Raiden Console Port Quality

[Zuhzuhzombie!!]

Just been curious.

I've always had Raiden with my Jag emulator and play it whenever I have some down time. I often hear that it's the best home version of the game, with the next being the Genesis.

Only other version I've spent some time with is the SNES, which is looks and sounds good but plays a bit, I dunno, jumpy?

Just as a curiosity, can someone detail me the differences between home versions?

[szycag]

I would think that the port that's on Raiden Project for PS1 would be the best. Maybe you didn't know of it?

The Board FAQ usually answers a lot of questions about port quality like that. Maybe this thread should be added to it.
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=11882

[it290]

In my opinion the PCE port is the best of the 16-bit versions, and the SNES one is the worst. I haven't played the Lynx port so I can't comment on that.

But yeah, the PS1 port is really the only to fly, other than MAMEing it.

[Mortificator]

In addition to The Raiden Project, you should also check out Raiden DX, also for PS1.

[captpain]

Why even bother with the ports if you're emulating anyway? Play it on MAME!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I used to own/play the rare Raiden port for the Atari Lynx handheld. Atari Corp. was supposed to release it to the general public back in 1992 but it remained on the backburner and was never officially released (due to Atari Corp. cancelling it's entire Lynx hardware/software support towards the end of 1992 to fully focus on it's 64-bit powered Atari Jaguar console for the much bally-hooed & hyped-up November 1993 launch in select cities across the USA). Songbird Productions sells this rare Atari Lynx Raiden game from time to time at $40 a pop brand new. In fact, it does have a 1992 copyright date on the title screen. The gameplay is alright for it's time and is presented in tate. ^_~

It was Seibu Kaihatsu themselves who developed the Raiden Project port for the PSX to remain pretty accurate to the PCB iterations but the PCB versions (of Raiden and Raiden II) are the "real" ones to own/play. ^_~

The Cyber Front/Interplay release of Raiden II on the PC Win95 platform has the cool Redbook audio for the BGM tunes whereas on the PSX Raiden Project port, it uses Yellowbook audio format which is of lesser audio quality anyways.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Shelcoof]

Why even bother with the ports if you're emulating anyway? Play it on MAME!

I guess the real reason why many people including myself buy original ports is because they want to own an original copy.

Sometimes I go out of my way to own something that I really enjoy. You can look at it as if it's a painting and you want to own the original and not some photo copy of it.

To some this may sound dumb but to those who really appreciate the game I'm sure they understand.

[CIT]

I recommend Raiden Project (PS1) for the most arcade accurate port, and Super Raiden (PCE Super CD) because of the truly excellent arranged soundtrack and two extra stages. I have them both, and am very pleased.

[nZero]

The Jaguar version is, sadly, just another half-assed conversion rather than a serious attempt to re-create the arcade game. It's nearly identical to the similarly lackluster PC version.

I guess the real reason why many people including myself buy original ports is because they want to own an original copy.

Except the original poster already said he/she was emulating the Jaguar port If you're going to emulate, you might as well emulate the one that's the original and still the best!

The Cyber Front/Interplay release of Raiden II on the PC Win95 platform has the cool Redbook audio for the BGM tunes whereas on the PSX Raiden Project port, it uses Yellowbook audio format which is of lesser audio quality anyways.

The Yellowbook standard was developed by Sony and Philips for the purpose of allowing their recently-developed "Compact Disc" optical disc to store binary data of any sort. The music on the PSX Raiden Project port is in fact generated in real-time from the ADPCM instrument samples stored on the disc by the Sony Playstation's SPU chip.

[Shatterhand]

I used to own/play the rare Raiden port for the Atari Lynx handheld. Atari Corp. was supposed to release it to the general public back in 1992 but it remained on the backburner and was never officially released (due to Atari Corp. cancelling it's entire Lynx hardware/software support towards the end of 1992 to fully focus on it's 64-bit powered Atari Jaguar console for the much bally-hooed & hyped-up November 1993 launch in select cities across the USA). Songbird Productions sells this rare Atari Lynx Raiden game from time to time at $40 a pop brand new. In fact, it does have a 1992 copyright date on the title screen. The gameplay is alright for it's time and is presented in tate. ^_~

It was Seibu Kaihatsu themselves who developed the Raiden Project port for the PSX to remain pretty accurate to the PCB iterations but the PCB versions (of Raiden and Raiden II) are the "real" ones to own/play. ^_~

The Cyber Front/Interplay release of Raiden II on the PC Win95 platform has the cool Redbook audio for the BGM tunes whereas on the PSX Raiden Project port, it uses Yellowbook audio format which is of lesser audio quality anyways.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Funny thing, the Amiga version also was supposedly completed but never released either.

Even funnier if you consider its usually said the Lynx is based on what certain engineers were working before they moved to Commodore and finished the project that would become the Amiga computer.

[Shelcoof]

Except the original poster already said he/she was emulating the Jaguar port If you're going to emulate, you might as well emulate the one that's the original and still the best!

How the hell did I miss that
Yhaa well do what captpain said if your gonna emulate lol

[captpain]

Except the original poster already said he/she was emulating the Jaguar port If you're going to emulate, you might as well emulate the one that's the original and still the best!

How the hell did I miss that
Yhaa well do what captpain said if your gonna emulate lol

Yeah, I totally understand what you meant but... what Nzero said.

[ZOM]

In my opinion the PCE port is the best of the 16-bit versions, and the SNES one is the worst. ...

Agreed. I even go one step further and say the PCE version is better than the PSX port. Might just be the nostalgia playing jokes on me...or maybe it's the BGM.

[kemical]

I'll second the PCE being the best 16bit era port of it.. plays and sounds wonderful.

IBM-PC dos version of Raiden really sucks It has a cool cd-audio soundtrack though and nice packaging design.

Raiden Project is obviously the best accurate port out there.

[toaplan_shmupfan]

The Genesis Raiden Trad game (port of Raiden I) has some interesting differences from the actual arcade version.

These differences include:

* Most significant difference: checkpoints. They implemeted a start back mode where one did not exist in the arcade. This also means every boss has to be no-missed. (On Easy mode, a fairy will appear each time a start back occurs, but on Normal and Hard this does not occur unless a fairy was specifically picked up before the start back occurred.)

* Color pallette is greatly reduced, but the graphics are still resemble those of the arcade (with some scaling differences also visible in some areas).

* Konami-style bullet flicker is used for the second to highest power and max power vulcan shot. This doesn't affect the firepower, but makes the shots appear choppier than the lower power levels.

* The plane hitbox is reduced from the arcade (shots can pass through the wings). This results in a major change in gameplay with respect to the Stage 5 boss, since there is now a safe spot to just stay in one spot and fire for a while, and that did not exist in the arcade.

* Some enemy shot patterns (including some bosses) are actually faster than the arcade version, but this is balanced out by requiring fewer shots to destroy those enemies.

* Music is close to the arcade in terms of the actual melody, but has almost an 8-bit NES quality to it.

* The game does not seem to loop. After finishing stage 8 and viewing the ending, there is a special shooting stage that seems to be hard enough to not be able to finish, but it's there just to add additional score points before ultimately ending the game.

All that said, don't go out of the way to get this version if another more accurate port of Raiden is available. However, if this is all that can be found then it's also quite playable on its own even with the various differences from the actual arcade verson--it's just not going to compare as arcade-perfect so know that well in advance.

(Oh yeah, and the rapid fire in Raiden Trad is very effective in point blanking some bosses, such as the Stage 2 boss.)

[LFO]

japanese version of raiden (and therefore jp raiden project raiden) has checkpoints. and i really like it that way, i have to admit. very old-school toaplan in fact.

[Ed Oscuro]

raiden DEN SET SU should be okay, except for fux0red resolution :(

Hopefully not, and also hopefully I'll be able to play it on the Marty before I die

[Gespenst]

The PC (DOS) version really bad (I'm pretty sure it wasn't made by Seibu). And for me, the best ports are Raiden Project (2 Raidens in one + good looking menu background ) and of course Raiden DX (plenty of features, especially boss rush and 3d viewer)

[Zuhzuhzombie!!]

The Genesis Raiden Trad game (port of Raiden I) has some interesting differences from the actual arcade version.

These differences include:

* Most significant difference: checkpoints. They implemeted a start back mode where one did not exist in the arcade. This also means every boss has to be no-missed. (On Easy mode, a fairy will appear each time a start back occurs, but on Normal and Hard this does not occur unless a fairy was specifically picked up before the start back occurred.)

* Color pallette is greatly reduced, but the graphics are still resemble those of the arcade (with some scaling differences also visible in some areas).

* Konami-style bullet flicker is used for the second to highest power and max power vulcan shot. This doesn't affect the firepower, but makes the shots appear choppier than the lower power levels.

* The plane hitbox is reduced from the arcade (shots can pass through the wings). This results in a major change in gameplay with respect to the Stage 5 boss, since there is now a safe spot to just stay in one spot and fire for a while, and that did not exist in the arcade.

* Some enemy shot patterns (including some bosses) are actually faster than the arcade version, but this is balanced out by requiring fewer shots to destroy those enemies.

* Music is close to the arcade in terms of the actual melody, but has almost an 8-bit NES quality to it.

* The game does not seem to loop. After finishing stage 8 and viewing the ending, there is a special shooting stage that seems to be hard enough to not be able to finish, but it's there just to add additional score points before ultimately ending the game.

All that said, don't go out of the way to get this version if another more accurate port of Raiden is available. However, if this is all that can be found then it's also quite playable on its own even with the various differences from the actual arcade verson--it's just not going to compare as arcade-perfect so know that well in advance.

(Oh yeah, and the rapid fire in Raiden Trad is very effective in point blanking some bosses, such as the Stage 2 boss.)

This is pretty much what I was looking for to cure my "Bored at Work" curiosities.

Thanks!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The PC (DOS) version really bad (I'm pretty sure it wasn't made by Seibu).

The PC DOS version of Raiden was licensed to Imagitec Design from Seibu Kaihatsu themselves -- it does feature some cool CD Redbook audio BGM tunes to listen to on a regular CD player if you like. If you look closely at Imagitec's PC Raiden manual, it does have that futuristic Designer's Republic type of aestethics from front cover to back cover. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[FRO]

The Jaguar version is, sadly, just another half-assed conversion rather than a serious attempt to re-create the arcade game. It's nearly identical to the similarly lackluster PC version.

That's very disappointing to hear - I was hoping there'd be at least ONE game worth hooking up my Jaguar to play. I guess it will continue to collect dust in the closet...

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The Jaguar version is, sadly, just another half-assed conversion rather than a serious attempt to re-create the arcade game. It's nearly identical to the similarly lackluster PC version.

That's very disappointing to hear - I was hoping there'd be at least ONE game worth hooking up my Jaguar to play. I guess it will continue to collect dust in the closet...

You should give Telegames' Zero 5 a spin on the ol' Atari Jaguar. Pretty impressive 3-D polygonal shmuppy gaming engine that pushes the framerates towards 60fps at certain instances. Unfortunately, Telegames didn't produce that many copies to begin with. I got mine on day one of release direct from Telegames btw. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Zuhzuhzombie!!]

The Jaguar version is, sadly, just another half-assed conversion rather than a serious attempt to re-create the arcade game. It's nearly identical to the similarly lackluster PC version.

That's very disappointing to hear - I was hoping there'd be at least ONE game worth hooking up my Jaguar to play. I guess it will continue to collect dust in the closet...

Again, I don't know much behind the home ports of the game, but at least out of the Jaguar/SNES/Genesis, the Jag had the best home port. I don't mind it one bit. What I mean is that, whether or not it's a faithful port of the arcade game, the Jag version is still a good game.

So is the Genesis version. Unlike the SNES.

I guess I'll need to MAME this to see how good it is on the original arcade.

EDIT

Just MAME'd it. Been a while since I played the Jag version, but I do believe there's at least a big difference in the length of the opening level.

Dunno. Will look into it more if I get time.

[louisg]

So what about Super Raiden on PCE CD? I heard it has an extra level or two and an arrange soundtrack, but is that enough to outweigh the drawbacks of the port? And what are the differences between the PCE and Genesis versions?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

So what about Super Raiden on PCE CD? I heard it has an extra level or two and an arrange soundtrack, but is that enough to outweigh the drawbacks of the port? And what are the differences between the PCE and Genesis versions?

The PC Engine Hu-Card of Raiden weighs in a whopping 6 megabits. It says so on the back of the NEC released TurboGrafx-16 Raiden gamebox if you want to know the 411 on it. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[louisg]

The PC Engine Hu-Card of Raiden weighs in a whopping 6 megabits. It says so on the back of the NEC released TurboGrafx-16 Raiden gamebox if you want to know the 411 on it. ^_~

That's pretty cool.. have you tried the CD one? I almost feel like ordering it.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The PC Engine Hu-Card of Raiden weighs in a whopping 6 megabits. It says so on the back of the NEC released TurboGrafx-16 Raiden gamebox if you want to know the 411 on it. ^_~

That's pretty cool.. have you tried the CD one? I almost feel like ordering it.

I've heard that the Super CD-Rom2 version of Super Raiden is the one to play/own but sadly, I don't have a copy of that one. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[CIT]

The CD version is definitely worth it! You get the most amazingly catchy arranged soundtrack, as well as two additional stages (9 and 10).

Oddly the HuCard version runs a bit smother though. Sometimes there is a bit of sprite flicker in the CD version, while it's not present on the HuCard.

[ave]

Oddly the HuCard version runs a bit smother though. Sometimes there is a bit of sprite flicker in the CD version, while it's not present on the HuCard.

In addition to that the CD-version needs to reload (~1s) before each boss. I wouldn't say that something to criticize though, never bothered me at all.

[Diebythesword]

Out of all the ones I played The Raiden Project is the better quality and closest to the Arcade from all the Raidens I played. But my fav is Raiden Trad on SNES, and DX is just badass. I really wanna try Super Raiden though