did anyone enjoy Mad Shark?

[Bassa-Bassa]

Ah, ok, I thought Allumer was more a publisher and payed different teams like (pre-?)Moss.

Quite the opposite, actually. Allumer was a small company which were hired often by big publishers like Banpresto. Moss were the only ones that worked for them when they were starting up.

[Angry Hina]

Thanks, good to know. So WoA and Mad Shark are not made by the same staff?

[Bassa-Bassa]

It's not known exactly what was Allumer's involvement in Mad Shark's development or if there was any at all beyond the hardware thing, but doesn't seem that Moss as such had anything to do with War of Aero.

[Skyknight]

Regarding Raiden and Twin Cobra, it's worth noting that Raiden was actually a strict potboiler. Seibu needed something to recoup their losses from the failure of Dynamite Duke, and a Twin Cobra-type shmup was all they had the resources for. Although I'd say the way they made your weapons mix-and-match was a bit new for the time (I think ALCON had mix-and-match weapons, but attached to a Gradius-type meter and the game wasn't exactly profuse with aerial enemies). Not that two choices in each of cannon and missile was particularly substantive...

So Seibu may not have been in any financial position to innovate that much at all. Get back to the water's surface first, then they could think about design in proper depth (like with the Plasma Laser >>; ).

But I wonder if anyone's taken the time to look at how Raiden III's methodology descended from Raiden II, the Raiden Fighters games, and Mad Shark? The last being on Arcade Archives should make its donation easier to examine (if existent, ha ha).

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Regarding Raiden and Twin Cobra, it's worth noting that Raiden was actually a strict potboiler. Seibu needed something to recoup their losses from the failure of Dynamite Duke, and a Twin Cobra-type shmup was all they had the resources for. Although I'd say the way they made your weapons mix-and-match was a bit new for the time (I think ALCON had mix-and-match weapons, but attached to a Gradius-type meter and the game wasn't exactly profuse with aerial enemies). Not that two choices in each of cannon and missile was particularly substantive...

So Seibu may not have been in any financial position to innovate that much at all. Get back to the water's surface first, then they could think about design in proper depth (like with the Plasma Laser >>; ).

But I wonder if anyone's taken the time to look at how Raiden III's methodology descended from Raiden II, the Raiden Fighters games, and Mad Shark? The last being on Arcade Archives should make its donation easier to examine (if existent, ha ha).

The gameplay and game mechanics of Raiden II compared to Raiden is quite an upgrade. To see the Plasma Laser fully powered up to the max in person at the arcades back in 1994-1995 was quite something to behold/take in/memorable. I recall playing Raiden II one time at the local Camelot Park arcade back in the mid-1990s (now called Boomers nowadays) and a small crowd of four folks gathered around watching me take down the final boss on the 1st loop (yes, I would use continues on the way to the end of the first loop, of course, since I wanted to see how the various stages played out on that particular day out of curiosity). Most arcade gamers, even if they did play Raiden II, wouldn't get that far (let alone continue).

For all intents and purposes, Raiden II was designed purely to be a "quarter muncher" arcade stg for the American arcades during the early-to-mid 1990s -- quite an easy-to-find arcade game staple to be found at arcades everywhere in the USA. Seibu Kaihatsu U.S. arcade licensee, Fabtek, knew that they had a winner on their hands with the insanely popular Raiden II jamma pcb conversion kits sold to arcade distributors, arcade owners/operators (as income/profits were raining down from heaven bringing wide grins/smiles to all, indeed).

I was surprised that Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) had "The Raiden Project" PSX game (with a MSRP of $49.99 usd) as one of the initial PSX launch-day game titles when the PSX console first went on sale during it's grand debut day stateside back on 9/9/1995 (originally listed with a MSRP of $299.99 usd). I could've bought a brand new day-one launch PSX console and The Raiden Project game on that particular day but passed up on it. Oh well.

Eventually, managed to snag a brand new copy of PSX game of The Raiden Project at a local Kay-Bee's toy store in the video game clearance bargain bin for a mere $19.99 usd later on in October of 1997 -- quite a steal/bargain at that cheap-ass price, nevertheless, as it was the long (Sega Saturn-styled) CD case version being sold. To be able to play Raiden II at home was quite awesome (as it meant not having to spend real quarters/hard-earned cash at the arcades anymore).

By snagging a real Raiden II jamma pcb years later, that was just "extra icing on the cake" to be able to finally play the real Raiden II arcade pcb as it was meant to originally be played. It's just one those classic arcade game titles worthy of praise/accolades as the ol' saying goes: "Ages better like fine wine the older it gets" -- this famous and well-known adage applies to the Raiden II arcade pcb version as well.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Angry Hina]

So Seibu may not have been in any financial position to innovate that much at all. Get back to the water's surface first, then they could think about design in proper depth (like with the Plasma Laser >>; ).

Yes, Ive heard about it and it makes it even more spectacular, how well Raiden was made. With Mad Shark you can see, whats normally done if you simply clone or copy a game to make fast money. Raiden did so well in terms of the audio-visual style and in going some steps back in terms of gameplay.

The Plasma Weapon: I loved it back then and it looks just awesome today but while 1cc'ing Raiden IV I began to think: Raiden 1 did the simple two weapon arsenal with a purpose. Toaplan never was able to design only useful weapons in its KTiger descendants and so it was a very good choice to simply not trying anymore and not frustrate players if they have to dodge Items. And in Raiden IV it was pure penalty if I ever accidentally picked up the purple weapon and I would disable it if it would be possible.

[Skyknight]

Think of the plasma/proton laser as specifically a piercing weapon. No guarantee even full red/blue will down a particular heavy enemy quickly, so if popcorn enemies coming in from behind it are more of a threat...

I have noticed that in II, if you get shot down in st. 5 or 6 in particular, plasma is actually a good weapon to climb back up with because of how quickly it can strike from one side to another, dispatching one-hit aircraft coming in before they can fire. As in quickly striking extreme left then extreme right.

That said, even in Tatsujin-Ou, you won't find me using Napalm alone. Mostly, yes, but there are cases where you want unlimited range more than up-close DpS.

[Angry Hina]

But is it reliable enough for a game like that? Sure, it can hit many thinks fast but it sometimes dont does what you want ^^;

[AGermanArtist]

This week's Arcade Archives is Allumer's War of Aero