Raiden Fighters
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| Raiden Fighters | |
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| Developer(s) | SEIBU KAIHATSU INC. |
| Publisher(s) | Fabtek (US) The Metrotainment Network (Asia) Tuning Electronic (DE) |
| Release date | 1996 |
| Genre(s) | Vertical scrolling shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, 2 player Co-op |
| Input methods | 8-way Joystick, 2 Buttons |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system | Seibu SPI System |
| Display | Raster, 240 x 320 pixels (Vertical), 6144 colors |
Raiden Fighters (ライデンファイターズ Raiden Faitāzu?) is a 1996 scrolling shooter arcade game by Seibu Kaihatsu. It is followed by the sequel, Raiden Fighters 2: Operation Hell Dive. It introduced unique gameplay elements that are a departure from the original Raiden series.
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[edit] Plot
Raiden Fighters' plot is not directly apparent in of itself. The opening prologue of Raiden Fighters 2 hints at a plot from its predecessor, which the sequel follows. The protagonist squadron must quell a massive guerilla uprising headed by a ruthless dictator.[1] The setting of this conflict appears to take place in eastern Asia, as the briefings for each "Mission" include a war plan superimposed over a map depicting the countries of China and Japan.
[edit] Gameplay
The game's seven levels are divided into three distinct Missions. The first two of these Missions is comprised of three levels. The final Mission is a lengthy fight through the enemy's fortress.
By default, the stage order is chosen at random. Players can force a specific stage order by holding the joystick in one of the four principal directions before pressing the Start button after inserting a coin.
[edit] Mission 1
Attack the enemy's advanced base after destroying the enemy in our territory.
– [2]
- Enemies include squadrons of attacking fighters, large bombers, and strategically-placed tanks. Boss: Giant tank.
- Players encounter numerous grounded large planes. The turrets at the rear of the planes actively shoot at the players. Boss: Giant helicopter.
- Boss Level
- The entire level takes place over an ocean, with players engaging a battleship battle group. The main target is the flagship, which is a massive battleship. The main bridge of the battleship is the final confrontation.
[edit] Mission 2
Control the intermediate spot to make surprise attack on the enemy center.
– [3]
- Encounters of note are trains that include attacking cars. Boss: Giant flying boat.
- Ice Floes
- Encounters include two attack submarines, medium-sized fighter planes, and concealed ground turrets. Boss: Giant tank with a snow plow blade.
- Boss Level
- The beginning of the level foreshadows the main encounter by the target flying fortress casting an enormous shadow on the ocean below. Players encounter a flight of large escort planes en route to making contact with the flying fortress in a thunderstorm. Its control center is the final confrontation.
[edit] Final Mission
Make the enemy control ablity [sic] powerless by destroying the enemy control establishment completely.
– [4]
Players spearhead their way through the enemy fortification, encountering castle wall battlement turrets, large tanks, numerous columns of small tanks, and squadrons of striker planes. At the middle of the stage, players encounter another giant tank similar to the Forest stage's tank boss, but it is slightly smaller. The final confrontation is against an actively attacking control dome on the fortress building.
[edit] Fighter craft
In Raiden Fighters, there are five standard fighter craft from which to select, each with a Laser and a Missile weapon. The cameo ships are playable as well. Depending on a particular machine's settings, the Raiden mk-II and the Judge Spear can be directly chosen, or selected by performing a specific joystick sequence. The Slave drone is playable as well.
[edit] Aegis
The Aegis is a well-balanced fighter. Its lasers are multiple streams of green energy that home in to enemies. Its Missile weapon is standard-fare dumb-fire Cruise Missiles.
[edit] Beast Arrow
The Beast Arrow is slow and a large target. Its design appears to be inspired by the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
The Beast Arrow has a powerful Laser and Homing Missiles. At full power, the charged laser special can destroy medium sized planes with one blast—instantly if the head of the charged laser hits them.
[edit] Chaser
The Chaser is a fast plane with a rapid firing rate.
The Charged Missile unleashes an enormous number of missiles, earning it the nickname "Missile Curtain" among die-hard fans. The Charged Laser acts exactly like the Raiden mk-II's Lock-On Plasma Beam. Its speed and effective special attacks make the Chaser a popular choice for players of all skill levels.
[edit] Devastator
As implied by its name, the Devastator possesses all-around powerful weapons. This is a slow plane, but it has the most powerful secondary weapons out of all other planes.
Its Missile weapon are a highly damaging napalm type missile. The Laser weapon is similar to Truxton's laser weapon, firing several electric beams that lock on to enemies. The Charged Missile Attack can destroy large enemies easily.
The Devastator's high firepower can make short work of large enemies and even bosses. However, its speed is one of the lowest out of the roster.
[edit] Endeavor
The Endeavor has specialized attacks, one of which being that its Missile weapon can destroy enemy bullets.
Its charged missile special is purely for defensive purposes, with the Endeavor releasing its mine-type weapon in all directions, shielding the plane from enemy fire temporarily. The charged laser special has a near-instantaneous charge time, providing a quick burst of heavy firepower on demand.
Its disadvantages are its slow movement speed and low attack power. Many players consider the Endeavor hard to use.
[edit] Raiden mk-II
The Raiden mk-II is a cameo ship from Raiden II.
Its weaponry are both from Raiden II: the familiar purple Lock-On Plasma Beam for its Laser weapon and the Homing Missiles for its Missile Weapon. The Plasma Beam in Raiden Fighters immediately engages into its Lock-On mode upon firing. At the start of each new life, the Laser is a rapid-firing straight plasma stream.
Fully powered-up, the Raiden mk-II can damage many enemies simultaneously. Balancing out its extremely effective weaponry is the fact that the Raiden mk-II is the slowest ship in the game. The Raiden mk-II's attack power is quite low; it greatly benefits from the added firepower of Slaves.
Its Bomb is the Raiden II Thermonuclear Bomb, complete with the original sound effects. It has a long deploy time, making this Bomb an ineffective panic weapon and relegating it to offensive use.
Many players consider the Raiden mk-II to be hard to use.
[edit] Judge Spear
This previously unnamed ship is from Viper Phase 1, receiving the Judge Spear name in this game series.
In the Raiden Fighters series, this space fighter has the fastest movement speed. The Judge Spear utilizes the Napalm Missiles from its original game, powered up by collecting Missile power-ups. The Vulcan gun is powered up by collecting Laser power-ups. The Judge Spear's firepower is greatly enhanced by collecting Slaves.
The Judge Spear has the most effective bomb, being that it deploys quickly into a long-lasting explosion. This bomb is the same as that from Viper Phase 1: New Version.
The Judge Spear is a high-tier ship that players of all skill levels can easily use.
[edit] Slave
The Slave's only weapon is an ever-increasing spread of rapid-fire bullets with obscenely high damage. They inherit the speed of the fighters they normally accompany.
The most dramatic characteristic of the Slave is its exceedingly small hitbox (the part of the craft that represents its vulnerable portion to enemy fire). For example, the Slave's hitbox enables it to squeeze between the twin main turret stream of bullets from the Forest Stage tank boss.
With its bloated attributes, tiny hitbox, and inherited speed of the faster fighters, some players consider the Slave to be unbalanced.
[edit] Secret fighter selection
On some machines, the Raiden mk-II and Judge Spear can be selected directly. On machines that don't show the two ships for selection, a joystick sequence is needed to select them.
- Raiden mk-II
- Highlight the Endeavor, then press and hold RIGHT on the joystick. This will select the "?" While still holding RIGHT on the joystick, press the Start button.
- Judge Spear
- Highlight the Chaser, then press and hold DOWN on the joystick. While still holding DOWN on the joystick, press the Start button.
The method to select a Slave differs depending on the machine.
- For machines that show the Raiden mk-II and Judge Spear for selection
- Select any plane, hold joystick up or down, press Start+Fire+Bomb together.
- For machines that show only the five standard planes
- The Judge Spear's Slave is the only available choice; highlight the Chaser, press and hold down on the joystick to select the "?" While still holding down on the joystick, press START+FIRE+BOMB together.
[edit] Ports and conversions
In 1997, a port of Raiden Fighters to Sega Saturn by Victor EA of Japan was canceled before release.
Similarly, in 2003, NWS developed a port to Xbox and PC under the name of Raiden Fighters Evolution, but it was canceled for some reason.
On November 21, 2007, Japanese video game magazine Famitsu reported the development of a compilation of all three Raiden Fighters games for the Xbox 360.[5] This compilation is titled Raiden Fighters Aces, published by Japanese software company Success Corporation and released on March 27, 2008.[6]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ "4 years pass since the defeat of the Dictator's Army. However, the remnant guerrillas gathering under a Dictator make a new nation and start attacks on our forces...", opening prologue of Raiden Fighters 2
- ^ Mission 1 briefing text, Raiden Fighters
- ^ Mission 2 briefing text, Raiden Fighters
- ^ Final Mission briefing text, Raiden Fighters
- ^ Famitsu Weekly; November 21, 2007; magazine scan (http://www.gamersyde.com/gallery_7060_en.html)
- ^ Raiden Fighters Aces Xbox 360 GameFAQs.com game page. GameFAQs.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
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