After seemingly striking “gold” with the release of the original Raiden game, Seibu Kaihatsu would go onto seeing just what more they could squeeze out of this little hidden shmup game they had with the release of a sequel, Raiden II, which was definitely another Raiden game, alright. Most of it was just basically a standalone expansion of that previous game, playing almost identically to that original game, but it did make some small, yet significant changes to the game that definitely made it the more preferable option over the original, and it was also similarly pretty successful, meaning that Seibu clearly needed to keep this train rolling if they were going to keep making games until the end of time. However, for now, the main Raiden series was gonna take a bit of a break for about a decade or so, as we jump into the wild and… oddly similar world of spin-off games that were made for this franchise, such as the case with the first spin-off this series would ever get, Viper Phase 1.
Y’all ever see any TV show or movie before that involves a character getting stuck in a time loop, where they need to do something very specific in the loop in order to break free from it and find out what is going on? Well, I feel like I am in my own personal time loop with this series, as despite being labeled as a spin-off of the series, this game is pretty much just another Raiden game copied and pasted over in all but name. And look, I get it, having a consistent formula is definitely important for keeping a series like this alive and well, but at the same time, people are gonna feel like they are reading one of my reviews after a while, seeing very little change, becoming greatly disinterested, and leaving to go check out something fresh and new. However, with that being said, I did still give the game a fair chance whenever I did play it, and you know what, I would dare say that this is the best game in the Raiden series so far. Sure, most of the game hangs on too closely to its roots for my own liking, and it does get rid of some stuff that does kinda suck to see go, but it still managed to be a really solid shooter that managed to remind me why I keep coming back to this series in the first place.
The story is somewhat more creative the previous Raiden games, where in the distant future of 2050, humans have begun to colonize and move onto many different planets in the solar system, but in this process, many start to feud and rebel against each other, with one group in particular sending an entire armada to take down Earth, so it is up to you to take flight and take down the rebels before it is too late, which is a bit more of an interesting story, but it is more or less just another excuse for you to go blow up more shit, and I am completely ok with that. The graphics are pretty great, looking very similar to that of the previous two games, except now it is a lot more smoothed out, much faster, and has some very impressive animations in comparisons to what came before, so I will give it props for that, the music is pretty good, with most of the tracks feeling very uplifting, giving you the courage to take down every single enemy that stands in your way, and it is great to listen to, and the gameplay/control is very solid all around, providing just the right amount of fast-paced, explosive action that you are looking for in a shmup, even if it doesn’t do anything too new for the series that it is a part of.
The game is a vertical shmup, where you take control of a Fighting Viper once again, go through eight different levels across several different generic levels in space and possibly Earth, shoot down whatever enemy, building, or what have you that is in your way with whatever weapon you can find to ensure your victory, gather plenty of different power ups and bombs to get much stronger and more prepared for whatever lies ahead, while upgrading said power ups so that they can reach their full destructive potential, and take on quite a few bosses that will test your skill in a way where you will need to step up your game in order to take them down, but you won’t feel like you need to be a god in order to take them down. It is essentially a much more refined and polished evolution of the Raiden series, not doing anything too drastic to the formula, but instead just ironing everything out to be a lot smoother, faster, and more fun, which is a pretty good thing in my opinion, as fans of the series should be able to jump in and have a great time as a result.
One thing that stood out about this game compared to the others (or at least, the one thing that did feel like a significant difference) was in terms of the game’s difficulty, which, when compared to the previous two games, is MUCH more fair this time around. You know how these games usually go, they will usually show no mercy, throwing everything at you with the kitchen sink in the hopes of taking you down, and while you can definitely avoid a lot of this in plenty of instances, there have been many times where I just simply had to accept my fate and suffer as a result. Thankfully though, in this game, they hold back on the amount of shit they throw at you at once, while also still giving you plenty of fantastic powerups to use to combat forces, such as a barrage of missiles, bombs that can be shot right alongside your main shot, and of course, my one true love, the blue laser of death. It feels like the perfect balance of challenge for a game like this, giving you plenty to work with to take on what lies ahead, while also still keeping you on your toes in plenty of cases.
With all that being said though, if you can’t appreciate some of the finer changes and details like that, then what you have here is yet another typical vertical shooter that, while looking and sounding nicer, doesn’t do anything to evolve this series further then the point that it had already reached previously. Sure, the game did get a second version that did change up some of the elements in this game, but it is nothing to get too worked up over, and if you are burnt out on shmups at this point, neither version of this game will change your mind otherwise. Not to mention, compared to Raiden II, the power ups in this game kinda feel like a downgrade, where you can’t get extremely powerful versions of the different power ups that you get anymore, and you only have one type of bomb rather than two different types. Granted, the power ups that you get in the game are still great to use, but they don’t have as much variety as that last game did have, which is somewhat disappointing.
Overall though, despite a severe lack of change and lack of variety in the power ups, Viper Phase 1 still manages to be a really good shmup at the end of the day, and another solid entry in the Raiden series, providing plenty of the same explosive and fun-filled gameplay you have come to expect, being paired right alongside great visuals and music, and having a level of difficulty that doesn’t feel like it is actively trying to fuck you at every turn, while also still not giving you much of an easy time either. I would definitely recommend it for those who are fans of the previous Raiden games, as well as those who are fans of shmups in general, because those players will find themselves here a game that won’t blow them away, but will still be fun enough to where they won’t regret having played it, while being short enough to where you could blaze through it in a half-hour or so. Let’s just hope though that the next game in the series steps up their A-game with what they bring to the table, but really, all they need to do to satisfy my needs is just to bring back the Ghostbusters laser from the last game. What can I say, bustin’ makes me feel good, y’know?
Game #581
Y’all ever see any TV show or movie before that involves a character getting stuck in a time loop, where they need to do something very specific in the loop in order to break free from it and find out what is going on? Well, I feel like I am in my own personal time loop with this series, as despite being labeled as a spin-off of the series, this game is pretty much just another Raiden game copied and pasted over in all but name. And look, I get it, having a consistent formula is definitely important for keeping a series like this alive and well, but at the same time, people are gonna feel like they are reading one of my reviews after a while, seeing very little change, becoming greatly disinterested, and leaving to go check out something fresh and new. However, with that being said, I did still give the game a fair chance whenever I did play it, and you know what, I would dare say that this is the best game in the Raiden series so far. Sure, most of the game hangs on too closely to its roots for my own liking, and it does get rid of some stuff that does kinda suck to see go, but it still managed to be a really solid shooter that managed to remind me why I keep coming back to this series in the first place.
The story is somewhat more creative the previous Raiden games, where in the distant future of 2050, humans have begun to colonize and move onto many different planets in the solar system, but in this process, many start to feud and rebel against each other, with one group in particular sending an entire armada to take down Earth, so it is up to you to take flight and take down the rebels before it is too late, which is a bit more of an interesting story, but it is more or less just another excuse for you to go blow up more shit, and I am completely ok with that. The graphics are pretty great, looking very similar to that of the previous two games, except now it is a lot more smoothed out, much faster, and has some very impressive animations in comparisons to what came before, so I will give it props for that, the music is pretty good, with most of the tracks feeling very uplifting, giving you the courage to take down every single enemy that stands in your way, and it is great to listen to, and the gameplay/control is very solid all around, providing just the right amount of fast-paced, explosive action that you are looking for in a shmup, even if it doesn’t do anything too new for the series that it is a part of.
The game is a vertical shmup, where you take control of a Fighting Viper once again, go through eight different levels across several different generic levels in space and possibly Earth, shoot down whatever enemy, building, or what have you that is in your way with whatever weapon you can find to ensure your victory, gather plenty of different power ups and bombs to get much stronger and more prepared for whatever lies ahead, while upgrading said power ups so that they can reach their full destructive potential, and take on quite a few bosses that will test your skill in a way where you will need to step up your game in order to take them down, but you won’t feel like you need to be a god in order to take them down. It is essentially a much more refined and polished evolution of the Raiden series, not doing anything too drastic to the formula, but instead just ironing everything out to be a lot smoother, faster, and more fun, which is a pretty good thing in my opinion, as fans of the series should be able to jump in and have a great time as a result.
One thing that stood out about this game compared to the others (or at least, the one thing that did feel like a significant difference) was in terms of the game’s difficulty, which, when compared to the previous two games, is MUCH more fair this time around. You know how these games usually go, they will usually show no mercy, throwing everything at you with the kitchen sink in the hopes of taking you down, and while you can definitely avoid a lot of this in plenty of instances, there have been many times where I just simply had to accept my fate and suffer as a result. Thankfully though, in this game, they hold back on the amount of shit they throw at you at once, while also still giving you plenty of fantastic powerups to use to combat forces, such as a barrage of missiles, bombs that can be shot right alongside your main shot, and of course, my one true love, the blue laser of death. It feels like the perfect balance of challenge for a game like this, giving you plenty to work with to take on what lies ahead, while also still keeping you on your toes in plenty of cases.
With all that being said though, if you can’t appreciate some of the finer changes and details like that, then what you have here is yet another typical vertical shooter that, while looking and sounding nicer, doesn’t do anything to evolve this series further then the point that it had already reached previously. Sure, the game did get a second version that did change up some of the elements in this game, but it is nothing to get too worked up over, and if you are burnt out on shmups at this point, neither version of this game will change your mind otherwise. Not to mention, compared to Raiden II, the power ups in this game kinda feel like a downgrade, where you can’t get extremely powerful versions of the different power ups that you get anymore, and you only have one type of bomb rather than two different types. Granted, the power ups that you get in the game are still great to use, but they don’t have as much variety as that last game did have, which is somewhat disappointing.
Overall though, despite a severe lack of change and lack of variety in the power ups, Viper Phase 1 still manages to be a really good shmup at the end of the day, and another solid entry in the Raiden series, providing plenty of the same explosive and fun-filled gameplay you have come to expect, being paired right alongside great visuals and music, and having a level of difficulty that doesn’t feel like it is actively trying to fuck you at every turn, while also still not giving you much of an easy time either. I would definitely recommend it for those who are fans of the previous Raiden games, as well as those who are fans of shmups in general, because those players will find themselves here a game that won’t blow them away, but will still be fun enough to where they won’t regret having played it, while being short enough to where you could blaze through it in a half-hour or so. Let’s just hope though that the next game in the series steps up their A-game with what they bring to the table, but really, all they need to do to satisfy my needs is just to bring back the Ghostbusters laser from the last game. What can I say, bustin’ makes me feel good, y’know?
Game #581