Oh how I love the Raiden series. I have fond memories of playing Raiden at the arcades, then on my Atari Jaguar and later Raiden Project on Playstation which include Raiden 1 and 2. I recently purchased Raiden Fighters Aces and enjoyed it, but these games weren't really sequels per sey. In comes Raiden IV which I really enjoyed. True to the Raiden series, Raiden IV can be quite challenging. At times there's so much coming at you that it could be hard to react to everything, but I've found that playing through the different included modes a few times seemed to make the games a bit easier.
There's something for everyone. Xbox 360 mode which adds 2 additional stages that weren't included in the arcade original version, Score Attck Mode where you basically try and get the highest scores on each board, Arcade Mode which is..well, a reproduction of the original Arcade version and Practice. Because the game can be very difficult, I recommend playing practice mode or any of the modes on VERY EASY just to get the hang of things. After a few times you'll notice that you get further and further on the harder difficulties.
Raiden IV's visuals are good but nothing mind blowing. The colors are nice and vibrant, explosions fill the entire screen and enemies are animated fairly well. With a mix of old and new, everything in Raiden IV has a nice polished nostalgic look which comes off well. Vehicles can be seen on the ground driving, birds flying and ships and Jets take off from the ground. Pretty nice.
You have 3 primary weapons, the Vulcan which shootss bullets in a wide spread, killing multiple enemies at a time, the Laser which is very strong but doesn't cover as much area making it more of a challenge when dealing with all the enemies coming at you..then there's the Plasma which is a pink laser that twists and bends and attacks multiple enemies all over the screen. While not as strong as the Laser, it comes in handy when taking out swarms of ships and ground based turrets and tanks. Another version of Plasma is Proton which looks like the Plasma as far as texture and color but is 3 lasers shooting in multiple directions. Added to theses are secondary weapons like the bomb and 3 different missiles..my favorite being the Homing Missile. This paticular weopon seeks out and locks onto enemies making clearing theses swarming enemies alot easier. Try out different combonations of weapons to see which works best for you. I chose the Vulcan and Homing Missiles..talk about knocking out the enemy this gets the job done!
Some of the achievements in the game are just as difficult as the game itself. Beating the game on one credit on the hardest level is ridiculos but apparently can be done. For the faint of heart, stay away from those harder achievements or you may find yourself buying another 360 controller. LOL.
As far as the sound, I trhink everything worked well for this type of game. Explosions sound very powerful with deep bass and shakes the room if you have a nice home theater setup. The music fits the action and keeps everything flowing nicely.
Raiden IV isn't for everyone though. Like I said earlier, this game can be hard..sometimes a little too hard. Die Hard Raiden fans or shooter fans will love the challenge as I do, but beginners or novice players my cringe at the difficulty.
One thing I don't like is the fact you have to download the other 2 fighters..what a rip off.
Overall this a very satisfying game and I do recommend it, my official breakdown:
Graphics: 7.5
Sound: 6
Re-play: 7.5
Achievements: 6
Overall: 7.5 (That's my score and I'm sticking to it)
There's something for everyone. Xbox 360 mode which adds 2 additional stages that weren't included in the arcade original version, Score Attck Mode where you basically try and get the highest scores on each board, Arcade Mode which is..well, a reproduction of the original Arcade version and Practice. Because the game can be very difficult, I recommend playing practice mode or any of the modes on VERY EASY just to get the hang of things. After a few times you'll notice that you get further and further on the harder difficulties.
Raiden IV's visuals are good but nothing mind blowing. The colors are nice and vibrant, explosions fill the entire screen and enemies are animated fairly well. With a mix of old and new, everything in Raiden IV has a nice polished nostalgic look which comes off well. Vehicles can be seen on the ground driving, birds flying and ships and Jets take off from the ground. Pretty nice.
You have 3 primary weapons, the Vulcan which shootss bullets in a wide spread, killing multiple enemies at a time, the Laser which is very strong but doesn't cover as much area making it more of a challenge when dealing with all the enemies coming at you..then there's the Plasma which is a pink laser that twists and bends and attacks multiple enemies all over the screen. While not as strong as the Laser, it comes in handy when taking out swarms of ships and ground based turrets and tanks. Another version of Plasma is Proton which looks like the Plasma as far as texture and color but is 3 lasers shooting in multiple directions. Added to theses are secondary weapons like the bomb and 3 different missiles..my favorite being the Homing Missile. This paticular weopon seeks out and locks onto enemies making clearing theses swarming enemies alot easier. Try out different combonations of weapons to see which works best for you. I chose the Vulcan and Homing Missiles..talk about knocking out the enemy this gets the job done!
Some of the achievements in the game are just as difficult as the game itself. Beating the game on one credit on the hardest level is ridiculos but apparently can be done. For the faint of heart, stay away from those harder achievements or you may find yourself buying another 360 controller. LOL.
As far as the sound, I trhink everything worked well for this type of game. Explosions sound very powerful with deep bass and shakes the room if you have a nice home theater setup. The music fits the action and keeps everything flowing nicely.
Raiden IV isn't for everyone though. Like I said earlier, this game can be hard..sometimes a little too hard. Die Hard Raiden fans or shooter fans will love the challenge as I do, but beginners or novice players my cringe at the difficulty.
One thing I don't like is the fact you have to download the other 2 fighters..what a rip off.
Overall this a very satisfying game and I do recommend it, my official breakdown:
Graphics: 7.5
Sound: 6
Re-play: 7.5
Achievements: 6
Overall: 7.5 (That's my score and I'm sticking to it)
