Released by Seibu Kaihatsu in 1990, Raiden is a genre-defining vertically scrolling shoot ’em up for the arcade. Players pilot the Raiden Supersonic Attack Fighter in a desperate defense of Earth against the alien Cranassian invasion, navigating intense waves of enemy fighters, tanks, and colossal bosses.
How to Play
Insert coins with Shift and press Enter to start. Use the arrow keys to maneuver your ship, press Z to fire your main weapons, and use X to deploy a screen-clearing bomb. You can upgrade your firepower by collecting colored icons: red for the wide-spread Vulcan cannon and blue for the concentrated Laser. Additional pickups provide homing missiles or straight-firing rockets.
Tips
- Power-up icons cycle between red and blue as they float around the screen. Time your collection carefully to stick with your preferred weapon rather than accidentally switching during a firefight.
- Do not hoard your bombs. It is always better to use a bomb defensively when cornered by dense bullet patterns than to lose a life and all your weapon upgrades.
- Focus on your ship’s small central hitbox when navigating through enemy fire, rather than tracking the edges of your wings.
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