Raiden Fighters

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Raiden Fighters

Developer(s)	Seibu Kaihatsu
Publisher(s)	Fabtek
Release date(s)	1996
Genre(s)	Vertical scrolling shooter
Mode(s)	Single player, 2 player Co-op
Platform(s)
Input	8-way Joystick, 2 Buttons
Arcade cabinet	Upright
Arcade system(s)	Seibu SPI
Arcade display	Raster, 256 x 224 pixels (Vertical), 2048 colors

Raiden Fighters is a 1996 scrolling shooter arcade game by Seibu Kaihatsu, and is the first game in the Raiden Fighters series. During its development, it was originally known as Gun Dogs, but Seibu Kaihatsu changed the name of the game to Raiden Fighters when they found out that people paid more attention to it during market tests just by the simple fact that the game had the word "Raiden" in its name.

1 History
2 Plot
3 Gameplay
- 3.1 Aircraft
- 3.2 Stage selection
4 Ports and conversions
5 External links

[edit] History

During Raiden Fighters' development, it went by the tentative working title of "Gun Dogs". Seibu Kaihatsu changed the name to "Raiden Fighters" before its release. They also added in the Raiden mk-II and the Judge Spear to go with the name change. There were originally only the five standard aircraft. All of this literature, which includes a magazine article from a Japanese Sega magazine in 1996 and a promotional flyer by Seibu Kaihatsu are in Japanese. These scans were donated by "The Swiss Collectors".

After the changing of the game name into "Raiden Fighters", the remnants of this tentative game name can still be seen in the Raiden Fighters intro with the closeup of the Aegis fighter. Note that the plane bears the designation "GD-1," with "GD" standing for "Gun Dogs".

[edit] Plot

The game centers around in Eastern Asia, where the squadron must fight against a huge military force headed by a ruthless dictator.

[edit] Gameplay

There are five types of bullets, all of which can move at different speeds depending on how well you play. There are the slow orange bullets, the faster yellow bullets, large high caliber yellow shells, the extremely fast spiral star bullets from Raiden II, and the fast red destroyable bullets. Bosses also attack more ferociously if you are a skilled player, or they attack weakly when you die a lot.

This game features some very intense, adrenaline-pumping gameplay, accompanied by a pounding techno soundtrack and gorgeous detailed graphics. The control is impeccable. Your plane responds extremely well to your joystick movements. One notable feature in Raiden Fighters is the graded difficulty. The game adjusts its difficulty according to how well you play. For example, if you are fully powered up and have not died once entering the second stage, the game will shift to its highest difficulty, in which enemies shoot faster, more frequently, and at a more rapid rate. The game will even turn up its difficulty if a player keeps starting new games.

The game's seven stages take place in a forest, airfield, ocean, railyard, arctic zone, into a thunderstorm, and a huge fortress.

You select from five planes, each with a Laser and a Missile weapon. Also, each plane has a special attack for each weapon that you unleash by holding down the Fire button until your plane flashes, then release. Each plane has their strengths and weaknesses. For example, the Beast Arrow is very powerful. However, it is very slow and a big target that gets shot down quite easily. The Aegis plane is well-rounded with no real pros and cons and is best for beginner players.

Other items include Bombs, which can inflict heavy damage against all enemies as well as destroy their bullets. Strangely enough, your bombs do not damage the scenery, including the helpless civilians on the ground. It kind of takes away from the realism, but this is trivial. You can carry up to seven bombs at once. There are also Slaves, which are small planes that accompany you and provide additional firepower. You can have up to two Slaves by your side. Slaves can absorb enemy bullets, like makeshift shields, but they die when they take too much punishment.

Even when you just begin playing, the enemy will throw everything at you. Raiden Fighters is not for the faint of heart. The difficulty ranges from medium to very hard in difficulty. Expect to encounter swarms of kamikaze pilots barreling their planes towards you. There are medium-sized enemies that spray bullets all over the screen. There also some annoying tanks that enter the playfield from the sides and attack you from the sides, when you are most vulnerable. With practice, a player can dodge the incoming enemy fire with ease and even anticipate enemy appearances. One of the best aspects of playing the game is fighting the bosses. Except in some cases when you are playing poorly, the bosses will not give you much room to breathe. Boss battles are intense and action-packed. They attack using various patterns, such as turret sweep shooting, bordering and sniping, and enclosure attacks.

The order of the seven stages is chosen for you randomly, except for stage 3, 6, and 7, which are the long boss stages. These stages always remain fixed in order. In comparision to the normal stages, which last about 1-2 minutes, the boss stages can last 4 minutes or more. Stage 3 pits you against a fleet of battleships, with a huge battleship being the final battle. Stage 6 is a battle against a H-U-G-E flying fortress (about 3 by 5 screens in size!). You have to destroy the flying fortress piece by piece. And stage 7 is the final boss stage, which takes you into a huge walled fortress to battle the control center.

Another great aspect to this game are the many secrets included. There are two secret ships in Raiden Fighters. These two secret ships reappear in the two Raiden Fighters sequels. The first secret ship is the Raiden mk-II from Raiden II. Its weaponry includes the famous Purple Lock-On Plasma Beam (affectionately called the "Toothpaste Gun" by the swell chaps at SHMUPS.) and the green Homing Missiles. It also uses the bomb it used in Raiden II, which is the Thermonuclear Bomb, deploy time, sound effect and all. The biggest disadvantage about the Raiden mk-II is its painfully slow speed. Its Lock-On Beam is also quite weak. The other ship is the Judge Spear, which comes from Viper Phase 1. The name "Judge Spear" was given to this ship in the Raiden Fighters series; it was unnamed in Viper Phase 1. Judge Spear is a fast ship that uses green Napalm Missiles whose secondary explosions inflict heavy damage to nearby enemies. It uses the same bomb it used in Viper Phase 1, which is called the Dimension Mine. The Judge Spear fires only straight ahead, though, and its speed may work against itself, at times colliding with the slower enemy bullets. You can also play as the Slave planes of each fighter.

The Raiden mk-II and the Judge Spear begin with a stock of 3 Bombs (opposed to the other planes' 2 Bombs). The two ships use the same bombs they used in their original games. Additionally, the slaves for the two secret ships will assume different formations when you collect a drone icon when you already have two drones. For the other planes, their slaves will assume different formations when you do a special charge attack.

[edit] Aircraft

In Raiden Fighters, you can control one of five fighters, each with a Laser and a Missile weapon. Each plane has their strengths and weaknesses. In addition to these five fighters, there are two secret fighters, the Raiden mk-II and Judge Spear (from Raiden II and Viper Phase 1, respectively) can be controllable.

ATK	Attack Power
DEF	Weapon's Defensive spread (main guns only)
SPD	Fighter's speed and maneuverability
RPD	Weapon's Rapid-Fire Rate (main guns only)

Aegis (GD-1, SPD: 3, ATK: 3, DEF: 3, RPD: 3) - This is a well-balanced fighter, which is good for beginners. Its lasers are multiple streams of green energy that home in to enemies. Its Missile weapon is standard-fare dumb-fire Cruise Missiles.
Beast Arrow (GD-2, SPD: 1, ATK: 5, DEF: 3, RPD: 2) - This plane is slow, a large target, and looks like a Lockheed P-38 Lightning on steroids. The Beast Arrow has a powerful Laser and Homing Missiles. Its Laser Charge Attack is one of the best; in full power, it can destroy medium sized planes with one blast!

Pros: Laser weapon is very powerful. The Charged Laser can kill even medium sized enemies instantly. Charged missiles are helpful as well.

Cons: Slow speed makes it difficult to escape fast enemy bullets. It is a big target as well.

Chaser (GD-3, SPD: 5, ATK: 1, DEF: 1, RPD: 5) - An excellent plane suited for the beginner player, this is a fast plane with a rapid firing rate. This plane has the best Charged Specials out of all planes. The Charged Missile is deadly, letting literally hundreds of missiles fly! This special attack is affectionately called the "Missile Curtain" by die-hard RF players. The Charged Laser is exactly like Raiden's Purple Lock-On Plasma.

Pros: Excellent speed. Very effective charged specials for both Missile and Laser weapons.

Cons: Very weak attack power with just normal use. Main guns fire only forward.

Devastator (GD-4, SPD: 2, ATK: 4, DEF: 4, RPD: 2) - As implied by its name, it possesses all-around powerful weapons. It can make short work of large enemies and even bosses. This is a slow plane, but it has the most powerful secondary weapons out of all other planes. It's missiles are a devastating napalm type missile. The Laser weapon is similar to Truxton's laser weapon. (Truxton is an old arcade shooter by Taito.) It fires an Electric Beam that locks on to an enemy. The Charged Missile Attack can destroy tough enemies easily.

Pros: High total attack capabilities, right down to its main gun, which also offers good defensive spread.

Cons: Missile Weapon fires far too slowly and only straight ahead, and its special takes a very long time to charge. The plane's speed is aircraft.

Endeavor (GD-5, SPD: 2, ATK: 3, DEF: 2, RPD: 4) - Hard-to-use plane with specialized attacks that do not ease the burden of its use. This is a very weak and slow plane. Even when fully powered up, its main weapon is very pathetic and weak. This is the plane I have the most trouble using. However, the Endeavor is the only plane that can destroy enemy bullets (with its Missiles, AKA Time-Release Bomb). It is also the only plane with a defensive special charge attack, being its Charged Missile, which surrounds you with explosions that absorb all enemy fire. With its Laser Weapon, the special's charge time is instantaneous. Even these advantages don't make the Endeavor any easier to use. This plane is recommended for advanced players.

Pros: Instantaneous charge time for its Laser weapon. Only plane in RF1 that can destroy enemies' bullets without the use of a bomb, via its Missile weapon.

Cons: Missile special takes way too much time to charge (3 seconds!). Main guns are very weak. Plane is also too slow for its limited defensive capabilities.

Raiden mk-II (SPD: 1, ATK: 2, DEF: 4, RPD: 6) - The famous interstellar fighter-bomber from Raiden II makes a cameo appearance in the Raiden Fighters series. Raiden mk-II brings its ever famous Lock-on Plasma Lser from Raiden II and homing missiles to this game. Despite it having ion propulsion thrusters, the Raiden mk-II is a painfully slow ship. In fact, it is the slowest ship of all, being even slower than it was in Raiden II! It's incredible weaponry, with a fully powered-up Purple Plasma, makes up for the Raiden mk-II's speed. In addition, the Purple Plasma in this game does not require you to charge up anymore. You use its lock-on snaking form immediately after you collect at least one laser power-up. Also, the Raiden brought along its Thermonuclear Bomb from Raiden II. The Bomb takes a substantial amount of time to deploy, making it ineffective as a panic bomb. You usually have to use the Bombs earlier than usual. The Raiden mk-II recommended for advanced and expert players only. Nostalgic Raiden fans will enjoy playing as this old-time favorite ship from Raiden II. Raiden II fans know how this weapon behaves.

Pros: Extremely rapid fire puts very little strain on the player's hands. When at least one 'L' power-up is collected, shooting will instantly transform the laser into its tracking form (no charging up like in Raiden II). Fully powered-up, the Plasma Laser can damage almost every target on the screen simultaneously.

Cons: Painfully slow speed. Quite possibly the slowest fighter in the entire series. The bomb also takes a good while to deploy. As in Raiden II, the Plasma Laser is quite weak, even at full power, but, however, in Raiden IV, the Plasma Laser is in full tracking-mode.

Judge Spear (SPD: 6, ATK: 2, DEF: 1, RPD: 4) - This previously unnamed ship is from Viper Phase 1. For the Raiden Fighters series, this ship has been given super speed and the name of "Judge Spear"; it is the fastest ship of them all. The Judge Spear brings along its devastating Napalm Missiles along for the fun. At times, the Judge Spear's speed works against itself. Sometimes you collide with a very slow enemy bullet, and when enemies spread shoot, it's very difficult to weave the Judge Spear through the tight clusters of bullets without accidentally colliding with them. It is best to outright avoid enemy bullets as the Judge Spear rather than weaving through multiple streams of bullets. The Judge Spear's Napalm Missiles has a very slow firing rate. You shoot the Napalm Missiles only fast as you can push the fire button. Its Vulcan may fire rapidly, but it is very weak on its own. The Judge Spear has the best bomb. It's a fast acting plasma explosion with a long burn time. Beginner players will like the Judge Spear because of its speed. Its capability is greatly enhanced by collecting Slaves.

Pros: Excellent speed. Fully powered up, Judge Spear is very powerful offensively. Bomb deploys quickly.

Cons: Judge Spear's missile weapon can sometimes detract attention away from enemy bullets. Very poor defense, due to only straight-ahead shooting. Difficult to weave in between tight patterns of enemy bullets, due to its high speed.

Slave (SPD: Varies, ATK: 5, DEF: 4, RPD: 4) - You are able to play as the Slave ships of any fighter! Slaves have no missile attack. However, it has a rapid firing main cannon that spreads out the more you power up. The Slaves inherit the speed of the fighters they normally accompany. They use other Slave ships like themselves as their own Slaves. In the first Raiden Fighters, all Slaves, regardless of the fighter they normally accompany, use Firestar Bombs. They inherit the speed and the bombs of the fighter they normally accompany in RF2/RFJ. This is the best all-around fighter in the series. Some players consider the Slave a cheap player craft, though.

Pros: Excels in nearly every ability. Great firepower, defense, and rapid fire. In addition, their small size makes them harder to be hit by enemies.

Cons: About the only time Slaves have any cons to their use is when they inherit the speed of slow fighters, like Raiden mk-II and Beast Wing.

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.

As for a Slave:

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: You can only play as the Judge Spear's slave. 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] Stage selection

By default, the stage order is chosen at random. Insert a coin, then hold the joystick in one of the four principle directions and press the Start Button. You can change the stage order (except for the Boss stages and the final stage).