Raiden Online

About Raiden

Raiden (1990) by Seibu Kaihatsu is one of the defining vertical shoot 'em ups of the arcade era. An alien force has invaded Earth, and you fly the experimental Raiden fighter through eight stages of tanks, battleships, fortresses and enormous bosses. It is simple to pick up – move, shoot, bomb – and fiercely difficult to master.

Two players can fly together: player 1 in the red fighter, player 2 in the blue one.

Weapons

• Red – Vulcan: a spread cannon that covers a wide area.
• Blue – Laser: a focused beam that destroys targets in front of you fast.
• M – Homing missiles and N – Nuclear missiles: secondary weapons that fire alongside your main gun.
• B – Bombs: a huge explosion that clears bullets and damages everything on screen.

Collecting the same color repeatedly powers your weapon up; picking up the other color switches weapons.

Tips

• Use the vulcan for crowded stages and the laser for bosses.
• Bombs are your extra lives – use one the moment you are trapped.
• Many enemies fire aimed shots; move slightly sideways after every volley to dodge them.

More planes and ships: Raiden II, 1945 and the rest of the shoot 'em up collection.