Raiden Fighters Aces

[John Beaulieu]

Raiden Fighters was one of those titles which slipped past my radar - I was aware of it but just never got around to playing it - even via Mame ... so to finally get Raiden Fighters 1 and 2 plus Jet in the same compilation is a joy.

The ports are extremely well done - you can rotate the screen in whichever direction you choose (even so the screen is facing down) and change the framerate from 60fps, to 54 blended to 54fps true (someone with better eyes than mine might be able to tell the difference).

You can even change the over-scan from 0 - 100% ... now I have no idea what this does but in real terms it just makes the gameplay area bigger or smaller

There is no hint of slowdown anywhere - though you can assign an activate slowdown button if it rocks your boat (i tried it but couldn't get it to actually work - might only work in training mode or something).

Options are in english - and the rest of the ingame text is a mixture of english and japanese.

This is not region free - tried it in my UK 360 and no joy.

The game itself - your ship is tiny, the bullet patterns aren't too difficult early on (though the bosses spit them out at you quick style) and I found myself getting lost early on, whether its down to the small play area I don't know - gonna plug my 360 into my monitor later on for some full screen Tate action.

First run of this comes with a bonus disc showing play throughs of all 3 games - watching it and it seems that you can 'buzz' enemy bullets for extra points which is good.

Any questions don't fail to ask em

[ShadowDancer]

Sounds good Mr B I was tempted to set up a Japanese account to play the demo. Well..more than tempted, just didn't know how to do it. Nice impressions.

[Kubrick]

This is superb and a must-have for any shooter fans with a Japanese console.

I've only been playing RF1 so far, and tbh, it rocks hard. Proper fast-paced shooting action with no fancy gameplay gimmicks to confuse you; just shoot the **** out of everything to the sound of old-school rave music and avoid the bullets.

It's considerably better than the PS2 game, Raiden III, from a few years back, so that will let you guage the quality if you've never played the series in MAME before. The Raiden Fighters games are also much deeper with umpteen different ships available and lots of ways to earn score bonuses.

I would've been happy if RF1 was the only thing on the disc, but there's also the two sequels included...

[jamesy]

Got this myself yesterday. Can anyone recommend what ship is the best in RF1 or is it really just down to personal preference? I've been swapping between the orange default one and a grey/black one that is super-fast atm. Unfortuneately i suck ass at the game tho. Any you guys managed it one credit?

[Goemon]

Got this yesterday too.

Getting the Insanity DVD is a great bonus! I didn't realise it came with this.
It has Playthroughs of all 3 games on multiple difficulties with 2 audio commentaries (in JPN) as well as concept art work.

You can also save replays and DL them off the leaderboards to watch, which is cool.

I'm not 100%, but I'm sure the credits are going up the more you play the game...I thought I had 2 credits on dying when I first started playing but now I have 3.

I love this feature in shooters, it gives you just a little bit more help if you persist in playing.

I missed the Raiden's the first time round but have a hankering for shooters these days so it's cool to get a set like this. I thought as it was an old shooter it would be easier going - wrong! Tough as old leather!!

[jamesy]

I thought as it was an old shooter it would be easier going - wrong! Tough as old leather!!

Agree with that 100%. It seems there isn't as many bullets on screen as other shooters but even with that it's suprising how hectic the game still is. For RF1 anyway, that's the one i've been mostly playin atm. Gonna give the insanity dvd a run later.

[Super Monkey Balls]

Nice to hear it has some decent display options, thats always the big issue with shmup ports.

Tis a decent trilogy, Seibu giving Raiden the Cave/Psikyo treatment. Number 2 is my favourite.

[SuperBeatBoy]

Anyone know if this is getting a ps3 port? :/

[John Beaulieu]

some nice secret achievements based on play time http://xbox360achievements.org/achie...php?gameID=542

still not tried it in tate mode - too tired last night to start unplugging things but will defo do it this evening

[lurch996]

some nice secret achievements based on play time http://xbox360achievements.org/achie...php?gameID=542

I was playing in practice mode last night and all the play time achievements unlocked.

[Dazzyman]

I am cry

I need this game badly, why region protection when about 100 people in JPN have a 360!

[John Beaulieu]

they did it so that those of us who did import a japanese 360 can have a smug air about them

on a serious note - I can't think of any NTSC-J releases that have been region free (Japanese, not Asian releases I mean) so the only way to play these exclusives is to purchase a japanese console. You can buy a Japanese Arcade pack (which has the HDMI port and is more than likely a falcon unit) for £166 - still pretty expensive but I feel it's a must have for any shmup fans out there

ps my japanese unit runs quieter and cooler than both of my UK machines, and its a launch premium unit ...

[Baseley09]

I understand these games are mame'd these days? Are they mame'd for xbox tho or are they too intensive for that?

[John Beaulieu]

should we be talking about mame-ing a compilation that is now on commercial release?

[Dazzyman]

Aye I looked earlier m8 and can near enough get a machine and game for £200. Im going to wait till around June and listen for any western info (especially with Cave stuff also on cards) and if nowt happens buy JPN machine (can get shiggy 3 at same time).