Angela Aug 20, 2009
So with Raiden IV coming over here in October, I figured it was time to finally break the packaging off Raiden Fighters Aces. Assuming you can still find it proper (you know how long these niche titles can last in retail), $20 is a terrific price point for a compilation such as this. By themselves, the three titles included (Raiden Fighters, Raiden Fighters Jet, and Raiden Fighters II) are short-lived affairs - but combined, you end up with a more sumptuous whole. I managed to tear through Raiden Fighters and Raiden Fighters Jet on Normal in under half an hour, and came up just shy of finishing Raiden II in about twenty minutes. (The last stage managed to best me.) The shooting mechanics remain rock-solid and highly enjoyable. Like I said with Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire earlier this year, it feels good to sometimes step away from the bullet-hell framework of today's modern shooters; actually seeing what you're shooting is retroactively refreshing. ;) From a gameplay stance, these are titles that have aged very well.
What's nice is that this compilation gives you a true "play how you like it" feature set. There's a whole bevy of variable options you can tinker with, from across-the-books difficulty levels, graphic filters, and predetermined extra lives and continues. Hell, you can even set it to Free Play, assuring that the most novice of novices can see these games through to the end. The only real downside is lack of online co-op.
RFA makes for one merciless cocktease. That Japan has so many terrific shooters like this available is enough to make the overseas Xbox 360 owner weep openly. Shy of actually picking up a Japanese 360, I'd trade every other genre in its library if they were willing to bring over every single shooter. I honestly could play these forever and ever.
