Raiden (Atari Jaguar)
Easily one of the best multi-player experiences for the system
This review has been in limbo for a very long time, originally clocking in at less than three minutes, we tried a new ‘micro review’ formula. Quick, light on content but easy to produce videos we could get out quicker. Truth is, we didn’t like the format. Our original review didn’t capture the excitement, how much this title meant to us and didn’t even give a good overview of the game. We’ve gone back and re-written the Raiden script, re-filmed it and we feel we have a much stronger review for it.
It’s not unusual for us to film and record everything, just to realise we don’t like where the review is going. It looks bad, it isn’t coming together nicely, the audio was muffled, we feel like we could do it better. We’ve done it with Dynamite Cop, Ninja Commando and now Raiden. Plenty of other reviews may never see the light of day, but this is how we improve and get better. Our standards are certainly getting higher and we’re more pleased than ever before of the quality of our episodes.
As for Raiden, it’s obvious the Atari Jaguar was lacking in some really important genres, not like shooters were really important anymore. Games like Raiden really shone in the early 90’s, but by ’94 when Raiden was released for the Jaguar, we’ve already seen adaptations on the Mega Drive and the SNES (Raiden Trad) and Raiden 2 & DX already found their way into the arcades. Raiden was old news, but at least the Atari Jaguar can boast it had the first port of the game that lived up near-perfect to the original. The graphics took a slight hit and the sound didn’t pop, but the Jaguar version was just as addictive and playable.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the Sony Playstation to get the Raiden Project. A combination of both Raiden and Raiden 2 that outshone the Jaguar with better audio and arcade perfect visuals (and obviously Raiden 2). Raiden on the Jaguar remains one of my favourite ways to play the game regardless due to the lack of load times, the popping colours and the fact it’s a stand-out on the system.
Raiden is the only official overhead shooter available on the Jaguar, and I’m really glad to see such a popular game make it’s way onto the hardware. The Jaguar was really lacking when it came to big name games and even though shooters were certainly ‘past their prime’ as far as the modern gamer is concerned, there’s still a lot of life left in this title.
Raiden also remains one of the best ways to enjoy your Jaguar with a friend. It’s a really solid multiplayer experience on any console, thanks to some simple controls and instinctive gameplay (don’t get hit and keep shooting back). Even though Raiden on the Jaguar doesn’t have a continuous shot and your hands will get sore, it’s just one of those titles that you need to play one more round.
Even though you can’t select your own difficulty, it’s really well balanced. It’s not easy, but the end is always just right there. I always felt the Jaguar was different compared to Atari’s other consoles which often had a slew of arcade games. Raiden doesn’t benefit by being released on the Jaguar, but Jaguar enthusiasts need this game to say, “Of course the Jaguar is capable of fantastic games. For FPS’ we have AVP, for platformers we have Rayman and for overhead scrolling shooters, we have a fantastic version of Raiden.”