BrandWikiReturn

Raiden (video game)

Raiden (雷電) is a 1990 vertically scrolling shooter video game developed by Seibu Kaihatsu and published by Tecmo for arcades. The game's story takes place in the year 2090, when an alien species known as the Crystals invaded Earth. Players assume the roles of the Vanquish Crystal Defense pilot duo, taking control of two state of the art Fighting Thunders aircraft to defeat the Crystals and save the Earth.

The game was conceived after Dynamite Duke, Seibu Kaihatsu's prior title, failed to sell as well as expected. During development, the game was designed as a vertically scrolling shooter due to the popularity of the genre at the time. Cheaper arcade hardware had to be used due to financial constraints caused by Dynamite Duke's poor sales.[4][5]

Although Seibu doubted Raiden's success, it managed to sell 17,000 arcade units worldwide, helping to recuperate the company's investments through word-of-mouth. The title became a critical success, with its most lauded features being the graphics, music, gameplay and co-operative play.

Due to the success of Raiden, several sequels and related games were made. Raiden was ported to home computers and various home video game consoles in the early to mid 1990s. The game was released as part of several compilations and through download services such as PlayStation Network. The ports received mixed to positive reception.[6]

Gameplay

Raiden is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up game consisting of eight stages of increasing difficulty. In each stage, the player maneuvers the Fighting Thunder craft, engaging various enemies and avoiding their attacks. In cooperative play, both players can generate special projectiles that damage enemies by shooting the other player craft. After completing the eighth and final stage, the player returns to the first stage with the difficulty increased.

Collectible items include bombs, which cancel out enemy fire and deal damage over a wide area; weapon power-ups; and score-increasing medals. There are two bonus collectible items: the Miclus (a boss in Seibu Kaihatsu's 1985 title Wiz) and a fairy that releases power-up items when the player dies. When the player dies, the fighter's shrapnel become projectiles that damage enemies. If all lives are lost during a gameplay session, the game is over unless players insert more credits into the arcade machine to continue playing. Upon continuing, the player will start at the last checkpoint reached.

Plot

The story of Raiden takes place in the year 2090, when a species of alien lifeforms known as the Crystals invaded Earth. The Crystals took control over most of Earth's military hardware to use in the invasion. In response, the world organization known as Vanquish Crystal Defense (VCD) develops the Fighting Thunder attack craft, a cutting-edge weapon based on Crystal technology. To survive against the invaders and fight back, VCD deploys Fighting Thunder as the only hope for humanity.

Development

According to graphic designer and current MOSS CEO Toshinobu Komazawa, the creation of Dynamite Duke gave Seibu Kaihatsu the opportunity to begin developing Raiden, as the former did not sell as well as Seibu had hoped. In order to recoup the costs of developing Dynamite Duke, the decision was made to develop a shoot 'em up instead of a sequel to it.[5] Komazawa noted that the development of Raiden had a negative outlook, but an earnest beginning, since the shoot 'em up genre was "relatively inexpensive to produce" games for, as well as increasing in popularity at the time. Due to financial constraints, the company opted to use arcade hardware less powerful than those used in their previous titles. Seibu could only afford to develop a shoot 'em up with their development budget, with the project becoming a financial decision, as they had no other choice of game to make.[5] Seibu took production notes from the overseas market, borrowing ideas from popular titles such as Capcom's 1942, Xevious from Namco, and Twin Cobra by Toaplan.

The production of Raiden was led by Seibu Kaihatsu president Hitoshi Hamada, while Tetsuya Kawaguchi served as its designer and programmer K. Kondo and S. Mori were the other programmers.[5] Komazawa, H. Matsuo, T. Matsuzawa and T. Wada were responsible for creating the in-game artwork.[5] Y. Segawa was responsible for creating the arcade hardware. Near the end of development, Komazawa praised the programmers at Seibu for being able to produce a high-quality game on less powerful hardware.[5]

Music

The music for Raiden was composed by Akira Sato. A Raiden/Raiden II soundtrack was published by INH Co., Ltd. It includes soundtracks from Raiden (Arcade, PlayStation), Raiden Densetsu (FM Towns), Raiden II (Arcade, PlayStation) and Raiden DX (Arcade) as well as other extras.[7]

Release and ports

Raiden was first released in the arcades in April 1990 by Tecmo in Japan. It was released in North America by Fabtek, Taiwan by Liang HWA Electronics, South Korea by IBL Corporation, and Hong Kong by Wah Yan Electronics. The game was ported to various platforms, with each port featuring several changes and additions. In 2022, the arcade version will be included as part of the Sega Astro City Mini V, a vertically oriented variant of the Sega Astro City mini console.[8]

The PC Engine conversion was developed by A.I Company and first published by Hudson Soft in Japan on 22 November 1991, and released a few months later on the North American TurboGrafx-16 by NEC Technologies. It is a mostly faithful port of the arcade original.[4][9]

The Atari Jaguar version was developed by Imagitec Design, then released in North America in November 1993.[10][11] The North America, Europe and Japan releases were distributed by Atari Corporation and Mumin Corporation in 1994 respectively.[12][13][14] It features various presentation and gameplay changes from the original arcade version.[4]

The MS-DOS port was coded by Nigel 'Freddy' Conroy, Steve Cullen and Martin Randall, and spearheaded by Martin Hooley at Imagitec. It shares the same visual design as the Jaguar conversion with the addition of a full-screen display. Its differences from the Jaguar port include support only for FM sound. It was released only in North America in 1994.[4]

A handheld version was developed by BlueSky Software and launched for the Atari Lynx across North America and Europe in 1997 by Telegames, long after the Lynx's commercial lifespan had ended. It was only available through direct order and a few select retailers.[15][16]

Raiden Trad and Raiden Densetsu

The FM Towns release was titled Raiden Densetsu ("Legend of Raiden") in Japan, while both the Mega Drive/Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System ports were given the name Raiden Trad across all regions ("Trad" being an abbreviation of tradition, an alternative meaning of densetsu). Each version of Trad was developed and distributed by different developers and publishers; Toei Animation published the SNES version despite not providing animation services.[4] A European release of the Mega Drive version was planned for release by Ubi Soft as part of a multi-game licensing deal with Bignet, but was never officially released in the region.[17][18]

Super Raiden

Super Raiden is a PC Engine Super CD-ROM² version of the TurboGrafx-16 HuCard port. Its main new feature is the use of Redbook CD Audio for an arranged soundtrack, along with additional stages exclusive to the CD version.[4] It was developed by A.I Company and released on 2 April 1992, in Japan by Hudson Soft.[19]

The Raiden Project

Both the original Raiden and Raiden II were included as part of The Raiden Project compilation. The included games are based directly on the original arcade releases and offers several options not found in other ports.[4] The Project version of the first Raiden was re-released by Hamster Corporation as a stand-alone PlayStation title for their Arcade Hits series. It was later available as a digital download on the Japanese PlayStation Network store, playable on the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Portable.[20]

  • See main article: The Raiden Project

Re-releases

Raiden was first adapted on mobile phones by Com2uS in 2004.[21] The original game was later included as part of the 2012 compilation Raiden Legacy by DotEmu for mobile devices, PCs and other platforms. Raiden Legacy also includes the three games in the Raiden Fighters sub-series. On July 1, 2021, the arcade version of the game got ported for modern consoles[22] as part of the Arcade Archives series.[23]

Cancelled ports

An Amiga version was announced in late 1993 to be under development by Imagitec Design. It was intended to be published by U.S. Gold, but according to a former Imagitec employee on an Amiga-dedicated internet forum, it was left unreleased due to the arrival of newer systems on the market.[24][25][26][27] Another version was made by Imagitec for the Atari Falcon, announced in 1994.[28] Early playable builds of both versions have since been leaked online.[29][30]

Reception

Arcade

The original arcade release of Raiden did not make as much money initially, with Komazawa attributing this to the game's underpowered hardware and lack of flashy visuals to draw players in.[5] A few months after its release, the game began to generate increased income, resulting in an increase in arcade establishments requesting orders of the hardware. Seibu Kaihatsu ended up selling around 17,000 units through steady sales for a year.[5]

In Japan, Game Machine listed the title on its 1 July 1990 issue as being the most successful table arcade unit at the time, outperforming titles such as Lightning Fighters and Columns.[102] It went on to be Japan's sixth highest-grossing arcade game of 1990[103] and fifth highest-grossing arcade game of 1991.[104]

It was also an arcade hit for Fabtek in North America,[105] where it became a chart-topper.[106] During November and December 1990, weekly coin drop earnings averaged $194.25 per arcade unit.[107]

Raiden was included as one of the titles in the 2010 book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die.[108]

Jaguar

Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the Atari Jaguar version an average of 6 out of 10. The four reviewers agreed that it was virtually identical to the arcade version, but were divided about the quality of the game itself. Two of them described Raiden as "above average", and two described it as mediocre, saying that the ship moves too slow, enemy fire often blends in with the background, and the graphics are subpar given the Jaguar's capabilities.[55] GamePro similarly criticized that the gameplay is outdated, the ship moves too slow, and that the graphics do not live up to the Jaguar's potential. They concluded that "a snoozer like Raiden just seems out of place on a powerful system like the Jaguar".[62] The Jaguar version has sold more than 22,000 copies since its release as of 1 April 1995, though it is unknown how many were sold in total during its lifetime.[109]

Legacy

The success of Raiden resulted in several sequels and spin-offs across multiple platforms. Seibu Kaihatsu developed the Raiden games until they went bankrupt in 2005. Japanese developer MOSS, formed by Seibu Kaihatsu's development staff, purchased the rights to the series, with their first release being Raiden III in 2005. In 1994, the game's trademark was abandoned.[110]

External links

References

  1. Machine Catalog: Video Games RePlay, October 1990^
  2. Software List (Software Licensee Release) Sega Hardware Encyclopedia, Sega Corporation, retrieved May 15, 2023^
  3. Raiden Trad Available Early September 1991 VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, October 1991, retrieved January 10, 2022^
  4. Sotenga. Raiden Hardcore Gaming 101, 12 February 2011, retrieved 2019-07-13^
  5. (Translation by Shmuplations. ). THE FLASH DESIRE 雷電III inhgroup.com, 2007, retrieved 2019-10-03^
  6. Robert A. Jung. The Atari Bin - Jaguar Reviews - Raiden electric-escape.net, retrieved 2019-10-07^
  7. 雷電/雷電II inhgroup.com, retrieved 2019-07-14^
  8. Damien McFerran. Sega's Astro City Mini Is Getting A 'TATE' Version Packed With Shmup Goodness Nintendo Life, Nlife Media, December 17, 2021, retrieved 2021-12-17^
  9. PC-ENGINE Soft > 1991 GAME Data Room, retrieved 2019-07-16^
  10. Adrian Wallett. Joe Sousa (Atari) – Interview arcadeattack.co.uk, 28 June 2019, retrieved 2019-07-20^
  11. Adrian Wallett. Mark Hooley (Atari/Imagitec) – Interview arcadeattack.co.uk, 4 October 2019, retrieved 2019-10-05^
  12. Jason Smith. Atari Jaguar Timeline jaguarsector.com, retrieved 2019-07-16^
  13. Justin Castle. Historical Atari Jaguar UK Magazine Advert/Reviews Collection Issuu, 21 July 2018, retrieved 2018-09-04^
  14. JAGUAR Soft > 1994-1995 GAME Data Room, retrieved 2019-07-16^
  15. News Bits GamePro, IDG, June 1997, retrieved 2 December 2018^
  16. Recent Sightings of an Endangered Species GameFan, Shinno Media, October 1997, retrieved 3 December 2018^
  17. News – Ubisoft in exclusive Megadrive Game Import Deal Shocker! MegaTech, EMAP, December 1991^
  18. Gutter Talk – Ubi-Renovation-Soft Sega Force, Europress Impact, January 1992^
  19. Super Raiden The PC Engine Software Bible, retrieved 16 July 2019^
  20. Major Wave シリーズ アーケードヒッツ 雷電 HAMSTER Corporation, retrieved 2019-07-17^
  21. Alex Navarro. Raiden Review (MOBI) GameSpot, CBS Interactive, 18 November 2004, retrieved 2019-07-17^
  22. Arcade Archives RAIDEN store.playstation.com, retrieved 2024-09-26^
  23. The Classic Raiden Is Coming To Nintendo Switch On 1 July As Part Of Arcade Archives – NintendoHill nintendohill.com, 2021-06-25, retrieved 2021-06-25^
  24. Derek DeLa Fuente. Imagitec US Gold Joystick, Anuman Interactive, October 1993, retrieved 8 June 2018^
  25. First Impressions - Raiden CU Amiga, EMAP, October 1993^
  26. Mick Schnelle. Amiga CD-Joker - Preview -- Raiden Amiga Joker, Joker-Verlag, January 1995^
  27. ChEoPS. Raiden!!!! English Amiga Board, 9 July 2004, retrieved 2019-07-15^
  28. Falcon Games - Raiden ST Magazine, Pressimage, January 1994, retrieved 14 July 2019^
  29. Raiden (partially found unreleased Amiga port of arcade shooter; 1990s) lostmediawiki.com, retrieved 2019-07-15^
  30. Atari ST - Raiden [Falcon030] atarimania.com, retrieved 2019-07-15^
  31. Raiden Trad for Genesis GameRankings, CBS Interactive, 2019, retrieved 2019-07-20^
  32. Raiden Trad for Super Nintendo GameRankings, CBS Interactive, 2019, retrieved 2019-07-20^
  33. Raiden for Jaguar GameRankings, CBS Interactive, 2019, retrieved 2019-07-19^
  34. Raiden for Mobile GameRankings, CBS Interactive, 2019, retrieved 2019-07-19^
  35. Ulrich Mühl. Konsolen Konvertlerungen - Raiden Densetsu (Super Famicom) Aktueller Software Markt, Tronic Verlag, April 1992, retrieved 10 June 2018^
  36. Bernd Quermann, Martin Lethaus. Raiden - Those were the days... Aktueller Software Markt, Tronic Verlag, May 1994, retrieved 19 July 2019^
  37. Shawn Sackenheim. Raiden (TurboGrafx-16) - Review AllGame, All Media Network, 1998, retrieved 2019-07-20^
  38. AllGame Rating AllGame, All Media Network, 1998, retrieved 2019-07-19^
  39. Brett Alan Weiss. Raiden (DOS) - Overview AllGame, All Media Network, 1998, retrieved 2019-07-19^
  40. Kyle Knight. Raiden (Lynx) - Review AllGame, All Media Network, 1998, retrieved 2019-07-19^
  41. Keita Iida. AGH Jaguar Review: RAIDEN atarihq.com, 1995, retrieved 2019-07-19^
  42. Keita Iida. AGH Lynx Review: RAIDEN atarihq.com, 1997, retrieved 2019-07-19^
  43. Jonathan Maddock. Action Feature - Raiden Atari ST User, Europress, September 1994, retrieved 10 June 2018^
  44. Be Mega Dog Race - 雷電伝説 Beep! Mega Drive, SoftBank Creative, July 1991^
  45. Paul Rand. CVG Review - Jaguar - Raiden Computer and Video Games, Future Publishing, May 1994^
  46. François Hermelin. Megadrive Review – Raiden Trad Consoles +, M.E.R.7, September 1991, retrieved 10 June 2018^
  47. Kaneda Kun, François Hermelin. PC Engine Review – Raiden Consoles +, M.E.R.7, January 1992^
  48. François Hermelin, Kaneda Kun. Super Famicom Review – Raiden Densetsu Consoles +, M.E.R.7, November 1991^
  49. François Hermelin. PC Engine CD ROM Review – Super Raiden Consoles +, M.E.R.7, April 1992^
  50. Testscreen - Raiden Edge, Future plc, March 1994^
  51. Bill Kunkel. Raiden - Blast Away Space Pirates on the Jaguar Electronic Games, Decker Publications, April 1994^
  52. Reviews - Cartridges - Raiden Electronic Games, Decker Publications, June 1994^
  53. Steve Harris, Ed Semrad, Martin Alessi, Ken Williams. Review Crew - Genesis - Raiden Trad Electronic Gaming Monthly, Sendai Publishing, October 1991^
  54. Steve Harris, Ed Semrad, Martin Alessi, Ken Williams. Review Crew - TurboGrafx - Raiden Trad Electronic Gaming Monthly, Sendai Publishing, December 1991^
  55. Ed Semrad, Danyon Carpenter, Al Manuel, Ken Williams. Review Crew - Jaguar - Raiden Electronic Gaming Monthly, Sendai Publishing, March 1994^
  56. 雷電伝説 まとめ ［メガドライブ］/ ファミ通.com Famitsu, ASCII, 12 July 1991, retrieved 2019-07-20^
  57. 雷電 まとめ ［PCエンジン］/ ファミ通.com Famitsu, ASCII, retrieved 2019-07-20^
  58. スーパー雷電 まとめ ［PCエンジン］/ ファミ通.com Famitsu, ASCII, retrieved 2019-07-20^
  59. Viewpoint - Jaguar - Raiden GameFan, DieHard Gamers Club, January 1994^
  60. Choosey Chooser. ProReview: Genesis - Raiden Trad GamePro, IDG, November 1991^
  61. Speedy Buns. ProReview: Super NES - Raiden Trad GamePro, IDG, June 1992^
  62. Scary Larry. ProReview: Jaguar - Raiden GamePro, IDG, March 1994^
  63. Philippe Querleux. Console Test – Raiden – CoregrafX Génération 4, Computec Media France, January 1992^
  64. Philippe Querleux. Console Test – Super Raiden – CoregrafX Super CD Génération 4, Computec Media France, May 1992^
  65. Olivier Canou. Test Jaguar - Raiden - Jaguar dans l´ espace Génération 4, Computec Media France, March 1994, retrieved 10 June 2018^
  66. Marcos García. Lo Más Nuevo - Raiden - Ídolos Del Aire Hobby Consolas, Axel Springer SE, November 1992^
  67. Andrew Humphreys. Jaguar - Reality Bites?: The Games - Raiden Hyper, Next Media Pty Ltd, August 1994, retrieved 2019-07-20^
  68. Robert A. Jung. Raiden - An admirably ambitious effort to duplicate the arcade game that falls slightly short of the original IGN, Ziff Davis, 7 July 1999, retrieved 2019-07-19^
  69. François Morisse, Jean-Marc Demoly. Test - NEC - Raiden Joypad, Yellow Media, January 1992^
  70. François Morisse, Jean-Marc Demoly. Test - Super Famicom - Raiden Joypad, Yellow Media, March 1992^
  71. Nourdine Nini. Test - PC Engine - Raiden Joypad, Yellow Media, June 1992^
  72. Nourdine Nini. Import - Jaguar - Raiden, deux doigts coupe-faim! Joypad, Yellow Media, August 1994^
  73. Jean-Marc Demoly. Tests – Megadrive – Raiden Trad Joystick, Anuman Interactive, September 1991^
  74. François Morisse. Tests – PC Engine – Raiden Joystick, Anuman Interactive, January 1992^
  75. François Morisse. Tests – Super Famicom – Raiden Joystick, Anuman Interactive, March 1992^
  76. Jean-Marc Demoly. Tests – Super CD-ROM – Super Raiden Joystick, Anuman Interactive, May 1992^
  77. Martin Gaksch. Spiele-Tests - Jaguar - Raiden MAN!AC, Cybermedia, May 1994, retrieved 10 June 2018^
  78. Megadrive Review - Raiden Trad Mean Machines, EMAP, December 1991^
  79. Mega File - Shoot'em Ups Round-Up: Raiden Trad Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, Maverick Magazines, September 1992^
  80. Martin Weidner. Test Jaguar - Raiden Mega Fun, CT Computec Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, March 1994, retrieved 2019-07-19^
  81. Game Index - Raiden Trad MegaTech, EMAP, December 1991^
  82. Now Playing - Raiden Trad -- Super NES Nintendo Power, Nintendo of America, May 1992^
  83. Ray. Turbo Duo Review - Raiden Play Time, CT Computec Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, July 1993^
  84. Ulf Schneider. Jaguar Review – Raiden Play Time, CT Computec Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, April 1994, retrieved 2019-07-19^
  85. Cyril Drevet. Tests De Jeux - Mega D. - Raiden Trad Player One, Média Système Édition, December 1991^
  86. Olivier Scamps. Tests De Jeux - Core G. - Raiden Trad Player One, Média Système Édition, January 1992^
  87. Olivier Scamps. Tests De Jeux - NEC Super CD-ROM - Super Raiden Player One, Média Système Édition, May 1992, retrieved 21 July 2019^
  88. Anatol Locker. Videospiele/Tests - Raiden (Mega Drive) Power Play, Future Verlag, November 1991^
  89. Winfried Forster. Videospiele/Tests - Raiden (Super NES) Power Play, Future Verlag, May 1992^
  90. Frank Heukemes. Test - Überlieger -- Raiden (MS-DOS) Power Play, Future Verlag, February 1995^
  91. Steve Jarratt. The Hard Line – Raiden (Import) Sega Power, October 1991^
  92. Power Review - Raiden Trad Sega Power, November 1991^
  93. ProReview: Review Extras - Raiden Trad Sega Pro, Paragon Publishing, December 1991^
  94. The A-Z of Sega Games – Raiden Trad (Mega Drive) Sega Pro, Paragon Publishing, March 1992^
  95. R. Froehlich. Jaguar: Raiden ST-Computer, falkemedia, July 1994, retrieved 20 July 2019^
  96. Andy Nuttall. Jaguar - Review - Raiden ST Format, Future plc, March 1994, retrieved 2019-07-20^
  97. ST Action - Jagged Edge - The Story So Far - Raiden ST Review, EMAP, December 1994, retrieved 2019-12-31^
  98. Superjogos - Raiden Trad -- A seguranç da Terra depende de um caça bombardeiro supersônico chamado Raiden Super Game, Nova Cultural, July 1992^
  99. Lord Mathias. Jaguar - Raiden Super Game Power, Nova Cultural, June 1994^
  100. D. N. Closer Look - Raiden TurboPlay, L.F.P., Inc., December 1991, retrieved 10 June 2018^
  101. Wolfgang Schaedle. Rom Check - Jaguar - Raiden Video Games, Future-Verlag, October 1994, retrieved 20 July 2019^
  102. Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos) Game Machine, Amusement Press, Inc., 1 July 1990^
  103. alternate url 第４回ゲーメスト大賞 〜 インカム部門ベスト10 Gamest, December 27, 1990^
  104. alternate url 第５回ゲーメスト大賞 〜 インカム部門ベスト10 Gamest, December 28, 1991^
  105. Machines & Markets RePlay, January 1991^
  106. Home Video 1991: with over 27 million N.E.S. systems in American homes, Super Famicom coming, future looks bright RePlay, February 1991^
  107. Editorial RePlay, January 1991^
  108. Tony Mott. 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die Universe Publishing, 2010^
  109. Atari Jaguar Lifetime Sales betaphasegames.com, retrieved 2020-01-18^
  110. Steven W. Weinrieb. RAIDEN - Trademark Details justia.com, 24 March 1994, retrieved 2020-01-11^