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Raiden Fighters

ライデンファイターズ

Choose from among seven high-powered fighters (including the Raiden MkII and Judge Spear from Viper Phase 1) and take to the skies in three dangerous missions. The first two missions are comprised of three stages each, the first two of which may appear in either order. Stage 1-3, Stage 2-3, and the final mission are all the same.

Year

1996

Developer

Seibu Kaihatsu

Publisher

Tuning Electronic

Orientation

Vertical

SCREENSHOTS

HISTORY

Raiden Fighters (ライデンファイターズ, Raiden Faitāzu) is a 1996 vertical-scrolling shooter arcade game developed and published by Seibu Kaihatsu. It is followed by the sequel, Raiden Fighters 2: Operation Hell Dive. This game introduced new game mechanics that separate it from the original Raiden series.

Plot

The opening prologue of Raiden Fighters 2 hints at a plot from this game. The protagonists are at war against an army headed by a dictator. Raiden Fighters 2 indicates that its story takes place four years after the events of this game.

Stages

The game's seven levels are divided into three missions. The first two missions have three levels each, the first two levels being randomly ordered. The final mission takes the player to the enemy's main fortress.

Fighter craft

In Raiden Fighters, there are five available fighter craft, each with a Laser and a Missile weapon. Each fighter craft has different strengths and weaknesses. Depending on a particular machine's settings, ships from the earlier Seibu Kaihatsu titles Raiden II and Viper Phase 1 can be chosen. These two ships (given the names Raiden mk-II and Judge Spear respectively) have different mechanics from the five regular craft, such as different bombs and the ability to use Laser and Missile weapons simultaneously. The Slave plane is playable, inheriting the bomb and movement speed of the fighter craft they normally accompany.

Ports and conversions

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Raiden Fighters on their December 15, 1996 issue as being the third most popular arcade game of that two week period.

STORY

Raiden Fighters' plot is not directly apparent in and of itself. The opening prologue of Raiden Fighters 2 hints at a plot from its predecessor, which the sequel follows. The protagonist squadron must quell a massive guerrilla uprising headed by a ruthless dictator. The setting of this conflict appears to take place in eastern Asia, as the briefings for each "Mission" include a war plan superimposed over a map depicting the countries of China and Japan.