Raiden 4
Raiden 4 is a vertical shoot’em up released for the 360. Raiden is also the shooter known to allow a little bit of horizontal scrolling to gameplay which makes it a bit more hectic since you can’t always see all enemies on screen. The Raiden series has always been fairly popular in the genre, but that was mostly in arcades, and it’s not surprising that most console gamers don’t know the franchise. Despite that, it’s still surprising that there was absolutely no buzz around this release, but I suppose that was the same for Raiden 3 (ps2) or the recently released Raiden Fighter Aces for Xbox 360.
Raiden 4 features 3 main modes, arcade mode, Xbox 360 mode (which has 2 additional stages), and the score attack mode. There are also several difficulties to choose from.
Also it feels like there are fewer weapons than the original Raiden games. You can pick up power ups that either change or powers up your current weapon, but you’re limited to about 3 weapons. The standard shot which spreads when powered up (red), the laser which gets wider when powered (blue), and an additional laser which can either auto target enemies, or bends as your ship moves (you choose when you select your difficulty).
The game supports 2 players, but the biggest addition to this game for me was that you could choose to control both 1p and 2p ships with one controller. It’s tough to do but really fun.
The game also has a gallery that you can unlock additional images for so there’s a bit of a collection aspect for the gamers who care. There’s also the ability to save your own replays which works very well.
Over all the difficulty is also a bit tougher than previous games. Not so much that it stands out, but don’t expect to breeze through it just because you were good at the previous ones.
Raiden is an incredibly fun game for fans of the genre. But if you’re not a HUGE shoot’em up fan, or a big Raiden fan, the price tag of $40 is pretty steep. Especially when you can get the recently released Raiden Fighter Aces completion for only $20 (which is an amazing value).
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Raiden IV is the best for Jpn and America! I have completed Raiden IV in 2008! Good job!
Agreed! Raiden 4 is one of my favorite Shumup series (along with Sonic Wings). It’s pricey here, but I’m just happy it came out finally.