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 Raiden
Fighters Aces (Xbox 360)
This collection of vertically
scrolling shooters includes three Raiden Fighters titles from the 90's on
a single disc. Each comes in the traditional 2D mode with allusions to the
classic Raiden series, though with some impressive enhancements and
changes. The most significant of these is the inclusion of drone fighters,
which aid you as you battle foes. Each game offers intense shooting
action, though not of the overkill variety seen in many recent releases.
Raiden Fighters Aces' extra features include different screen modes, high
score rankings and achievements to name a few. While it's old-school
trappings might seem dated visually, the gameplay itself has held up well
and all three games remain challenging and enjoyable. |
| While
many gamers are probably familiar with Seibu's classic Raiden series,
which was released for numerous platforms over the years, the arcade
Raiden Fighters remained largely unheralded thanks to its limited
distribution and lack of home ports. This situation has changed
dramatically with this release of an excellent compilation, coming
stateside via developers Valcon games. Consisting of three releases, the
games represent a crash-course in the classic shooting genre, with an
uncompromisingly old-school approach to their gameplay. The three games
included are the original Raiden Fighters, it's follow-up, Raiden Fighters
2: Hell Dive and Raiden Fighters Jet. Of the three games, the first Raiden
Fighters has the simplest approach in terms of graphics and style and
feels the most like the original Raiden games. Raiden Fighters 2 has
sleeker graphics, many more ships and more complex levels overall, which
makes it more challenging. Raiden Fighters Jet is the most difficult of
the three in terms of boss battles, but its extensive roster of fighters
also makes it the deepest title on this compilation. Unlike the original
Raiden titles which confined players to a single fighter, each Raiden
Fighters title allows you to select a different fighter at the select
screen, which you'll use in the main game. What makes this system cool is
the fact that each of these fighters has a unique set of attacks and
different speeds. As usual, you begin with a lightly armed ship and add
more firepower by collecting power-ups as you play. The extra drone ships
can also be collected in these pods as well as the traditional Raiden
medals, which earn bonus points as well. One of the key things about
Raiden Fighters is its use of the drone ships to increase the range and
strength of your firepower, giving you a much bigger area of attack that
helps to increase your firepower. Each ship has a unique roster of weapons
which range from standard shots and missiles and the trademark super bombs
that you can use to clear out a stage. Raiden Fighters' different ships
offer several variations on these trademark burst attacks, ranging from a
huge circular explosions in a single area to smaller dispersed shots that
attack a larger portion of the screen.
 This
plays a key role in how you attack each level, with different strategies
presenting themselves for each fighter you use. Some of the fighters are
faster but have less firepower, while others have concentrated fire that
isn't as effective in the regular portions but very powerful against end
bosses. Using these different approaches allows the player to fight
through the game's stages in their own unique style. This approach gives
Raiden Fighter Aces more flexibility and gives this release a broader
appeal amongst shooter fans. The level designs are fairly straightforward
and you attack various enemies, collect power-ups and medals while
learning when to use the super attack bombs. The twist in Raiden Fighters
is the fact that you are given two drone fighters that accompany games'
replay value since you can go back and try to beat your high score with
different ships. Raiden Fighters Aces' single-player mode is quite good,
and this is only enhanced by its multiplayer mode, where your ship,
increasing your fire-power and making for some truly massive attacks. You
can set up their attack patterns and configurations, which adds to the
strategy. In the first game, there are only a couple of these available,
but as you go on to its sequels, the roster of available ships swells to a
dozen. Not only does this give players flexibility in terms of strategies,
it also increases the another player can join and play co-operatively with
you. It's not the most innovative feature in the world, but it's a
definite plus. In addition, you can sign in to Xbox Live and post your
high scores onto a leaderboard and see how you compare with players from
around the world.
 The
little extras help to make this a more appealing package, some of these
might seem incidental, but they'll appeal to hardcore gamers. You can set
the game up to display in several modes. Raiden Fighters' standard
presentation is decent, though the letterboxed play is somewhat small,
even on a large monitor. You can adjust the screen size manually for a
slightly larger viewpoint, which improves things slightly. In addition,
the game offers a cool Tate mode where the action can be viewed sideways
and helpfully allows you to adjust the controller to this perspective as
well. Additionally, you can set visual filters to reduce the blurriness of
the aliasing, for a more authentic look, add over-sampling of sprites for
a more traditional pixellated look and even change the frame rate to best
suit your monitor. Playing the game with its maximized screen area and
graphics makes all the difference, and makes what could have been standard
ports stand out from the pack. Controlling the game is fairly easy and the
standard Xbox pad does a decent job, though things seem to flow smoother
using the analog stick for some reason. Response time is excellent using
either, and while an arcade stick would probably be ideal, its not
necessary to enjoy the game. RFA's visuals can definitely be categorized
as old-school, but the simple approach to its 2D gameplay and classically
straightforward visuals mean it doesn't look dated. It moves at a fast
pace and there are some impressive moments when the screen fills with
bullets and fire that should bring a smile to anyone who grew up on these
types of games. Musically, the games' soundtrack consists of aggressive
techno. It fits the action nicely and helps to keep you motivated during
battles. Despite this, Raiden Fighters Aces should give players excellent
sense of arcade history and its presentation and options menus are
above-average. The games themselves are solidly entertaining and deliver
the classic shooter thrills that older players loved about the series. The
tweaks and adjustments are great additions and should please those who've
never played these titles in the arcades. Given its value price,
above-average emulation featuring an extensive list of options and, most
importantly, its solidly constructed gameplay, Raiden Fighters Aces is an
outstanding game that should please fans of classic shooters.
-
Michael Palisano
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