Raiden | |
---|---|
Developer(s) |
|
Publisher(s) | |
Producer(s) | Hitoshi Hamada |
Designer(s) | Tetsuya Kawaguchi |
Programmer(s) | K. Kondo S. Mori |
Artist(s) | H. Matsuo Toshinobu Komazawa T. Matsuzawa |
Composer(s) | Akira Sato |
Series | Raiden |
Platform(s) | |
Release | April 1990 |
Genre(s) | Vertically scrolling shooter |
Mode(s) | Single-player, co-op (not in all versions) |
Raiden [a] is a 1990 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed by Seibu Kaihatsu and published by Tecmo in Japan. [2] The game's story takes place in the year 2090, when an alien species known as the Crystals invaded Earth. Players assume the roles of the Vanquish Crystal Defense pilot duo, taking control of two state of the art Fighting Thunders aircraft to defeat the Crystals and save the Earth.
The game was conceived after Dynamite Duke , Seibu Kaihatsu's prior title, failed to sell as well as expected. During development, the game was designed as a vertically scrolling shooter due to the popularity of the genre at the time. Cheaper arcade hardware had to be used due to financial constraints caused by Dynamite Duke's poor sales. [3] [4]
Although Seibu doubted Raiden's success, it managed to sell 17,000 arcade units worldwide, helping to recuperate the company's investments through word-of-mouth. The title became a critical success, with its most lauded features being the graphics, music, gameplay and co-operative play.
Due to the success of Raiden, several sequels and related games were made. Raiden was ported to home computers and various home video game consoles in the early to mid 1990s. The game was released as part of several compilations and through download services such as PlayStation Network. The ports received mixed to positive reception. [5]
Raiden is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up game consisting of eight stages of increasing difficulty. In each stage, the player maneuvers the Fighting Thunder craft, engaging various enemies and avoiding their attacks. In cooperative play, both players can generate special projectiles that damage enemies by shooting the other player craft. After completing the eighth and final stage, the player returns to the first stage with the difficulty increased.
Collectible items include bombs, which cancel out enemy fire and deal damage over a wide area; weapon power-ups; and score-increasing medals. There are two bonus collectible items: the Miclus (a boss in Seibu Kaihatsu's 1985 title Wiz) and a fairy that releases power-up items when the player dies. When the player dies, the fighter's shrapnel become projectiles that damage enemies. If all lives are lost during a gameplay session, the game is over unless players insert more credits into the arcade machine to continue playing. Upon continuing, the player will start at the last checkpoint reached.
The story of Raiden takes place in the year 2090, when a species of alien lifeforms known as the Crystals invaded Earth. The Crystals took control over most of Earth's military hardware to use in the invasion. In response, the world organization known as Vanquish Crystal Defense (VCD) develops the Fighting Thunder attack craft, a cutting-edge weapon based on Crystal technology. To survive against the invaders and fight back, VCD deploys Fighting Thunder as the only hope for humanity.
According to graphic designer and current MOSS CEO Toshinobu Komazawa, the creation of Dynamite Duke gave Seibu Kaihatsu the opportunity to begin developing Raiden, as the former did not sell as well as Seibu had hoped. In order to recoup the costs of developing Dynamite Duke, the decision was made to develop a shoot 'em up instead of a sequel to it. [4] Komazawa noted that the development of Raiden had a negative outlook, but an earnest beginning, since the shoot 'em up genre was "relatively inexpensive to produce" games for, as well as increasing in popularity at the time. Due to financial constraints, the company opted to use arcade hardware less powerful than those used in their previous titles. Seibu could only afford to develop a shoot 'em up with their development budget, with the project becoming a financial decision, as they had no other choice of game to make. [4] Seibu took production notes from the overseas market, borrowing ideas from popular titles such as Capcom's 1942 , Xevious from Namco, and Twin Cobra by Toaplan.
The production of Raiden was led by Seibu Kaihatsu president Hitoshi Hamada, while Tetsuya Kawaguchi served as its designer and programmer K. Kondo and S. Mori were the other programmers. [2] [4] Komazawa, H. Matsuo, T. Matsuzawa and T. Wada were responsible for creating the in-game artwork. [2] [4] Y. Segawa was responsible for creating the arcade hardware. [2] Near the end of development, Komazawa praised the programmers at Seibu for being able to produce a high-quality game on less powerful hardware. [4]
The music for Raiden was composed by Akira Sato. [2] A Raiden/Raiden II soundtrack was published by INH Co., Ltd. It includes soundtracks from Raiden (Arcade, PlayStation), Raiden Densetsu (FM Towns), Raiden II (Arcade, PlayStation) and Raiden DX (Arcade) as well as other extras. [6]
Raiden was first released in the arcades in April 1990 by Tecmo in Japan. It was distributed in North America by Fabtek, Taiwan by Liang HWA Electronics, South Korea by IBL Corporation, and Hong Kong by Wah Yan Electronics. [2] The game was ported to various platforms, with each port featuring several changes and additions. In 2022, the arcade version will be included as part of the Sega Astro City Mini V, a vertically oriented variant of the Sega Astro City mini console. [7]
The PC Engine conversion was developed by A.I Company and first published by Hudson Soft in Japan on 22 November 1991, and released a few months later on the North American TurboGrafx-16 by NEC Technologies. It is a mostly faithful port of the arcade original. [3] [8] [9]
The Atari Jaguar version was developed by Imagitec Design, then released in North America in November 1993. [10] [11] The North America, Europe and Japan releases were distributed by Atari Corporation and Mumin Corporation in 1994 respectively. [12] [13] [14] It features various presentation and gameplay changes from the original arcade version. [3]
The MS-DOS port was coded by Nigel 'Freddy' Conroy, Steve Cullen and Martin Randall, and spearheaded by Martin Hooley at Imagitec. It shares the same visual design as the Jaguar conversion with the addition of a full-screen display. Its differences from the Jaguar port include support only for FM sound. It was released only in North America in 1994. [3]
A handheld version was developed by BlueSky Software and launched for the Atari Lynx across North America and Europe in 1997 by Telegames, long after the Lynx's commercial lifespan had ended. It was only available through direct order and a few select retailers. [15] [16] [17]
The FM Towns release was titled Raiden Densetsu ("Legend of Raiden") in Japan, while both the Mega Drive/Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System ports were given the name Raiden Trad across all regions ("Trad" being an abbreviation of tradition , an alternative meaning of densetsu ). Each version of Trad was developed and distributed by different developers and publishers. [3] A European release of the Mega Drive version was planned for release by UbiSoft as part of a multi-game licensing deal with Bignet, but was never officially released in the region. [18] [19]
Super Raiden is a PC Engine Super CD-ROM² version of the TurboGrafx-16 HuCard port. Its main new feature is the use of Redbook CD Audio for an arranged soundtrack, along with additional stages exclusive to the CD version. [3] It was developed by A.I Company and released on 2 April 1992, in Japan by Hudson Soft. [8] [20]
Both the original Raiden and Raiden II were included as part of The Raiden Project compilation. The included games are based directly on the original arcade releases and offers several options not found in other ports. [3] The Project version of the first Raiden was re-released by HAMSTER Corporation as a stand-alone PlayStation title for their Arcade Hits series. It was later available as a digital download on the Japanese PlayStation Network store, playable on the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Portable. [21]
Raiden was first adapted on mobile phones by Com2uS in 2004. [22] The original game was later included as part of the 2012 compilation Raiden Legacy by DotEmu for mobile devices, PCs and other platforms. Raiden Legacy also includes the three games in the Raiden Fighters sub-series. On July 1, 2021, the arcade version of the game got ported for modern consoles [23] as part of the Arcade Archives series. [24]
An Amiga version was announced in late 1993 to be under development by Imagitec Design. It was intended to be published by U.S. Gold, but according to a former Imagitec employee on an Amiga-dedicated internet forum, it was left unreleased due to the arrival of newer systems on the market. [25] [26] [27] [28] Another version was made by Imagitec for the Atari Falcon, announced in 1994. [29] Early playable builds of both versions have since been leaked online. [30] [31]
Reception | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aggregate scores | |||||||||
Aggregator | Scores | ||||||||
SMD/GEN | TG-16 | SNES | PCE SCD-ROM² | JAG | DOS | Lynx | Mobile | ||
GameRankings | 50% [32] | — | 57.50% [33] | — | 60% [34] | — | — | 72% [35] | |
Review scores | |||||||||
Publication | Scores | ||||||||
SMD/GEN | TG-16 | SNES | PCE SCD-ROM² | JAG | DOS | Lynx | Mobile | ||
ASM | — | — | 4/12 [36] | — | 8/12 [37] | — | — | — | |
AllGame | — | [38] | — | — | [39] | [40] | [41] | — | |
AGH | — | — | — | — | 5/10 [42] | — | 9/10 [43] | — | |
Atari ST User | — | — | — | — | 40% [44] | — | — | — | |
Beep! Mega Drive | 6.5/10 [45] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
CVG | — | — | — | — | 44/100 [46] | — | — | — | |
Consoles + | 67% [47] | 91% [48] | 69% [49] | 91% [50] | — | — | — | — | |
Edge | — | — | — | — | 5/10 [51] | — | — | — | |
Electronic Games | — | — | — | — | 86% [52] B+ [53] | — | — | — | |
EGM | 29/40 [54] | 30/40 [55] | — | — | 24/40 [56] | — | — | — | |
Famitsu | 27/40 [57] | 28/40 [58] | — | 29/40 [59] | — | — | — | — | |
GameFan | — | — | — | — | 329/400 [60] | — | — | — | |
GamePro | 19/25 [61] | — | 15/20 [62] | — | 14/20 [63] | — | — | — | |
GameSpot | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7.2/10 [22] | |
Génération 4 | — | 91% [64] | — | 92% [65] | 62% [66] | — | — | — | |
Hobby Consolas | — | 91/100 [67] | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Hyper | — | — | — | — | 61% [68] | — | — | — | |
IGN | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7.0/10 [69] | — | |
Joypad | — | 85% [70] | 71% [71] | 91% [72] | 64% [73] | — | — | — | |
Joystick | 70% [74] | 82% [75] | 71% [76] | 90% [77] | — | — | — | — | |
MAN!AC | — | — | — | — | 61% [78] | — | — | — | |
Mean Machines | 81% [79] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
MDAG | 81% [80] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Mega Fun | — | — | — | — | 63% [81] | — | — | — | |
MegaTech | 79% [82] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Nintendo Power | — | — | 11.5/20 [83] | — | — | — | — | — | |
Play Time | — | 74% [84] | — | — | 60/100 [85] | — | — | — | |
Player One | 60% [86] | 77% [87] | — | 89% [88] | — | — | — | — | |
Power Play | 56% [89] | — | 41% [90] | — | — | 59% [91] | — | — | |
Sega Power | [92] 68% [93] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Sega Pro | 76/100 [94] 58/100 [95] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
ST-Computer | — | — | — | — | 60% [96] | — | — | — | |
ST Format | — | — | — | — | 70% [97] | — | — | — | |
ST Review | — | — | — | — | 67% [98] | — | — | — | |
Super Game | 91/100 [99] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Super Game Power | — | — | — | — | 3.3/5.0 [100] | — | — | — | |
TurboPlay | — | [101] | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Video Games | — | — | — | — | 60% [102] | — | — | — |
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2021) |
The original arcade release of Raiden did not make as much money initially, with Komazawa attributing this to the game's underpowered hardware and lack of flashy visuals to draw players in. [4] A few months after its release, the game began to generate increased income, resulting in an increase in arcade establishments requesting orders of the hardware. Seibu Kaihatsu ended up selling around 17,000 units through steady sales for a year. [4]
In Japan, Game Machine listed the title on their 1 July 1990 issue as being the most-successful table arcade unit at the time, outperforming titles such as Trigon and Columns . [103] It went on to be Japan's sixth highest-grossing arcade game of 1990 [104] and fifth highest-grossing arcade game of 1991. [105]
It was also an arcade hit for Fabtek in North America, [106] where it became a chart-topper. [107] During November and December 1990, weekly coin drop earnings averaged $194.25 per arcade unit. [108]
Raiden was included as one of the titles in the 2010 book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die . [109]
Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the Atari Jaguar version an average of 6 out of 10. The four reviewers agreed that it was virtually identical to the arcade version, but were divided about the quality of the game itself. Two of them described Raiden as "above average", and two described it as mediocre, saying that the ship moves too slow, enemy fire often blends in with the background, and the graphics are subpar given the Jaguar's capabilities. [56] GamePro similarly criticized that the gameplay is outdated, the ship moves too slow, and that the graphics do not live up to the Jaguar's potential. They concluded that "a snoozer like Raiden just seems out of place on a powerful system like the Jaguar". [63] The Jaguar version has sold more than 22,000 copies since its release as of 1 April 1995, though it is unknown how many were sold in total during its lifetime. [110]
The success of Raiden resulted in several sequels and spin-offs across multiple platforms. Seibu Kaihatsu developed the Raiden games until they went bankrupt in 2005. Japanese developer MOSS, formed by Seibu Kaihatsu's development staff, purchased the rights to the series, with their first release being Raiden III in 2005. In 1994, the game's trademark was abandoned. [111]
Twin Cobra, known as Kyukyoku Tiger in Japan, is a vertically scrolling shooter developed by Toaplan and released for arcades in 1987 by Taito in Japan and Europe, then in North America by Romstar. It is a sequel to the 1985 arcade game Tiger-Heli. Controlling the titular attack helicopter, the players must fight endless waves of military vehicles while avoiding collision with their projectiles and other obstacles. It was the fourth shoot 'em up game from Toaplan, and their tenth video game overall. It was ported to multiple platforms, with each done by different third-party developers that made several changes or additions.
Pinball Fantasies is a 1992 pinball video game originally developed by Digital Illusions and published by 21st Century Entertainment in Europe for the Amiga home computers. It is the sequel to Pinball Dreams, which was released earlier in the same year on multiple platforms. In the game, players can choose between any of the four available playfields, both of which have their own thematic and main objectives in order to obtain the highest score possible.
The Humans is a puzzle-platform video game developed by Imagitec Design in Dewsbury, England and originally published by Mirage Technologies for the Amiga in May 1992. It was later ported to other home computers and consoles. The goal of the game varies per level but usually revolves around bringing at least one of the player-controlled humans to the designated end area marked by a colored tile. Doing this requires players taking advantage of the tribe's ability to build a human ladder and use tools such as spears, torches, wheels, ropes and a witch doctor in later levels.
Seibu Kaihatsu Inc. was a Japanese manufacturer of arcade games. The company was founded in 1982 at Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan as Seibu Denshi Inc. (有限会社セイブ電子), but changed to its current name sometime in 1984. It is currently owned by Hitoshi Hamada.
Raiden III is a scrolling shooter video game developed by MOSS, licensed by Seibu Kaihatsu, and published by Taito in 2005. It is the fourth game in the Raiden series. Raiden III uses the Taito Type X arcade hardware, giving full 3D graphics to the series for the first time. The game was published in the US by UFO Interactive Games, in Europe by 505 Games, and in China by Soft-World International Corporation. An enhanced version, Raiden III x Mikado Maniax, was released in 2023.
Raiden II is a 1993 vertical scrolling shooter arcade game that was developed by Seibu Kaihatsu. It was the second game in the Raiden series of vertical scrolling shooter arcade games that started with Raiden.
Legend is a side-scrolling hack and slash beat 'em up video game developed by Arcade Zone and originally published in North America by Seika Corporation in April 1994 and later in Europe by Sony Electronic Publishing on December 21 of the same year for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the first game to be solely developed by the duo of Carlo Perconti and Lyes Belaidouni at Arcade Zone, who both would later go on to found Toka and HyperDevbox Japan respectively.
Imagitec Design was a video games development company founded in 1989, based in the UK. The main person involved was Barry Leitch, who worked as a composer for many of the company's soundtracks.
Soulstar is a hybrid rail shooter/third-person shooter video game developed and published by Core Design for the Sega CD in North America in September 1994, Europe in October by Core Design, and in Japan by Victor Entertainment on December 22.
Raiden Project, known outside Japan as The Raiden Project, is a scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Seibu Kaihatsu for the PlayStation. It is a compilation of the arcade games Raiden (1990) and Raiden II (1993). It was released in Japan on January 27, 1995, for North America by Sony Computer Entertainment as an original launch title on September 9, 1995, and in Europe by Ocean Software in November 12, 1995. This was the only console release of Raiden II and unlike previous ports, these versions are based directly on the arcade originals. The Project version of the first Raiden was available as a download from the Japanese PlayStation Network store, which could be played on either a PlayStation 3 or a PlayStation Portable.
Steel Talons is a combat flight simulator arcade video game released by Atari Games in 1991. The player pilots an "AT1196 Steel Talons combat helicopter. The 3D view is rendered with flat-shaded polygons using the TMS34010 combination CPU and programmable graphics processor. It was ported to the Genesis, Lynx, Atari Falcon, and Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
Raiden Fighters is a 1996 scrolling shooter arcade game by Seibu Kaihatsu. It is followed by the sequel, Raiden Fighters 2: Operation Hell Dive. This game introduced new game mechanics that separate it from the original Raiden series.
Raiden is a series of arcade games by Seibu Kaihatsu initially available in arcades in Japan and later distributed to other countries by Fabtek and other arcade game manufacturers.
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