RAIDEN RESURRECTION

HOW THE ICONIC SERIES IS BEING KEPT ALIVE

■ There hasn’t been a truly new Raiden release since 2016’s Raiden V. But interest in the series clearly remains, because several of the later games have been released in remastered or modernised form in recent years. And it actually started before Raiden V. The brilliant Raiden IV debuted in Japanese game centers in 2007, before being rebirthed as Raiden IV: Overkill on the Playstation 3 in 2014. The first European release of Raiden IV, it contained new stages, new ships, a new scoring system in Overkill mode, and the original arcade system. Then, in 2021, Raiden IV X Mikado Maniax saw a worldwide release to Switch, soon spreading to Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in the years that followed. Offering up the ultimate compilation of Raiden IV modes and arrangements, plus a remixed soundtrack produced by one of Japan’s most well-regarded arcades, Game Center Mikado. As recently as this year Raiden III underwent the same treatment. Raiden III X Mikado Maniax again reworks the score, and offers current-gen console owners access to a brilliant, often underrated shmup. At the time of writing, the game is now available to play in all regions across console, with the Steam version due soon. The original Raiden, meanwhile, came to Switch and PS4 in 2021 as part of Hamster’s popular Arcade Archives series. We’d also love a re-release or update of Raiden II or its brilliant reworking Raiden DX. It’s a game many arcade and shooter fans want to see back. As confirmed to Retro Gamer by MOSS CEO Toshinobu Komazawa, there are likely to be more Raiden releases in the future. An entirely new series entry would be wonderful. But we can’t resist pondering how wonderful it would be to see a modernised compilation of Raiden, Raiden II and Raiden DX, and even a current generation compilation of the Raiden Fighters trilogy and Viper Phase 1.