Though modern shooters remain popular in the land of the rising sun, most North American gamers could honestly care less. Perhaps it's because we've grown accustomed to being coddled and can no longer handle real challenges, or maybe we've just finally accepted that no westerner has the reflexes, skill and discipline required to survive a never ending hail of bullets. Either way, trying to sell a SHMUP here often amounts to little more than economic suicide, so it was rather surprising to hear that UFO Interactive had decided to bring the Japanese shooter Raiden IV stateside.
Raiden, for those unable to associate the name with anything other than Mortal Kombat or Metal Gear Solid, is a classic shooter series originally created by Seibu Kaihatsu, but now being developed by MOSS Ltd. It's a significantly tamer affair than bullet hell shooters designed by the likes of CAVE, but in many ways it's far more complex and challenging because of the slower pace. Players used to split second dodging will no doubt have trouble adapting, but in time will learn to start planning their moves several seconds ahead, turning the manic experience into something more refined and civil, not unlike a game of chess. Bosses do turn up the action with more complex bullet patterns, especially during the second loop, but again with grace of movement they can be conquered.
In keeping with the series you have the option of using several different weapons based on the colour of the power-up collected. Red gives you the wide spread Vulcan Cannon, while Blue gives you a strong forward focused Laser and purple gives you either the tracking Plasma Laser or awkward Proton Cannon depending on your pre-play selection. Collecting more power-ups of the same colour will increase your weapons level, while collecting a different colour will change weapons but maintain your current level. Nothing original, but when the formula works why change it?
Like most Xbox 360 SHMUP ports, Raiden IV has been expanded from it's original arcade release. Though you can still play the original arcade version, a special Xbox 360 mode has been added bringing two new levels and several new enemy craft into the fray. Surprisingly the added levels are rather long and significantly extend the experience. Whether or not this is a good thing comes down to what type of player you are. For those who want more value for their dollar it's certainly nice, but for fans of the genre it may make the game feel a tad long winded.
If for some reason you don't find the normal game modes challenging enough you may want to check out Double play mode where you control two ships with one controller. It takes quite a bit of practice to become comfortable with the concept and it doesn't help that you're also restricted to a shared set of bombs, shared lives and no continues. It’s not a mode you’ll find yourself regularly playing, but is a neat idea to say the least.
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