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Raiden Fighters Aces Review for Xbox 360

Raiden Fighters Aces Review for Xbox 360

Rapid Fire

Even during their mid-to-late 90s heyday, the Raiden Fighters games weren’t all that special. They were basic arcade shooters with all the stereotypical features, such as rapid-firing weapon power-ups to collect, “bullet hell” screens full of enemies, gunfire, and explosions to survive, huge bosses to defeat, war-zone backgrounds to traverse, and bombs to give players a little space in tight situations. However, these were exceptionally well-designed and fun games, and the new Raiden Fighters Aces collection pulls Raiden Fighters, Raiden Fighters 2, and Raiden Fighters Jet together for just $19.99. Toss in countless difficulty, gameplay, and display options, and the disc is a very solid buy.

Raiden Fighters Aces screenshot

Of all the tweakable settings these titles feature, the difficulty is by far the most important. Those who simply want to run through the games can give themselves infinite continues (the only remaining obstacle being that on some levels, the use of a continue boots you back to the beginning). Obsessive players wanting to memorize enemy entrances can go with the very lowest difficulty, in which the enemies don’t shoot, and turn on slow motion. Accomplished players can play in the special Expert mode (where the planes you demolish leave debris). Everyone else can adjust the difficulty from Very Easy to Very Hard, and the number of continues from one to nine. In other words, pick the level of dedication you plan to apply, and this collection will give you a way to play.

There’s a decent amount of gameplay variety as well. In addition to the plain-old Arcade mode, you can fight just the bosses or play score-attack battles. There’s local co-op as well if you don’t mind the screen getting even busier, and competitive types can sign in to Xbox LIVE to vie for a spot on the leaderboards. You can even save videos of your offline matches and download videos of the leaderboards’ top scorers to ape their techniques.

Raiden Fighters Aces screenshot

The visual options are great as well. The graphics, like the sound, haven’t been updated since the original arcade releases, but on an HDTV, they still won’t look quite authentic. Connoisseurs of the genuine experience will want to turn on scan lines, drop the framerate to the original 54 fps, and find a suitable visual filter. Conversely, modernists can flip the game on its side to use more surface area on a widescreen (they can play the game horizontally, or flip their TVs sideways to make the game vertical again), and even adjust the way the computer smoothes the edges of the pixelated visuals.

Obviously, the lack of re-made, high-definition graphics will irritate some modern gamers, as will the lack of decent sound. The visuals are noticeably bland relative to those seen in modern shooters such as Ikaruga (or even the XBLA R-Type remake), and the techno music can be a bit much. However, the many options that are available will make these flaws livable, at least.

Raiden Fighters Aces screenshot

Returning to the games themselves, again, there’s nothing here that will shock or awe a jaded “shmup” fan. You shoot constantly, avoid enemies and bullets, and try to memorize where all the bad guys come from so you can eliminate them quickly. With bosses, you look for the weak spots and unload into them and try to steer clear of the generous streams of projectiles they fire. The games are very short in themselves; with unlimited continues, they’re maybe 20 minutes apiece.

There are a few interesting aspects to the series and its development over the three titles, though. One is that the controls are arranged well. The A and B buttons shoot and drop bombs, respectively, and the buttons above them (X and Y) are used for turbo fire. This way, you can “charge” attacks by holding the lower buttons (a rare capability in shmups), and shoot rapidly with the upper buttons without wearing your thumbs off.

Raiden Fighters Aces screenshot

Another is that you can choose between many different types of vehicles. For the most part, these are just graphical replacements (they won’t change your strategy greatly), but they do vary in their maneuverability and weapons. When charged, some fire many projectiles, but others fire a smaller number of homing missiles.

Also, while Raiden Fighters and Raiden Fighters 2 are quite similar, Raiden Fighters Jet has a very weird structure. Rather than fighting through a set series of levels, you have to beat levels whose bosses come from the previous games in order to get to the “real” levels. At first, this is an interesting twist, but of course it opens the game to charges of recycling old material (also of hiding the new stuff buyers of this collection will actually play Jet for). Also interesting is that the levels you play depend on how well you perform; you can skip levels if you score high enough.

Essentially, Raiden Fighters Aces provides three games, a plethora of options, and a ton of fun at a low price. Fans of the original arcade games can perfectly re-create their experience, newcomers who like arcade shooters in general will have a blast, and high-score devotees will dedicate hours upon hours to topping the leaderboards. Because the games aren’t terribly innovative, this isn’t a must-buy by any stretch, but it’s certainly a should-buy.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 3.7 Graphics
The original graphics were good for the time, but they’ve grown a bit dated. On the upside, though, there are tons of ways to adjust the display to make it look like a classic arcade screen. 4.5 Control
It’s tough to improve on the “push a button to shoot” formula of most arcade shooters, but Raiden Fighters manages to include both charged shots and turbo fire. 2.0 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Bad, annoying techno. 3.9 Play Value
This isn’t the most innovative game, but it offers many difficulty levels through which to hone your skills, as well as two-player co-op and online leaderboards. 4.1 Overall Rating – Great
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • An Xbox 360 exclusive containing leaderboards, publishable game clips, and 32 Xbox LIVE achievements worth 1,000 gamer points.
  • All three Raiden Fighters games on one disc.
  • Training mode with slow-motion, level selection, and ship configuration.
  • Standard vertical scrolling, full-screen side-scrolling, or full-screen vertical scrolling on a rotated display.
  • Two-player cooperative offline play.

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