Raiden II is a 1993 vertical-scrolling shoot em up created by Seibu Daihatsu and Kinesoft. It is the sequel to Raiden and the second main title in the Raiden series.
Plot[]
The game is set roughly three years after the first one. After successfully defeating the Cranassians in the first game, the remains forces of the hostile species form an army in order to complete the mission originally intended by the original Cranassians, conquering the planet and destroying anyone or anything getting into their way. Upon hearing this news, the World Alliance Military construct a more powerful Raiden starfighter dubbed "Raiden Mk-II" based off the original Raiden fighter with the same weapons, but also several new ones as well in an attempt to save the Earth once more.
Gameplay[]
The sequel proves to be more superior than its predecessor, with not only better graphics, but also a wider range of weapons. In addition to the Vulcan Cannon and the Ion Laser from the original game, a new weapon known as the Plasma "Toothpaste" Laser was also added as a primary weapon, where a beam of plasma contracts from the player's starfighter and locks onto nearby enemies, but causing less damage than the other two aforementioned weapons. The other weapon implemented into the game is the cluster bomb, a bomb indicated by a yellow "B" that deals less damage than its standard counterpart, but has a much wider range.
The game consists of eight levels, each with its fair share of statical enemies and hidden secrets. As with most Shoot Em Ups, at the end of each level, there is a boss with an "unofficial" name. Many of them share similarities and battle tactics to the ones from the original game, although some have a more unique appearance to them.
Like the first game, if the player destroys certain enemies and scenery, medals and power-ups will appear which upon retrieval increase the score or firepower of the player. On rarer occasions, a fairy will appear which will give the player a major boost in their score and upon their next death, will grant them several power-ups to help restore the weapons they lost.
Weapons[]
Like the first game, the Raiden starfighter is able to use wide variety of old and newly introduced weapons:
Primary[]
These are the initial weapons the Raiden Mk-II uses.
- Vulcan Cannon: The default weapon of the Raiden Mk-II, a simple cannon that fires small, red shots. It is indicated by red power-ups. When upgraded, the spread will increase on the number of shots, allowing the cannon to hit a wider amount of enemies.
- Ion Laser: Probably the most powerful of the three primary weapons, it is a long beam that can penetrate a number of enemies and deal a large amount of damage. It is indicated by blue power-ups. When upgraded, the length and number of streams fired increases until it becomes one huge beam at maximum.
- Plasma "Toothpaste" Laser: The newest primary weapon introduced, it initially behaves similar to the Vulcan Cannon, but after processing, with gradually become a beam of plasma that will lock on to nearby enemies, giving it a toothpaste-like appearance. While it has the best accuracy of all the primary weapons, it has the lowest damage output. It is indicated by purple power-ups. When upgraded, the width of the beam and damage output will increase.
Secondary[]
These two weapons consists of missiles, and will fire spontaneously with the primary weapons.
- Nuclear Missiles: These missiles move nearly straightforward and upon impact, deal a devastating amount of damage. They are indicated by a yellow "M" power-up. Upon upgrading, the size and number of missiles fired will increase.
- Homing Missiles: The missiles will track down any nearby enemies and seek to destroy them, while they are more accurate than their nuclear counterpart, they however deal less damage. They are indicated by a green "H" power-up. Upon upgrading, the size, number of missiles fired, and frequency of firing will increase.
Bombs[]
Like its predecessor, the Raiden Mk-II is capable of deploying bombs.
- Thermonuclear Bomb: The basic bomb from the original Raiden. When deployed, it will destroy all enemies and significantly damage any bosses within its explosion radius. They are indicated by a red "B" power-up.
- Cluster Bomb: The new type of bomb introduced into the game. When deployed, it will release several more bombs when exploding, which will cover a wider area unlike its original counterpart, they however, deal less damage. They are indicated by a yellow "B" power-up.
Other Weapons[]
Occasionally, when a certain cargo ship or container is destroyed, instead of the usual weapon power-up that is usually released, a black "P" power-up will drop instead. When collected, it will fully upgrade all weapons currently equipped by the Raiden Mk-II.
Miscellaneous Items[]
Like the previous game, there are several other types of pick-ups available after destroying certain enemies or scenery.
- Medals: The most common item that appears upon certain enemy/scenery destruction, as one would assume, they increase the score of the player by 50 points (small) or by 500 points (large). On very rare occasions, a character will appear in place of the medals, collecting this will grant the player a huge bonus of 5000 points
- Extra Life: Once the score has reached 50000 points, the player is awarded an additional life, afterwards, every other life will be obtained for every 100000 points they accumulate. On rare occasions, an extra life may be dropped from a crate.