Raiden

Raiden (雷電) is a 1990 scrolling shooter arcade game that was developed by Seibu Kaihatsu. It was the first game in the popular Raiden series of scrolling shooter arcade games.

Raiden first made its debut in September 1990. The game was distributed in Japan, North America by Fabtek, Taiwan by Liang HWA Electronics, Korea by IBL Corporation, Hong Kong by Wah Yan Electronics, Malaysia as well as other countries.

Raiden is also one of the arcade games (and is the first in the series) that is revived through a MAME ROM and can run on a variety of modern systems, including PCs.

Story
In the year 2090, Earth has suddenly become the target of deranged aliens. Following the invasion, a new cutting-edge weapon, the Raiden Supersonic Attack Fighter, based on the destroyed alien craft, is created for humanity's hope for survival.

Gameplay
The formula of the game is simple and typical for the era of this game. The player pilots the "Raiden Supersonic Attack Fighter" through waves of enemies, and several levels. There are two types of weapons, and the player can collect several powerups for them to make them stronger. There are bombs and missile powerups as well as collectable medals which add to the score. The game was comprised of 8 levels with mass amounts of enemies for a frantic pacing.

After defeating the Stage 8 Boss, the first mission will be completed, and a 1 million point mission clear bonus is received. When each mission start, it will start back to Stage 1. This time around, enemies shoot faster and at a more rapid rate.

Items
When specific enemies are destroyed on the screen, the following items appear:

Shot Item
 * For shots, by continuously obtaining the item already loaded onboard. the power is increased up to a levels. [Bonus points are accumulated when the item already onboard at its maximum power level is obtained again.]


 * Vulcan
 * Standard-equipped shots. When the power is increased, enemies can be shot in wide-range.


 * Laser
 * Shoots with enormous power in the forward direction. When the power is increased. the shots become wide range.

Missile Item
 * For missiles, by continuously obtaining the item already loaded onboard, the power is increased up to four levels. Bonus points are accumulated when the item already on board at its maximum power level is obtained again.


 * Nuclear
 * When the enemy is hit, this missile blows up and applies large damage. The blow and the missile count increases when the power increases.


 * Homing
 * This is a missile which chases the tail end of the enemy craft. The homing function improves when the power increases.

Bomber Items
 * The bomber is used from the last obtained bomber [on the center screen] first. When starting or restarting the game, 3 bombers or dispersion bombers are loaded on the craft. The craft can carry up to 7 bombers. If another bomber is obtained when the craft already has 7 bombers loaded, bonus points are accumulated.


 * Bomber
 * Makes a large explosion, and explodes the enemy crafts and enemy bullets for a certain amount of time. The power is significant, but the disadvantages are that there is a time lag until the explosion, and the attack range is narrow. It is useful to get players out of tight spots in certain situations.


 * Fairy
 * The fairy is hidden somewhere, and the fairy appears by shooting at a certain point on the screen. When the fairy is obtained, it will help the player when the craft is damaged, by giving you a power-up item. This fairy cannot be hit by the player's shots, so even don't worry about the fairy turning into a ten-point shot and disappearing.

Misc
 * Full Power-Up
 * This appears under certain conditions, and when obtained, the shots and missiles will reach maximum power. 100,0000 bonus points are awarded when this item is obtained when the player already has maximum power.


 * Medal
 * When a medal is obtained, bonus points are obtained. When a level is completed, the number of medals multiplied by the remaining bombers becomes the level completion bonus.


 * Miclus
 * The Miclus appears occasionally instead of medals, and are worth 10,000 bonus points.

Ports
Raiden was ported to the FM Towns Marty, NEC PC Engine, Sega Mega Drive (Raiden Densetsu), Nintendo Super Famicom (Raiden Densetsu), Super NES (Raiden Trad), Atari Jaguar, PlayStation as The Raiden Project, Atari Lynx, Amiga, MS-DOS, and the mobile phone. The MS-DOS port was coded by Nigel 'Freddy' Conroy, Steve Cullen and Martin Randall, and was spearheaded by Martin Hooley.

Legacy
Based on the success of the first Raiden game, several sequels and related games were made.

Main Series

 * Raiden II (1993)
 * Raiden DX (1994)
 * Raiden III (2005) - developed by MOSS Ltd
 * Raiden IV (2007)

Spinoffs

 * Viper Phase 1 (1995) - A spin-off of the "Raiden" series.
 * Raiden Fighters (1996)
 * Raiden Fighters 2: Operation Hell Dive (1997)
 * Raiden Fighters 2: 2000 Operation Hell Dive (2000) - A version with little changes
 * Raiden Fighters Jet (1998)

Trivia

 * The title in Japanese translates to "Thunder And Lightning". Rai means thunder, and den means lightning. The closest English approximation of the pronunciation is /RHY-den/, not /RAY-den/.