Raiden III (PlayStation 2)

CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
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Overall score: 6.3 (3.0 stars)
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Gamespot editors' review

• Reviewed by: Alex Navarro
• Reviewed on: 04/16/2007
• Updated on:06/22/2007
• Released on: 04/17/2007

If you know anything about the scrolling shoot-'em-up genre, then all you need is the title of Raiden III to know that it's the latest in developer Seibu Kaihatsu's long-running shoot-'em-up series. Raiden III hit arcades back in 2005, but only now has it come to home consoles in this PlayStation 2 update. The gameplay is basically untouched, but a few additional modes have made it into the mix to give the game an iota of value beyond its challenging but fleeting arcade mode. However, longtime shoot-'em-up fans won't find much new or original about Raiden III. It takes the exact same formula found in every other modern scrolling shooter, tweaks it ever so slightly, and then calls it a day. Certainly the game can be fun, even with its total lack of originality, but at the $30 price point that it's running for at retail, you'd hope for some kind of unique quality to help make up for the inherent shallowness of the package.

Remember the purple laser from Raiden II? Now it's green. Thanks Seibu Kaihatsu!

Most shoot-'em-ups have some sort of gimmick or concept that sets them apart from the rest--at least the good ones do--and the Raiden series is no exception. The Raiden gimmick has to do with weapon selections. As you progress through a level, power-ups for your ship's primary guns and secondary missiles will appear from time to time, and each of these icons changes in color or symbol after a bit of time left floating around the screen. Primary weapons include a powerful laser that shoots straight ahead, a slightly less powerful laser that can be waved from side to side, and a weaker spread gun that can cover a lot more of the screen. Missiles work on similarly, with powerful nukes that shoot straight forward, less powerful radar missiles that will take an angle to a certain enemy, and weaker heat-seekers that will shoot every which way. Each and every one of these selected weapons can be upgraded over time into more powerful versions as you collect these icons. If you happen to grab an icon that's different from the weapon you're set on, it'll switch you to the new weapon, and so if you have a particular fancy for a certain weapon, you've got to be careful when you grab the icons.

Oh, and you shoot bad guys, too. A lot of them. Like any scrolling shooter worth its salt, Raiden III is jam-packed with enemy ships, boats, tanks, and all sorts of big, honking bosses, and they all fire plenty of bullets and lasers in your general direction. You'll spend as much time dodging bullets as you will firing them yourself, and the challenge of doing so gets pretty overwrought at times. Of course, this is par for the course for a scrolling shooter, and Raiden III isn't necessarily any tougher or easier than most games of this type. In fact, not much of what you're up against feels unfamiliar. The firing patterns and enemy types all feel, again, par for the course. That's not to say the shooting action isn't enjoyable, because it certainly is. When you get a set of weapons built up to max capacity, it can feel pretty epic as you blast away at anything that comes within range of you. All told, the game plays solid enough, but it's boilerplate in practically every way.

The features set doesn't do much to counteract this feeling. The main arcade mode can be beaten in about a half hour if you get good enough at the game, and though there are multiple difficulty settings, everything above normal is so decidedly masochistic that all but the most hardcore players will scoff at them. Heck, even normal is pretty hard. Of course, games like Raiden III are built to be played over and over again for scoring purposes, but with no online leaderboards, the inspiration to continually work on your score isn't exactly high. Beyond the main game, there are basic score attack and boss rush modes to play around with (the latter of which has to be unlocked), as well as a replay mode that will save individual performances of various stages. You just save the data at the end of a level and go back and watch it any time you please. It's kind of a neat feature, but again, the lack of any online functionality makes it a little pointless unless you really like watching your past performances all by your lonesome, or you drag a friend over.

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Where to buy

store	price	in stock?	rating
RadioShack.com	$29.99	Yes
	$28.99	Yes
Amazon.com Marketplace	$13.89	Yes

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Where to buy Raiden III (PlayStation 2)

• store price in stock
• RadioShack.com $29.99 Yes
• GameQuest $28.99 Yes
• Amazon.com Marketplace $13.89 Yes
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