Raiden (series)

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Raiden (雷電, raiden^?) is a scrolling shooter and a popular 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.

The game that began the franchise was Raiden, which has been 26 months at the top 10 in the charts. It was ported for the PlayStation as The Raiden Project, and other ports, including Amiga, Atari Jaguar, NEC's Turbo Grafx, NEC's Turbo Duo (known as Super Raiden includes Redbook audio & 2 extra levels) Atari Lynx, Super Nintendo, PC, Sega Genesis and the mobile phone.

Seibu Kaihatsu developed the Raiden games and its related spin-offs from 1990 until 1998. The license of Raiden was recently purchased by MOSS Ltd. Since 2005, all Raiden games have on various Taito boards (Taito Type X).

1 Overview
2 Differences
- 2.1 Boss differences
3 Games
4 External links

[edit] Overview

In each installment, there is a threat to humanity posed by the invasion of Earth by an alien race known as the Cranassians. In the wake of the Cranassian invasion, the World Alliance Military must launch a daring counter-attack with their powerful weapon, a Raiden supersonic attack fighter, for the future of humanity. The first two Raiden installments had eight stages, and if all stages are completed, a mission clear bonus is given and the players will start another mission. The third installment has seven stages each. The fourth installment blends classic gameplay with new ideas in one package.

[edit] Differences

Its distinguishing feature was the simultaneous double player mode where one player can play like two players at the same time. Players can get high score by quickly destroying the enemy which appears, with the new flash shot system. But this feature is not new, players did play with two-player mode

The level design of the first two installments consists of five Earth-based levels and three space-based levels:

Farm (in Raiden the player starts from the coast, but in Raiden II, the player starts from inland)
City
Ocean
Ruins
Enemy in-land remote base
Floating Planetoids
Giant enemy battleship
Final attack goal (in Raiden the final attack goal is the alien command battleship, but in Raiden II, the final attack goal is the planetoid with the Cranassians' headquarters/temple)

However, in Raiden III, level design appears to consist of three basic Earth-based missions and four space missions:

Farm, City
Enemy in-land remote base
Ocean with platforms
Giant Battleships
Battleship Interior
Connected Planetoids
Final attack goal

The enemy's insignia appears to be a shape of a diamond in later Raiden installments.

The bosses in Raiden has normally an octagonal shape of a glowing crystalline being, but in the sequels, they have a diamond shape. In Stage 8 of Raiden, the octagonal being is concealed with a green module which moves back and forth in one direction, while in Raiden II and later installments, it appears exposed.

In Raiden DX, the st. 9 boss first appears as a featureless sphere of grey metal, then transforms into the boss tank. This suggests that the Cranassian crystals have the ability to reshape metal to any form they desire.

[edit] Boss differences

Raiden	Raiden II	Raiden III	Raiden IV
2 rail tanks (Desert Spiders)	2 mech walkers	2 giant tanks	Spider-like mecha
Aerial missile carrier (Flying Fox)	Aerial missile carrier	Aerial missile carrier	Aerial carrier splits into four modules
Large battleship (Phalanx Mk. II)	Submarine	Submarine	Submarine
Armed fortress	Giant fortress	Space rocket
Ground tank	Armored bomber/fighter	Armed satellite
Two walking statues	Energy-weapon tank	Mine-laying fighter
Forward module of the battleship	Forward module of the battleship	Crystal-holding fortress
Red crystal in a green module	Crystalline temple	N/A	NA