To be honest, I actually almost forgot about the Retro Saga part of my blog. It’s been forever since the last one came out, so I decided to pick up a classic arcade series in the form of Raiden. The specific one I will be reviewing will be the third game in the series, Raiden III. The version I will be writing about is the Playstation 2 version. From what I can tell, Raiden III on the arcade and the Playstation 2 are similar, but if you want to be one of those pompous jerks that send emails to reviewers like me detailing how things should be and etc, then here is the address idontreallycare@yahoo.com.
Basically, the story really isn’t that deep, but in a game like this, you really don’t need a story that needs to be 500 pages long or have interesting or confusing plot twists. All you need to know is that aliens are trying to take over the world, and a fairy-like being brought back the spirit of a legendary fighter jet, and it is up to that so-called fighter jet to go and stop the aliens and such.
This game was made by Seibu Kaihatsu Inc, which is known for making the Raiden series and the Raiden Fighters series. Im glad they have a franchise that at least some people know, but I think they could make more franchises. The game play is in the form of a classic top view shooter like 1943, Xevious, Raptor: Call of the Shadows, Galaga, Ikaruga, and dare I say… Asteroids? Yeah, I should, just in case. You basically control a super cool jet, and you shoot down a lot of enemies that get in your way. You start out with a pretty strong gun, which you would have had to work for in the past games. You can gain power-ups just like in any top view shooter and become even crazier in your jet! The enemy variety is pretty varied, giving you multiple enemies to shoot down, and you usually don’t shoot down the same one in every level, which is kind of neat, and makes the game interesting and fresh.
The graphics are impressive enough to be good for the Playstation 2. The graphics are kind of like the graphics you would see in Gradius 5. They aren’t the best you will ever see, but it doesn’t really matter. Graphics aren’t everything inside a game. In my opinion, the graphics are important, but I also want the game to be fun and playable. If you played like Conan for the PS3 and Xbox360, the game doesn’t have the best graphics, but it is enjoyable from time to time. This is what that game is like. The music is also fun to listen to if you’re into DDR or whichever game uses techno-like music. The music you would hear in this series is stuff you would have heard in games like Star Soldier. The whole charm comes from the simple arcade-style game play and two-player co-op.
Now, it is time to rise in your jet and shoot down the bad parts of the game. The game itself is very short, and you can beat it in about 45 minutes or so. I think they could have added some extra features like the first two Raiden games. The music sadly isn’t that memorable. It’s hard for music sometimes to be memorable in these kinds of series. This final gripe is just a small thing, but I don’t like it how I lose all my power-ups when I get shot down with one shot. Like I said though, it is just a small gripe.
All and all, this is pretty fun to play. I would recommend picking up a copy of this game. It might not be the best game ever for the PS2, but it’s one of those games that you can play when you’re bored and need to get rid of some stress. I wouldn’t pay so much for it though, I say 20 bucks or less. Hopefully, they release a Raiden Anthology game for the PS3 and Xbox360.
This game gets a 7.9 out of 10.
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