Sometimes, all a great arcade game needs is a screen full of enemies, a ridiculous number of bullets and a player who refuses to give up. There is something wonderfully uncomplicated about the classic vertical-scrolling shoot ’em up, where survival depends on quick reactions, careful positioning and knowing exactly when to unleash an explosive attack. Console Archives RAIDEN PROJECT brings that old-school excitement back to modern hardware, combining two influential entries in Seibu Kaihatsu’s legendary Raiden series in one nostalgic package. Originally released for a 32-bit home console in 1995, this collection revisits a period when arcade shooters demanded genuine skill and rewarded persistence with the satisfaction of conquering one punishing stage at a time.
Originally developed by Seibu Kaihatsu and preserved for modern platforms by Hamster Corporation, RAIDEN PROJECT includes both Raiden, first released in arcades in 1990, and Raiden II, which followed in 1993. Both games place you in the cockpit of a powerful fighter-bomber tasked with defending Earth against an overwhelming alien invasion. The premise is gloriously straightforward, providing just enough motivation to get you into the action before the enemy forces begin filling the screen. There are no sprawling narratives to navigate or elaborate character development systems to master. You have a ship, an arsenal of devastating weapons and an entire extraterrestrial army to deal with, preferably before it turns your fighter into another spectacular explosion.
Two Classics, One Explosive Package
Including both original games gives RAIDEN PROJECT a considerable advantage over a collection built around a single title. The original Raiden established the series’ reputation for fast, demanding vertical-scrolling action, while Raiden II built upon that foundation with refinements and additional weaponry. Experiencing them together allows players to appreciate the evolution of a familiar formula, from the foundations laid by the first game to the expanded combat possibilities offered by its successor. For newcomers, it is an excellent opportunity to discover why the series became such a recognisable name among arcade shooter enthusiasts.
The appeal of these games rests partly on their immediacy. You begin with a fighter and a battlefield, and the challenge quickly becomes one of survival, observation and split-second decision-making. Enemy formations approach from different directions, projectiles threaten to block safe escape routes, and opportunities to collect useful power-ups can disappear in an instant. Every movement matters because even a small mistake can leave you exposed, and there is rarely time to admire the scenery when another wave of enemies is already bearing down on you.
There is also an important distinction between difficulty that feels unfair and difficulty that encourages improvement. Classic arcade shooters can be brutally unforgiving, particularly when you are learning enemy patterns or trying to understand the safest route through a crowded section of a stage. RAIDEN PROJECT embraces that demanding tradition, asking players to develop their reflexes and gradually recognise patterns that initially seem impossible to navigate. The satisfaction comes when a section that once appeared chaotic begins to make sense, allowing you to react with confidence rather than panic.
Combat: Bullets, Bombs and Beautiful Chaos
The combat is the beating heart of the experience, and RAIDEN PROJECT offers a straightforward yet compelling weapon system that has helped keep the genre alive for decades. Players can collect power-ups to strengthen their arsenal, with weapons including spread-firing Vulcan cannons, powerful laser beams and homing plasma lasers. Each offers a different way to approach the enemy, encouraging you to consider whether broad coverage or more focused damage is likely to be useful in a particular situation. Choosing the right weapon can make a meaningful difference, especially as enemy formations become denser and the available space to manoeuvre grows increasingly limited.
The Vulcan-style weapon is particularly appealing when the screen is crowded with enemies approaching from several directions. Its spread offers broad coverage, making it useful when threats cannot easily be lined up in a single direction. Laser-based weapons provide a different feel, with their more concentrated attacks offering a satisfying alternative when you want to direct fire towards particular targets. The homing plasma weapon adds another tactical consideration by allowing attacks to seek out enemies, although no weapon can entirely remove the need for good positioning and quick reactions.
Then there are the bombs, those wonderfully dramatic emergency measures that can clear the screen and give you a little breathing room when the situation becomes desperate. Knowing when to use one is an important part of the strategy. Triggering a bomb too early might waste a valuable opportunity, but holding on to it for too long can leave you destroyed with an unused advantage. That familiar temptation to save your most powerful resource for an even worse situation is one of the genre’s most effective little psychological traps.
The combat’s simplicity is deceptive, because consistently surviving requires several skills to come together. You must keep track of enemy movements, anticipate incoming fire, collect upgrades without putting yourself in unnecessary danger, and recognise when retreating is wiser than pressing an attack. It is a constant conversation between aggression and caution, with every successful manoeuvre buying you a little more time. When the screen fills with projectiles and you somehow find a narrow route through the chaos, the relief can be every bit as satisfying as defeating a major enemy.
Eight Stages of Increasing Pressure
Both titles offer eight stages of vertical-scrolling action, delivering a substantial amount of classic arcade shooting across the collection. Each stage brings its own enemy formations and obstacles, requiring players to stay alert rather than relying entirely on habits that carried them through earlier sections. As the action intensifies, the challenge shifts from simply firing at everything in sight to understanding where danger is coming from. A good run depends on maintaining control even when the battlefield seems determined to overwhelm you.
Boss encounters provide natural milestones within that progression. These confrontations ask players to recognise attack patterns, identify opportunities to deal damage, and remain composed as powerful enemies fill the screen with hostile fire. There is particular pleasure in finally overcoming a boss that has repeatedly ended previous attempts, especially when success comes from learning its behaviour rather than relying on luck. That process of gradual improvement is central to the appeal of RAIDEN PROJECT, and it remains one of the reasons classic shooters can be so difficult to put down.
The medal collection system adds another consideration for players who want to improve their performance beyond merely reaching the end. Score-focused opportunities encourage you to pay attention to what is happening across the screen, rather than concentrating exclusively on survival. This creates a familiar arcade dilemma: do you take a risk to collect a valuable item, or stay on a safer path and preserve your current run? Chasing a high score can make a successful stage more rewarding, but it also introduces opportunities for greed to bring an otherwise promising attempt to an abrupt end.
For those who enjoy mastering a game rather than simply finishing it once, this offers plenty of reasons to return. You can work on surviving longer, improving your score, making better use of weapons, or finding a more reliable way through a difficult section. The two games also provide different experiences to explore, meaning the collection is not entirely dependent on asking players to repeat the same campaign. Its replayability grows naturally from the challenge itself.
Presentation: A Blast from the Polygon Free Past
Visually, RAIDEN PROJECT belongs to an era when detailed sprite work and explosive, screen-filling effects were among the great pleasures of arcade gaming. Its ships, enemy formations and projectiles have a distinctive retro identity, and the vertical-scrolling format keeps the action focused on what matters most. Modern shooters may offer elaborate lighting, highly detailed environments and cinematic sequences, but the older approach has its own strengths. The action is immediately readable when you know what to look for, and the game’s visual identity feels inseparable from the era that produced it.
That does not mean the presentation will appeal to everyone. Players accustomed to contemporary shooters may find the graphics dated, particularly if they expect the visual complexity and presentation values of modern releases. However, judging RAIDEN PROJECT solely against current graphical standards would miss the point. These are preserved classics, and their appeal comes from the way their presentation supports the gameplay rather than from any attempt to imitate modern visual spectacle.
The sound design is another important part of the experience. Explosions, weapon fire and the general noise of an increasingly chaotic battlefield help give the action its familiar arcade intensity. In a genre where players are constantly reacting to immediate threats, audio contributes to the sensation of being surrounded by hostile forces. The overall effect is suitably energetic, capturing the spirit of an arcade cabinet designed to demand attention and encourage another attempt after every defeat.
There is also a certain charm in the lack of unnecessary distractions. The game does not need lengthy cutscenes or elaborate dialogue to establish its identity. It communicates through movement, sound and the relentless arrival of enemies, trusting players to become absorbed in the immediate challenge. For anyone who appreciates the purity of classic arcade design, that restraint is a strength rather than a limitation.
Two Player Co Op: Sharing the Mayhem
The simultaneous two-player co-op mode is another major attraction. Playing alone can be an intense test of concentration, but sharing the battlefield with another player changes the experience in an enjoyable way. You can work together to deal with enemy formations, cover more of the screen, and celebrate those moments when both players survive a particularly vicious encounter. Equally, a crowded battlefield can become even more chaotic when two fighters weave through the same streams of incoming fire.
Co-op also gives RAIDEN PROJECT a welcome social dimension. These are the kinds of games that can turn a casual session into an evening of friendly competition, shared frustration, and enthusiastic claims that the next attempt will definitely go better. Playing alongside someone else can make a difficult section feel more manageable, even if the added activity sometimes makes it harder to keep track of everything happening on screen. There is an enduring pleasure in tackling a demanding arcade challenge together, and the inclusion of co-op helps the collection retain that old-fashioned communal spirit.
It is worth remembering, however, that this is still a demanding shooter. Cooperation does not eliminate the need for good reflexes, nor does it guarantee that either player will survive the later stages. Instead, it offers another way to enjoy the challenge, making the experience more sociable without sacrificing the skill-based nature of the original games.
Console Archives: Classic Games for Modern Hardware
The Console Archives release adds several practical features that make these older games easier to enjoy on contemporary systems. Customisable button layouts let players tailor the controls to their preferences, while screen settings offer greater control over how the original presentation appears on modern displays. Save and load functionality is particularly useful for practising difficult sections or returning to a game without always starting from the beginning. These conveniences make a meaningful difference without fundamentally altering the character of the original experience.
The ability to save at different points is especially welcome for a genre traditionally associated with repeated attempts and limited opportunities to continue. Arcade purists may prefer to complete a run under the original restrictions, but modern players often have different expectations about how they spend their time. The option to save provides flexibility without forcing anyone to abandon the challenge if they would rather tackle the games in a more traditional fashion.
Online leaderboards add another reason to keep improving. High score chasing has always been an important part of arcade culture, and global rankings help recreate the feeling of competing against players beyond your immediate circle. Even when you cannot see the person responsible for a remarkable score, knowing that others are pushing for better results gives your own attempts a wider context. It encourages experimentation and persistence, particularly when you can see how far you still have to climb.
The key is that these modern features support the original games rather than trying to reinvent them. RAIDEN PROJECT remains a classic shoot ’em up at heart, and the convenience options simply make it easier to enjoy that experience on today’s hardware. For a preservation-focused release, this is the right approach.
Final Verdict: A Classic Worth Taking Flight For
Console Archives RAIDEN PROJECT is a satisfying return to two influential vertical-scrolling shooters that capture the enduring appeal of speed, precision and explosive action. Combining Raiden and Raiden II offers players a valuable slice of arcade history, while their demanding stages, varied weaponry and relentless enemy formations provide plenty of challenge for newcomers and returning fans alike. The ability to upgrade your arsenal, collect medals and make tactical use of screen-clearing bombs adds depth to the action beyond its straightforward premise. Add in simultaneous two-player co-op, and there is a strong foundation for both solitary high-score chasing and shared arcade sessions.
The collection’s modern quality-of-life options further strengthen the package. Customisable controls, screen settings, save and load functionality and online leaderboards make the games more convenient to enjoy without removing the qualities that made them memorable in the first place. The retro visuals and unforgiving difficulty will not suit everyone, and players looking for a contemporary shooter with extensive progression systems may find the experience comparatively narrow. However, those limitations are closely tied to the arcade design that gives RAIDEN PROJECT its identity.
What matters most is that the shooting remains engaging. There is a special satisfaction in navigating a screen full of bullets, choosing the right moment to deploy a bomb and finally defeating a boss that has repeatedly brought your run to an end. These are games that reward patience and practice, and their straightforward structure makes every improvement easy to appreciate. For fans of classic arcade shooters, this is a welcome opportunity to revisit two important titles, while newcomers can discover just how compelling the genre can be when it strips away everything that is not essential to the action.
RAIDEN PROJECT may not reinvent the shoot ’em up, but it does not need to. It preserves a pair of enduring arcade experiences and gives them the modern conveniences needed to remain approachable today. When the alien invasion begins and the screen fills with hostile fire, the best response is still the simplest one: keep moving, keep firing and never give up on the next run.
