MMMC - Raiden Fighters Jet

[scooterb23]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/scooterb23/mameclub.jpg

Raiden Fighters Jet is another in a long, long line of vertical scrolling shooters. We've played the original Raiden in the MMMC quite a while ago. So now we'll have a nice opportunity to compare and contrast how the series has changed between the games.

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9248

http://www.klov.com/images/11/1181242155282.jpg

Flack will have the ROM at this location, should you need it http://www.robohara.com/mameclub/ (may be a bit, it's a 15 Meg file, and uploading it to send it takes a while)

Previous MMMC games: Jump Coaster, Rampart, Jungler, Ninja Emaki, Port Man, Psycho Soldier, Metamoqester, Gunbarich, Sengoku (series), Snacks'n Jackson, Metro-Cross, Moon Shuttle, The Real Ghostbusters, Moonwalker, Black Widow, Kid Niki, Joust 2, Super Contra, Shoot-Out, Raiden, Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Dead Connection, Gate of Doom, The Outfoxies, Popeye, Baseball Stars 2, Intrepid, 1943, Super Pac-Man, Samurai Shodown II, Berzerk, MERCS, Spin Master, Noboranka, Carnevil, Boogie Wings, Battletoads, Sky Shark, Dr. Micro, Fire Trap, Bump n Jump.

[Ed Oscuro]

Raiden Fighters Jet puts to shame those people who say that shooting games have no depth, or are too hard to enjoy while also being drawn in by good emchanics. RFJ has both good difficulty and great gameplay that allows for creative play, unlike the stereotype of a modern shooting game having a "chain" that can only be followed through by taking one path. This game can be seriously addictive, and MAME only makes that compulsiveness worse as you always have a virtual "reset" button on hand :)

I've done 42 million on the Japan version, and 40M on the US ROMset. 160M points and up (I think 180M points even) is attainable.

I'm not sure I'll be trying this one out this week as I tend to REALLY get into it, and that wouldn't be a good thing right now.

Twiddle of Shmups Forums fame has called this a "stuntman shmup" and that's part of why it's so fun. Take the classic bullet-dodging action of a Toaplan style shooter, add "quickshot" and "destroyed at a time" [together] bonuses, bullet grazing, medals, Fairies and Micluses, playing AS the fairy, and more crazy stuff, and you have a good time.

Some basic tips:

The basic scoring strategy is to get Slave (S) items, and then quickly shoot flying enemies (blue ones for instance) to get a flying medal right next to the Slave. Sweep this medal over other medals and medals on the ground. Wait until it's really big and gold (2048K points, or 2 million), and collect it.

Then get nine medals to appear at the same time. There's a Miclus (dragon-like thing seen in the original Raiden) at the end of the first stage which will spit out nine medals (possibly you have to continually shoot it, don't remember); don't pick them up, just let them blow up.

This activates classic Raiden Fighters medal mode (or is that Raiden II / DX mode? I don't know!)! Hooray!

From here on out your challenge is to pick up each medal as quickly as possible so that you can build the value, up to the limit of 9000 points per medal (adds up quickly). Don't let these built-up medals fall off the screen, else you start off at a lowly 100 points again (blagh).

Next up:

0.) When you first turn on the game in MAME, it'll be "updating" the NVRAM; think of it like loading a DECO cassette game or the bubble memory in a Konami game warming up (different systems). Turn frameskip all the way up and fast-forward. Hit reset (F2) when it's done and turn the settings back to normal. After you're done, consider looking in MAME's NVRAM directory and copying the file for use in newer versions of MAME (it shouldn't change and should save you from having to do this with every version of MAME).

1.) You uncover fairies by letting big enemies (like huge APCs) get to the bottom third of the screen (or so) without totally destroying them (shoot off the main gun though).

2.) You uncover bombs by not shooting the fairy and letting her go about the screen, pulling bombs out of the weeds kind of like a metal version of Super Mario Brothers 2.

3.) You get points from letting bullets graze your craft. There may be something else here, I'm not sure.

4.) The best ships are actually hidden ones like Judge Spear and the slaves, which are fast and don't have a charge (button hold) attack, just the usual shots and bombs. My favorites are Slave (Judge Spear I think, i.e. it's as fast as Judge Spear) and possibly Fairy. Press B instead of A at ship selection when hovering over a ship to get the Slave for that ship.

5.) At the beginning of the train stage, which is often the second stage, hold you fire against the trains that go horizontally across the screen - let them get far enough to pull their cargo onto the screen before shooting the engine. You'll get a nice "DX Bonus" for doing this right, plus it also lets you get more medals (especially helpful if you're trying to get the nine medals to appear at once).

[diskoboy]

I think this is one of those games I can actually play the actual machine!

A pizza place a few miles from me has this game! This, and 19XX: The War Against Destiny.

[scooterb23]

This is another in a long, long line of vertical shooters that I can make it midway through the second level before I die. It's a nice game, but I'm not enough of a fan of this style of game to really desire to get much better at them. I like it, but it's nothing that stands out to me.

[Ed Oscuro]

If I were going to the arcade without knowing anything about the game before I started playing (which is my experience with most all games), then it would feel like any other shooter. But I had the chance to read some strategy on the game and it becomes apparent there is a lot going on under the surface. Writing this one off because it doesn't seem flashy or whatever would be a mistake. Of course, if you're not a fan of the Twin Cobra / Raiden / Aero Fighters style shooter to begin with, the great play depth probably won't sway you regardless.

[scooterb23]

It's not that I'm not a fan of them, I'm just not very good at them. I'm too busy scrambling for my life to get the depth that may be there. Any bonuses and extras I get in these games is through pure luck.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Jesus Ed, you need a book to keep track of how to score correctly. I know I'm a bit late with this one, but I'l chime in with a few thoughts.

I like that you can choose from many different ships. I only had time to play as one of them. The graphics and visuals are great. Man this one moves lightning fast, probably the most responsive shooter I can remember playing. The backgrounds and vehicles are all exceptionally detailed, and if you try not to blink you may be able to appreciate some of it before dodging bullets.

As fast as the game moves, I died quite a bit less than I thought I would, and the games power-up system was very forgiving. I could get most of the power-ups back when I'd continue. The whole continuing thing seems unlimited, unlike Raiden- it's very beneficial for people who suck at these sorts of games.

Anyway, thought I'd play catch up, and revisit this one. I'm going to try really hard to play all the MMMC games. In fact, I ordered a stick of 1GB RAM off of eBay a few days ago to try and alleviate some of the slowdown I've been experiencing. Although play this and D&D today, I had no slowdown. If I can get this PC running to my liking I'd like to build a MAME cabinet out of it. Here's hoping the RAM will improve performance...

[Ed Oscuro]

Jesus Ed, you need a book to keep track of how to score correctly.
Nah, all you have to do is work on one thing at a time.

First medals and survival, and they're the major source of points. If you're able to deal with them, letting APCs cross the bottom third of the screen for a bit so you can get the fairy (and bombs) is another good part. The rest is more or less just extras.

It might sound a bit much, but the old-fashioned Space Invaders-style shooter can be a bit too straightforward, especially for the people who were actually engaging with arcade shooters by the late 90s.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

It might sound a bit much, but the old-fashioned Space Invaders-style shooter can be a bit too straightforward, especially for the people who were actually engaging with arcade shooters by the late 90s.

Whoa, let's not get ahead of ourselves. No one ever said Space Invaders was a great game...

Anyway I did like the game. It's always a plus when these sorts of shooters allow a continue.

[scooterb23]

Space Invaders was a great game.

FLAME ON!

[Arasoi]

Viper Phase 1 blows Raiden Fighters Jet out of the water.

Wait what were we talking about again?

Space Invaders is cool...

[intvsama]

Big point bonus tips, when you have a slave ship the floating medals will be attracted to your slave. Don't touch the medal. Have the floating medal touch other medals, and your floating medal will get larger. When it gets to its max size you'll here a special sound, collect it for big points.

After you've obtained one max medal, get 13 medals to appear on screen at the same time and the medals will explode. From here on out all medals will instead be gold bars. Gold bars get progressively higher in point value as long as you don't miss any. They can go up to ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND points each, which lets you quickly rack up the millions of points.

We have Raiden Fighters Jet at my arcade, it's an A+++ game, one of my favorite SHUMPs.

[intvsama]

Played a game tonight at work, not a terribly impressive score, sadly. 8*(

http://www.toomanygames.com/misc/pics/raidenfj.jpg

[Ed Oscuro]

Viper Phase 1 blows Raiden Fighters Jet out of the water.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v6I1sGbezw