MIXED AND REMIXED
An arcade classic is back and remixed.
Looks like MOSS really had plans for Raiden beyond Raiden V.
Although its not Raiden VI which has been rumored 'round the 'net, it is an "enhancement" of a previous installment: Raiden IV x Mikado Remix.
For a deeper analysis of the default gameplay, graphics and the original music by Go Sato, read the original Raiden IV review.
Because exploding is not the end for them.
OverKill Mode: The damned say "This ain't fair".
The first thing to keep an eye on this release of Raiden IV is that the Arcade Mode is no longer the first option to pick, being the Overkill Mode the new default. What is OverKill Mode?. For those who didn't owned a PlayStation 3 and the PS4/Switch/XBOX release is your first time playing it, OverKill Mode is a variation of the original arcade mode where the score system has been modified to include new mechanics. First it sacrifies the Flash Shot mechanic from the original arcade in favor of introducing the "Rings", which appear as soon as an enemy is down. Depending on how fast your enemy dies, you'll get a Gold Ring or a Silver Ring. Silver Rings are worth 1,000 points while Gold ones are 3,000. But what gives the OverKill Mode the name is that you can get a bonus by shooting at a defeated mid-sized aircraft (includes sub-bosses and Power Up carriers). After the enemy explodes, it will fall down for a few seconds. That's the moment when you can shoot at it to fill a gauge. You have to fill at least 1/5 of the "Over" bar to get an Overkill bonus item. Depending on its level, the higher your OverKill bonus will be. Level 1 is worth 10,000 points, Level 2 gives you 20,000, Level 3 is 50,000, Level 4 gives you 40,000 and finally there's Level 5 which grants you a staggering 100,000 points. The best way to get levels 4 or 5 is by using the Vulcan on its highest power levels, and get VERY close to the falling enemy. It takes some practice, but it is somewhat worthy.
Saving Fairies will require a pilot with the courage of a Knight.
As an exclusive of the OverKill Mode, there's two bonus stages where you are required to complete certain objectives in order to get bonus points and rewards like picking a total of 20 Fairies or destroying 1,000 asteroids, and they made the rewards really worthy. For instance, clearing Mission 1 with all the Fairies rescued grants you 2 bombs and 1 up, so that's one more way to get an extra life along with the hidden 1 up on Stage 4. The only problem that I have with this mode is that the falling enemy acts like a shield that favors the enemies. You can't take the rest of the group while the mid-sized ship or midboss hadn't exploded, giving them a free shot. This will be the troublemaker on the first extra Mission as the boats that carry the fairies can escape because it was unwittingly protected thanks to you.
There's also a new mode called "Additional Mode" which acts like an expansion of the original Arcade Mode by adding 2 more stages. On the other side, Boss Rush now plays with the OverKill rules, omitting the Flash Shot and carrying the rings.
Now you can play with the former DLC's of the PS3 and XBOX360 versions!
If including the OverKill and Additional Modes weren't enough, here's one more extra for the game: On any mode, you can now play with the extra characters which were the DLC's of the first console ports of Raiden IV.
RAIDEN MK-II: The ship from Raiden II, Raiden DX and the Raiden Fighters series. This ship has slight variations on its weaponry. For starters, is much stronger than the Fighting Thunder ME-02, but its speed is slightly slower. The Vulcan starts as a frontal shot which needs to be powered up to level 3 to have a basic 3-way spread, just like in the classic Raiden games. While the laser is virtually identical, the Plasma is the same as in Raiden Fighters, being fired as the ultra-flexible "Toothpaste" beam rather than having multiple beams until they merge. The Proton Laser replaces the three way beams for the flexible green laser from Raiden III. The bomb is the classic nuke with a middle sized blast radius instead of a screen covering explosion, and it takes time between firing and impact.
FAIRY: She's the fastest of the whole cast of characters. Her weaponry replaces the beams and projectiles in favor of green leaves (Vulcan-Red), A Gradius-like laser that replaces the regular "continuous firing" beam (Laser-Blue) and a Bubble spray (Plasma-Purple). Yeah, firing bubbles and flowers as missiles and projectiles, that makes the Care Bears look like Doom. Her bomb attack summons fairies that make a carpet bombing similar to the F-14 in Aero Fighters and the Harrier from Strikers 1945 III. Unless you want a death wish or you're a Raiden IV ace, give this one a try.
If you were among the many players that got disappointed because the Backwards Compatible Raiden IV lacked of the characters, then Raiden IV x Mikado Remix is an answer to that prayer, making this game indeed look like a game rather than a separate "Sold Separately" content. Yeah, we've might got used to the "Base game" and "Additional DLC" shit, but it is nice to get the whole game and contents in one shot.
I think this would be a better game, if you were trying to destroy a giant Disco ball.
Yeah! The storyline, is that Disco is coming back and you gotta stop it.
It would be called "Disco Fuck Yourself"... but, now I'm just thinking out loud.
While graphically is identical to the Arcade/XBOX/PS3 releases, there is minor differences, and that's the screen resolution. While in the XBOX360 port the game screen had "free spaces" on the top and bottom, the Mikado Remix version covers that space. Also, the game increased the brightness a little bit. Small improvements over what we've thought couldn't be done or it was unnecessary to do so.
The inclusion of the former DLC of the XBOX 360 and PlayStation stores, the PS3 Overkill Mode and the Additional Mode are major improvments over the original Raiden IV, it is the music what is actually the core itself of Raiden IV x Mikado Remix featuring a completely arranged soundtrack by shmup bands and artists like Kenshi Yonao, Fantom Iris and even Mikado's own Heavy Metal Raiden, adding a massive diversity of styles and even new songs: A dance-techno styled remix of Lightning Strikes from Raiden III, a Stratovarius/Revolution Renaissance "Power-Progressive" styled arrangement of Tragedy Flame from Raiden II, a sequence of calm piano to fast electronic keys and even symphonic-metal-electronic mix similar to Sonata Arctica, granting a hammering, slam-pounding, loud and intense metal guitars, keyboards and bass. But if remixes are not your style and you prefer the original soundtrack like in the "Good ol' XBOX 360 and PlayStation 3 days", you can choose the option of playing with the original game soundtrack for both Arcade and OverKill Modes. This reminds me of both The Raiden Project on PS1 and the XBLA port of Triggerheart Exelica where you could select either original or arrangements. Speaking of arrangements, the idea also reminds me of the FM Towns port of Raiden. It is worth to notice that the original Main Menu, Continue, Game Over and Stage Clear themes are kept if you're playing with the original music, but unfortunately, the opening sequence still plays the Mikado Remix version. ¿It was too much to have an option for the intro after keeping some of the themes spared from being remixed? To be honest, the original intro music sounds way better than the Swat Kats-soundalike theme Mikado placed, but no, they had to remix the opening because Mikado Remix rules say so. If you were thinking on getting rid of your copy of Raiden IV, there's a reason that spares the game from that decision and that's the original intro music. One of the things I have to complain is that "Lightning Strikes -Shinji Hosoe Mix-" can't be enjoyed through the stage 'cos when the music hits on its full pace, it fades away to play the boss theme. You can call this the "Sonic Wings Problem" (or "Aero Fighters Problem") 'cos it is the exact same stage length problem like in Aero Fighters 3. Fortunately, you're given the option of hearing the music in the sound test of the Main Menu.
RAIDEN IV - CURIOSITIES REMIXED
- First Raiden game re-released under the Mikado line.
- Second overall re-release of Raiden IV and first re-release in XBOX and PlayStation.
- First release of Raiden IV on Nintendo.
- Second Raiden release on a Nintendo console since Electro Brain's Raiden Trad on the Super Nintendo.
- First time the Overkill mode is featured on the XBOX and Nintendo consoles.
- Raiden IV was the last time that MOSS/Seibu Kaihatsu used the classic Raiden "font" starting the font change with Raiden V.
Things got a little mixed-up, but it was good to revisit Raiden IV.
Raiden IV x Mikado Remix is an injection of new life to a classic shmup with new soundtracks, but the inclusion of previous upgrades and adding the former DLC characters by default makes this "Remix" the definitive home version of the game. It's definitely worth playing on either original and Mikado Remix styles.
While we wait for Raiden III x Mikado Maniax we can only hope to see Hamster to take a break from Taito and Namco and release Arcade Archives: Raiden II and Raiden DX, so we can have the full Raiden library on our PlayStations.
The scales are in the positives again!