Super Raiden

~ SUPER RAIDEN ~

Seibu Kaihatsu / Hudson Soft

Super CD-ROM

1992

Raiden veterans will find themselves in familiar territory when they begin playing Super. Actually, just about everything will seem the same, from the bullet-heavy gameplay to the unimpressive visuals.

For this release, however, the game was blessed with a red book soundtrack. (This was no "given"; just ask owners of Altered Beast CD.) The instrumentation is excellent, quite reminiscent of Hellfire-S's. Unfortunately, the compositions themselves are far from special, with the exceptions of the Stage 2 theme (which is fantastic) and parts of the Level 10 number.

And yes, I did say "Level 10." While Raiden was originally an eight-board affair, Super tacks on two additional stages, a flooded Area 9 and a hard-as-hell final stretch.

The problem here isn't with the new stages themselves; in fact, the last level will be appreciated by shoot 'em up experts for being so challenging. The real issue is that Raiden already felt long as it was. Even the best of shooters start to push their luck when they extend beyond a reasonable six or seven stages (the most ardent Blazing Lazers fans usually concede that it takes too long), and Raiden was never exactly the strongest vertical around to begin. It takes skills to make it to Level 10 in this game--and it takes incredible fortitude to begin the long journey anew after inevitably failing on that level. At least there's a new bit of ending as a reward this time... but don't expect much from it.

Super Raiden will be a nice pickup for folks who are already Raiden fans and who'd like to experience the challenge of the new stages and the novelty of playing the game with red book audio. For those who haven't yet played a PCE Raiden and insist on doing so, my advice is to go with this one since there doesn't seem to be much difference in cost between the two renditions these days. And one more bit of advice: if you make it to the last boss, and if you think you've got him beaten, well... you haven't.

So don't let your guard down.

Raiden

~ RAIDEN ~

Seibu Kaihatsu / Hudson Soft / NEC

HuCard

1991

Raiden is much heavier on bullets than most of its 16-bit peers, and it bears a greater resemblance in play style to the manic shooters that came after it than it does to the titles that sat alongside it on store shelves. The formula will feel familiar to bullet-hell vets: make do with your regular guns while taking care of small-fry, and save your bombs for times when you absolutely need them (namely, when something HUGE comes along and is about to fill the screen with loads of speedy projectiles). You have to use a little strategy and memorize the ways the tougher sequences play out. Raiden certainly isn't as wild as many of its descendents, but it's hard, and will seem especially so to those "aces" who earned their titles breezing through Compile blasters and the like. For a wretchedly ancient shooter, Raiden is strikingly modern in some respects.

It's also an absolute bore visually. There's a lot of dirt, water, and base-type area to fly over, and things become even more revolting when you soar up into space, where even the asteroids are ugly. Block-shaped tanks and cookie-cutter craft, no matter how large they are or how many bullets they fire, aren't all that much fun to fight, especially over the course of what's a pretty long adventure at eight levels.

It's Raiden's strange lot to be action-packed but dull. I'd like to be able to say it's worth playing because it stands out stylistically among Turbo shooters and it's difficult. However, Kyuukyoku Tiger is similar in theme and gameplay but manages to be a lot more enjoyable, while Tatsujin is rougher. But Raiden is still decent, and if you've tackled those two (along with the many other Gunheds and Soldier Blades that rank higher in PCE shoot 'em up hierarchy) and you're seeking a new challenge, well, here you go.

Raiden doesn't hesitate to let you know exactly what you're in for: lots of bullets, and very dull enemies and environments.

Yeah, the action is pretty heavy. But could any of this possibly be drabber?

Things don't improve much up in space. Hell, I think I saw these fools way back down on Earth...

...Yes, yes I did.

All right, now here's an enemy I like: the trains that come chugging along in Level 2. They're the best part of the game.

You have only two primary weapons, a spreading vulcan and a concentrated laser. Typical positives and negatives apply.

Things get pretty tough when these craft surround you in the final stage. Get by 'em and wreck the last boss so that you can... start all over again.

Loom

~ LOOM ~

LucasArts / TTI

Super CD-ROM

1992

Loom originally appeared on the PC and was quite a success before transitioning to the Turbo's Super CD unit. It's a strange game to say the least, and it certainly isn't for everyone. It's quite reminiscent of Sierra's line of King's Quest titles, and if you enjoy that type of game (as I do), you'll probably be enthralled with this one (as I am).

But be aware that it's slow. Truth be told, Loom can be a relatively tedious affair at times. The hero walks slowly, the plot unfolds slowly, and the game loads up slowly. Despite all that, it's very short: you'll complete it in one afternoon.

If you decide you can live with its pacing and length, Loom will have you assume the role of Bobbin Threadbare, a weaver who plays patterns of musical notes on his distaff to make incredible things happen. He sets off to find the other weavers (who have all been turned into swans, of course)...

...and along the way he meets plenty of interesting folks from the Glassmakers, Shepherds, Blacksmiths and Clerics Guilds.

Eventually, he stumbles upon an evil plot that the Clerics are devising and gets himself into a ton of trouble.

Loom won't deliver much action, but it will keep most players entertained. Bobbin eventually earns many powers, including the abilities to change straw into gold, see in the dark, alter the colors of objects, turn invisible, and strike fear into the hearts of living things; and experimenting with the various drafts will lead to some truly hilarious moments.

Loom is a fabulously funny game; Bobbin is a witty, cynical young lad who isn't afraid to crack distasteful jokes or tell off the most powerful of villains. The wacky people and creatures he encounters during his quest provide plenty of laughs as well.

"Ahem."

Loom boasts solid aesthetics to accompany its wonderful sense of humor. As you would expect in a game that focuses so much on sound, the music is brilliant. Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake composition possesses a leisurely, ethereal quality that adds to the majestic feeling of the game. And while none of the character sprites contain much detail, the background graphics are often very well drawn and look like simple-but-cool paintings.

There's little doubt that Loom's slow game play will drive some people out of their minds. But be patient with it and it'll really make you think and keep you very entertained with its clever sarcasm and charismatic cast.

BoxyBoy

~ BOXYBOY ~

Media Rings / Thinking Rabbit / NEC

HuCard

1990

BoxyBoy sends you out to visit some of the world's greatest nations, such as Egypt, Japan, and, uh, "SOUTHPOLE." Once you arrive at a particular country, you get to CHALLENGE it...

...which basically means you have to move a bunch of boxes onto a bunch of dots.

And that's all there is to it. Some boards are easy (not many...), some are insanely difficult. Some are small, while others are so large that they occupy multiple screens. The game is somewhat helpful and forgiving: you can rewind your moves and bring up a faraway-view map screen to get a better idea of the big picture.

You can hammer away at these simple-in-concept puzzles over 250 rounds if you like. Sadly, unless this boxy brand of conundrum is really your kind of thing, you'll probably find the adventure too uninteresting and repetitive to stick with it for more than a couple dozen levels. Even if you do enjoy other puzzlers that involve shoving shit around, chances are you've experienced some that do a much better job of keeping the player interested and involved. Old Adventures of Lolo for NES basically boiled down to pushing stuff, but it featured a likable hero and a variety of enemy creatures for him to deal with (and even equipped him with the means of putting those creatures to use in the puzzle solving). The Turbo's very own Tricky Kick was simpler than Lolo, more of a BoxyBoy-type affair, but succeeded thanks to cool block and level themes, along with appealing characters who had their own individual storylines, which were told through opening and closing cinemas. To be fair, BoxyBoy does offer periodic congratulatory cinematic screens...

...but this is hardly the sort of stuff that'll drive a player to persevere through a ton of tough levels. Though if BoxyBoy were, like, my only TurboGrafx game, I could imagine spending hours and hours on its most challenging boards and eventually developing a fondness for the title. It does feel awfully good to make it through a hellish room layout...

...but maybe that's just relief. And I don't imagine there are many people in that unenviable BB-only position, so few will have reason to play this thing for very long when the system offers so many more-attractive alternatives. Like Gate of Thunder. Or Rondo of Blood. Or Tricky Kick.

Exile

~ EXILE ~

Renovation / Telenet / Working Designs (US)

CD-ROM

1992 (JPN: 1991)

Exile is a decent action-RPG; it might even look like a good one from afar. After all, it does star a badass protagonist in Sadler...

...and many of the monsters he slays look pretty darn cool.

The music is very good, and the story is fairly interesting, so even the overhead-view "talk to people" scenes are usually entertaining.

Unfortunately, the game is extremely short and stupidly easy. None of the bosses came even remotely close to doing significant damage to me. I never needed to use any items, nor did I cast any spells except for Warp to save myself time (in the Japanese version, that is; Working Designs chose to leave that particular incantation out of the US game). And in light of the lack of challenge, I guess it's a blessing that the journey is a brief one; during the final stretch, I just wanted it to end. Since I knew I wasn't going to face any sort of challenge and the designers didn't provide anything particularly interesting in the way of level designs or puzzles, it all started to seem rather pointless. Vic Ireland and company did buff up the monsters for the US release, but not to the ridiculous Wicked Phenomenon extent, and the poor creatures still can't put up much of a fight.

The only real difference WD's "efforts" made is that some of the still-easy bosses take a lot longer to kill (especially the last fool).

If you don't think you'll mind the ridiculously low level of difficulty, then Exile plays well enough, but it's certainly not in the same league as The Legend of Xanadu and Blood Gear. Not even close.