being the more powerful option suffers due to its narrow focus. The enemy waves are relentless and it is the harder of the two to use effectively outside of bosses. The Vulcan is significantly weaker but being able to cover the entire playing field in bullets makes up for it. I wish they were a tad stronger but whatever. There are other reasons the game is so hard. You also have two missile options: homing and napalm. Homing is self-explanatory while napalm missiles are straightforward but massively powerful.
The signature weapon in Raiden is the bomb. Bombs create a large spherical explosion that is visually distinct and serves multiple purposes. The explosion inflicts massive damage but also lingers and causes splash damage. Bombs also destroy enemy fire which is absolutely critical to surviving the grueling boss battles and the often dire situations you end up in. There is a slight delay before a bomb explodes; learning that timing can mean the difference between life and death. If you are playing for score the number of bombs at level’s end influences your bonus alongside any medals you have collected. Trying to survive without using your supply of bombs will take many hours of practice however.
As far as first impressions go Raiden is okay. The pace is slow and the cityscapes and open water give off the impression of a Toaplan shooter. But Raiden has a level of intensity their games lack. With its massive horizontal playing field the game does not shy away from blanketing the field with bullets and enemies. This Sega version sticks to the arcade closely in terms of enemy placement with few omissions. While it is tempting to scroll enemies off screen the key to earning points and extra lives is in destroying crates and buildings and such to find medals and other point increasing items. The rub is that you must complete the level without dying for most of these to add on to your bonus. This is a damn near legendary feat in itself however.
Raiden was an extremely difficult game in the arcade but that was to be expected. The Genesis version is harder due to a variety of factors. Your ship speed makes dodging bullets harder. The status bar on the right side of the screen obscures enemies leading to easily being shot by off screen enemies. But the worst change is the addition of a checkpoint system. Rather than respawning on the spot you are sent back to a checkpoint. This is particularly brutal as the checkpoints are not implemented well. You are often placed in a rough spot with the default weapon which starts the shooter death spiral you cannot recover from. It also makes the already tough boss battles that much harder without using exploits. The difficulty is one of the main reasons most shy away from Raiden and I cannot blame them.
Exclusive to this release is a brand new level that is available after the end credits. If you are good enough to beat the game congratulations, you are a rare breed. But prepare for pain as this stage ratchets up the difficulty to a ridiculous degree. I still cannot believe how insane this one stage is. The waves never stop, the bullets are constant, and the power-ups are rare. You have drones that explode in suicide bullets and a gruelingly long level that will test your patience. The final boss battle is so ridiculous I could not believe it. I will say this is probably the coolest looking level in the game, too bad few will see it outside of a youtube video.
In Closing
Raiden is a solid conversion of the arcade game for what it is worth. But it was never that good to begin with in my opinion. There are far too many superior shooters on the Genesis to bother with this one unless you really love the arcade game. And even then you have better options for that than this one. Maybe you had to be there to see what all the fuss was about, I don’t know.
