Raiden 2 "New" version PCB made in 1996 -- WTF!?

[HeLGeN-X]

Off topic, but how can I play it on PC? I've went to over 20 threads in other forums, changed my virtual drive and physical drive, and I still can't play this game!!!

[Furry Fox Jet Pilot]

Off topic, but how can I play it on PC? I've went to over 20 threads in other forums, changed my virtual drive and physical drive, and I still can't play this game!!!

Just use a PSX emulator, such as ePSXe, to play Raiden Project, it has Raiden II on it, and it's way better than the Windows PC port.

[gamingjustin]

Glad I read this topic. When I lived in Japan I would regularly play Raiden DX at a nearby arcade. Eventually I got the PSX version only to find it quite unfamiliar. I chalked it up to faulty/hazy memory but I popped in the PSX version of Raiden II today and that was absolutely what I played at the arcade... only it was called Raiden DX and had its scoring system and course selection.

So who knows what kind of Raiden II/DX amalgamation I played in Japan. I'm happy to discover there were all these different revisions and I wasn't going crazy.

[Obscura]

One of the courses of Raiden DX is Raiden II with the Raiden DX system.

[gamingjustin]

Oh man, that's right... normal course. Well, back to faulty memory.

[Kirurishii]

Awesome topic! I was wondering how it was possible to find a Raiden II DX 1993 Jamma board..

The game is the Raiden II gameplay, with the (awesome!) titlescreen of Raiden DX.
The board itself combines Raiden II chips and Raiden DX chips. I made some pics, check it out!

[spadgy]

So this newly posted PCB is yet another variant (a Raiden II and DX combination), or is this one of the ones already detailed in this thread?

Perhaps this was part of Seibu's build up to releasing DX as a full distinct release. The above board is dated 1993 and carries some DX chips. DX was 1994. Of course, sometimes copyright dates on PCBs can be slightly out of sync with the year a given game actually made it to arcades.

[cools]

That's just a normal Raiden DX board.

[spadgy]

That's just a normal Raiden DX board.

Ah! I didn't stop to think the excited posting about 'Raiden II DX' combining elements of both games might just be Raiden DX, which obviously has plenty of Raiden II vibes going on.

[spadgy]

Turns out that right now over on Arcade Otaku there's a 1996 US Raiden DX New Version for sale, if anybody is after it.

And just to clarify, as I'm only 99% sure I'm right, there were separately released 1996 'New Versions' of Raiden II and Raiden DX, right? It wasn't one release amalgamating the two?

EDIT: And am I correct both the original Raiden and the 1993 Raiden II also came in two variants (ignoring the 1996 New Versions)?

I need to dig out my Raiden I and II PCBs and double check which I have!

[Kirurishii]

So it's positively a Raiden DX board? Which makes this game some sort of Raiden II Turbo?

[cools]

So it's positively a Raiden DX board? Which makes this game some sort of Raiden II Turbo?

Yes.

[Kirurishii]

Good to know, so this means that the printed text, Raiden II DX is somewhat of a rarity? It's a great game by the way, nice animated burning planes and all.

Thanks for the info guys..

btw, I'm fresh new to the forum.

[IseeThings]

Good to know, so this means that the printed text, Raiden II DX is somewhat of a rarity? It's a great game by the way, nice animated burning planes and all.

Thanks for the info guys..

btw, I'm fresh new to the forum.

It's a 100% standard Raiden DX board for the original release of the game, they all look like that, or at least all the ones I've seen.

Also, it's the best version to have, the less common 1996 R2 / RDX PCBs have terrible sound, and while I haven't seen the PCB for one I imagine the '2000' board is just a re-release of the 96 one complete with ultra-shitty sound.

As for the other question in the thread, the 1996 'new' PCBs do seem to have both games on them (the lower half of the program rom contains one game, the upper half another, and there's a bankswitch register the software writes to to switch banks based on the content of the eeprom) That said, the logic to switch between games appears to be a bit broken (or I'm not understanding the code) and simply erasing the eeprom ends up with you being locked to one version of the game (can't remember which) with no way to change. Due to the terrible sound (and I mean terrible, it's bootleg quality using the same chips and techniques bootleggers often used) I wouldn't recommend it anyway tho. The 1996 PCBs also use a different protection system (no less nasty, just different)

General note to forum members, if you have Seibu boards (Raiden 2, Raiden DX, SPI carts etc.) then it's always worth dumping them to check the revisions, Seibu put out a ton of revisions, and never really used any obvious indications on the roms (or even in the code) so there are bound to be undumped roms out there still.

[emphatic]

I have a 1996 DX, and I prefer to play it with the sound off.

[spadgy]

As for the other question in the thread, the 1996 'new' PCBs do seem to have both games on them (the lower half of the program rom contains one game, the upper half another, and there's a bankswitch register the software writes to to switch banks based on the content of the eeprom) That said, the logic to switch between games appears to be a bit broken (or I'm not understanding the code) and simply erasing the eeprom ends up with you being locked to one version of the game (can't remember which) with no way to change. Due to the terrible sound (and I mean terrible, it's bootleg quality using the same chips and techniques bootleggers often used) I wouldn't recommend it anyway tho. The 1996 PCBs also use a different protection system (no less nasty, just different).

Ah. So the 1996 New Version boards contain both Raiden II and DX, but there's no simple, direct way of switching (i.e. through dips, a menu or physical hardware switch)?

[Furry Fox Jet Pilot]

And just to clarify, as I'm only 99% sure I'm right, there were separately released 1996 'New Versions' of Raiden II and Raiden DX, right? It wasn't one release amalgamating the two?

EDIT: And am I correct both the original Raiden and the 1993 Raiden II also came in two variants (ignoring the 1996 New Versions)?

I need to dig out my Raiden I and II PCBs and double check which I have!

There are so many revisions for Raiden II and DX that it would be very interesting to finally see all the different changes (stage order, enemy placement, difficulty, etc.) in each one someday.

[IseeThings]

As for the other question in the thread, the 1996 'new' PCBs do seem to have both games on them (the lower half of the program rom contains one game, the upper half another, and there's a bankswitch register the software writes to to switch banks based on the content of the eeprom) That said, the logic to switch between games appears to be a bit broken (or I'm not understanding the code) and simply erasing the eeprom ends up with you being locked to one version of the game (can't remember which) with no way to change. Due to the terrible sound (and I mean terrible, it's bootleg quality using the same chips and techniques bootleggers often used) I wouldn't recommend it anyway tho. The 1996 PCBs also use a different protection system (no less nasty, just different).

Ah. So the 1996 New Version boards contain both Raiden II and DX, but there's no simple, direct way of switching (i.e. through dips, a menu or physical hardware switch)?

Yes. There appears to be code in there that was designed to check if you were holding one of the buttons during startup, and if so switch the games, however the logic in the code appears to be inverted, and instead is checking if you're pressing everything EXCEPT one of the buttons (including bits of the port that don't map anywhere, making it impossible)

of course the protection might be playing a role, or my v33 assembly reading might suck, or there might be some other code elsewhere that actually does the right thing