Raiden III Impressions (Played at HEY! in Akiba)

[Cthulhu]

I was in Akihabara the other day, and I stopped by my favorite arcade - Taito's HEY! - and guess what, they had Raiden III in. Hurrah! I only got to play it once, so these aren't going to be the comprehensive comments, but I figured I'd let you guys know what I thought.

Ships: One. You get "the ship."

Weapons: Three main weapons: Spread gun, green laser, and blue laser. The spread gun is the normal weapon. The Green laser whips back and forth as you move your ship - it's pretty handy, actually. The blue laser is not the homing laser we all loved in Raiden 2. It's just a really strong, straight-firing laser. I only had it for a short time, so it's -possible- that you can do something to make it home in, but I really, REALLY doubt it.

Sub-weapons: There are three or four... I'm not sure. You get normal missiles (straight firing, strong), rapid missiles (shoot faster than normal, but each one is weaker), and homing missiles. At least, I -think- that's what the other letter stands for. I never managed to get it.

Graphics: Nice and purdy. Clean polys, well designed models, nice looking levels.

Gameplay:

Okay, here's the long bit. First off, this game is not manic. The number of bullets flying across the screen is waaaaay lower than, say, Mushihime-sama. (Big surprise there...) Your ship is decently large and has a medium sized hitbox, just like usual in the series. Enemies are all airplanes, tanks, and the like up through the middle of the third level - which is sort of nice. No bio-stuff here, although I do like bio-monster games too.

Is it fun? I actually had a really good time with it. The games pacing is a bit slower than some of the other recent shmups, and it's a refreshing change of pace. You know how Trizeal was supposed to be an "old-school shmup?" Well, Trizeal sucks (YES, I HAVE PLAYED IT), so I think that's a pretty bad example of what a new "old-school" shmup should be. Thankfully, Raiden III is a -GOOD- old-school style game. It plays nicely, cleanly, and keeps you moving without being in constant sensory-overload mode like Mushihime-sama and other manic games. The bosses I fought were two giant tanks and a multi-part plane - both old standbys of vert. shmups, and very nicely done.

I didn't play long enough to really get into how the scoring system works. Lots of enemies drop yellow point items, but they didn't seem to ramp-up in value like the other Raiden games. You get a multiplier rating in the corner of the screen when you shoot stuff, but it never went above 2.0X - at least, if it did I was too busy watching other stuff onscreen to notice.

Bombs are screen clearers that do LOTS of damage. They're quite powerful and extra bombs are pretty abundant. I'm a bomb-hog, so I didn't use them much... I would have gotten a lot farther than I did had I been using them. Let that be a lesson to me.

Overall first impressions: Good game. An "old-school" style vert shmup done right. It was fun enough to make me want to dump more 100 yen coins into it when I see it again.

PS: Sorry for the inconsistent writing... I'm really tired right now.

[CMoon]

ROCK OUT WITH YER COCK OUT!!!

... Er, yeah, FANTASTIC! Can't wait to play it!

BTW, the homing blue laser you are thinking of is the old purple laser. That's what the new whippy green laser is supposed to be. The blue laser was never homing (there is never parking in a white zone...)

[incognoscente]

No, the white zone is for loading. Now, there is no stopping in a RED zone.

[Cthulhu]

CMoon-

Yeah, you're right... sorry, I got my colors mixed up. At any rate, there is no more homing laser, which is too bad. The aimable green one is pretty useful, and decently powerful though.

[icepick]

Thanks, Cthulhu! It's good to have some real-world impressions to go with those gameplay videos.

I don't think that I've played Raiden II, but I'm not so sure about those "homing lasers." The green laser returns to center when you're not moving the stick though, right? Or, is it like Fumiko's main shot in SNS2, where it remains aimed relative to the last-used direction... Inquiring minds want to know!

Simply out of curiosity, I'm also looking forward to hearing the definitive word (once you've had a chance to spend some more time with it) as to whether or not this game is a positive continuation of the series, or if it in fact feels too... different. Again, I'm very unfamiliar with the series, but it would be interesting to hear the common consensus from longtime Raiden fans.

Well, Trizeal sucks (YES, I HAVE PLAYED IT)

Of course! We recall:

I've played Trizeal. It's at the Leisure Land arcade a 30 min drive from my house up in Isesaki. It's not very good. It's not wretchedly bad, or broken in any malignant way, it's just a mediocre game that is noteworthy only because it is a new shmup being released for a home system.

Trizeal looms.

(I swear; Aside from Raiden III's fancy visuals, the two games look so strikingly similar. Hoping to someday have home ports of both sitting next to one another on my shelf, though, of course.)

[Cthulhu]

Thanks, Cthulhu! It's good to have some real-world impressions to go with those gameplay videos.

I don't think that I've played Raiden II, but I'm not so sure about those "homing lasers." The green laser returns to center when you're not moving the stick though, right? Or, is it like Fumiko's main shot in SNS2, where it remains aimed relative to the last-used direction... Inquiring minds want to know!

You're welcome .

The green laser does indeed return to a fixed position if you stay still, so it's not like Shiki 2.

From what little I played it, the game unquestionably felt like a real continuation of the series rather than a different game with the same name slapped on it. I haven't played the Raiden Fighters games much, so I can't say too much there (I've played them a little -- good fun!), but it does feel a lot like Raiden II with polygons. Which is a good thing if you ask me.

[IlMrm]

Thanks for the info. Sounds like old school fun. Are the planes' speeds painfully slow? And do the bombs damage landscapes and kill a few cows(if there are cows)?

BTW: Is the UFO catcher machine right by the shmups where you can win an Asuka/Rei figure still there? God knows I dropped a fortune in that machine, and didn't win. But I did win the Asuka figure later at a different city.

[tehkao]

Cool, we need more old school shmups...I'm getting sick of manics...

[chtimi-CLA]

nice to see it's not manic, we have enough bullets fest as it is.
gameplay wise it sounds good so far, the only thing i'm a bit suspicious about is the multiplier on bosses:
aren't you encouraged to bomb bosses to death to get the *2 multiplier? especially if they're that powerful. bombing bosses for more points seems strange to me, normally you're supposed to take risks (and especially in raiden 1/2 where they are a multiplier to medals at the end of stage bonus).
also, did the ship feel slower than in raiden 1/2? it didn't look slower in the vids i saw.

[dboeren]

It would be great to hear more from someone who has played the Raiden Fighters games and see if it's similar to those. However, I am rather disappointed that there is only 1 ship. RF2 and RF Jet each had about a dozen different (VERY different) ships to choose from, which I felt really increased the replay value of the games.


The red zone has always been for loading.

[Dylan1CC]

I'm disappointed also that there's only one ship. That said, very good impressions and great to hear the gameplay holds up to the classic "vanilla" series and glad they didn't change it up or make it too modern/manic.

It's neat we have a Raiden sequel with a slow moving ship and good old, annoying plain bullet form ups that force the player to sweat out fast reflexes without using any tricks.

But I still want cows and debris clouds, dagnabbit.

[CMoon]

I dunno...sometimes I feel more ships doesn't really add to the mix. There's often one ship that's best or at least one that is best for different parts. When there is one ship I know the game is designed to be beaten by that one ship.

[Dylan1CC]

I dunno...sometimes I feel more ships doesn't really add to the mix. There's often one ship that's best or at least one that is best for different parts. When there is one ship I know the game is designed to be beaten by that one ship.

Extra fighters in games like Garegga are definitely a plus. And the many fighters you can unlock in RF II is a big incentive for me to buy the PCB later this year. But yeah, I can see why extra fighters might not add much to the gameplay of a "vanilla" Raiden game which is a whole 'nother ballgame and a different challenge than a more "modern" style/manic shmup.

[Darkcomet72]

Well... since Raiden III dosen't have much to do with Raiden Fighters series, I believe one ship was a given.

[8 1/2]

Hey, you can always drop a 100 yen piece in the player 2 side and get the BLUE ship.

[Skyknight]

The green laser sounds like the plasma beam without the lock-on ability. I suppose the best immediate analog would actually be the Vulcan from Ajax.

Also...no cluster bombs? So much for the ultimate in defensive bombing...

[Turrican]

no manic, good news. Are any of the Raiden out there considered manic? I have no experience of the Raiden Fighters games.

However, it follows the R-Type / Gradius path to stay close to its origins, which is the right thing to do.