Probably the biggest jump in difficulty between the first and second loop I have ever seen. While nabbing the 1-All was somewhat easy thanks in part to the giant amount of resources the game throws at you, the 2-All would take you 100 times it took you to beat the first loop in one credit. Kinda makes me wish for a unique mode where you could jump straight into it, the first loop is a 30 minute endeavor and I dont think the scoring is intricate enough for me to actually give a damn about it when going for the 2nd loop.

Honestly, other than that, this game is just really solid. The presentation is great and the music is just Genesis to the max, I guess Raizing really did respect its roots. It's a very nice game that's also very easy to jump into.

Raizing's first game tows the line between the literalism and weight of 4th gen art production with the maximalism, polish and particles of the coming 5th gen of shooters. The shmup loop is nothing special but the use of space and physical presence is something you rarely see in shmups - crowds tossing non-lethal crap at you during a boss rush, enemies that slam giant marble columns across the broad side of your ship, airborne fighters that buckle and lose altitude as you destroy their jets, just to name a few. This is a standard of visual design I want to see much, MUCH more of in the indie space.

Lovely vertical STG with really creative stage visuals, I love stage 3's dungeon theme. I think presentation is really this game's strong point. I like a lot of the attention put towards little details like Chiita's ship having a cape, townsfolk running around on the ground scrambling to get away from the Gobligans, things like that. It does feel a bit on the unforgiving side if you end up dying due to the power up system, but maybe it's just the stage 5 boss having some insane amount of health idk. The characters are really cool, and I honestly enjoy playing literally all of them with none of them feeling particularly underpowered or anything.

Considering Raizing would almost immedietly go on to become purveyors of the finest jank, their first game, Sorcer Striker/Mahou Daisakusen, is a very easy game to like. The core gameplay is fun, conventional, and easy to get to grips with, and it combines with wonderful presentation and music, and only moderate difficulty by arcade standards, makes it a very easy STG to just get into and play and enjoy.

If there is a blemish on Sorcer Striker, it is that gameplay though. It essentially plays like a spin-off of Aleste, which makes a lot of sense considering Raizing was founded by a group of ex-COMPILE staff. In general, it feels a lot like Musha Aleste, which is fine, that game is great, but if anything is simpler and less interesting. It's basically pick the weapon pick up you like best, shoot, and survive. This can work fine and even simpler conceits have made for better STGs (most notably I'd argue is the exceptional Thunder Dragon 2), enemy waves aren't that interesting, and there is absolutely nothing to the scoring system beyond basically pure survival.

And whilst Mahou isn't generally that difficult, the difficulty it does have is a bit poorly balanced, and full of spikes. The stage 2 boss is going to be a big roadblock for people, and one of the Stage 6 midbosses easily eclipses the final boss. It's nothing that bad, but is a bit of a mark against the game.

But whilst the gameplay struggles to get much higher than "pretty good", the wonderful presentation really picks up the slack. The world of Mahou Daisakusen is this adorably kitsch high-fantasy/steampunk world that's beautifully realised with great sprite art, imaginative enemy/character designs and some great direction - there's an ebb and flow to the game, forming a little heroes' journey in a way, with recurring rival enemies, and great pacing with the levels, culminating in it's pretty great Stage 6.5 which really rounds things out. It's a setting that's built with just the right amount of seriousness that it feels dramatic whilst also having plenty of levity. It's a bit like viewing a more professional, artistic version of those original, kinda goofy Magic The Gathering cards that you fly and shoot things through.

And that's really it in general. Mahou is a game that does leave you wanting a bit more. Wanting a bit more interesting gameplay, but also just wanting another window of this adorable high-fantasy world to blast through.

A very underrated Raizing shmup that is full of variety and charm with its unique "modern fantasy" setting and jammin' soundtrack. The gameplay of Sorcer Striker (or Mahou Daisakusen) feels like an arcade interpretation of the Compile shmup formula. This makes sense considering that Raizing's team was composed of former Compile employees. Of course being an arcade game, this means that enemies hit much harder and faster than most of Compile's home console releases, but the result is a very satisfying game you'll want to keep coming back to.

All of the characters are viable (which is rare for a 90's arcade game) but I recommend playing as Miyamoto since his wide shot covers basically the whole screen and his fast movement speed will really help you out in the last couple of stages.

Vertical shoot em up. Main shot fires both a standard forward attack as well as whichever of the the three subweapons you have equipped, separate button to fire bombs. Four characters with each having different lines and different looking (but similar in style) subweapons). Fantasy elements fused with more modern and military themed designs give a unique look, turtle castles and dragon ships. Invading ground forces chasing civilians, activate traps and defenses, repairing machinery, cheering you on, etc. Varied enemy design and good looking stages with interesting designs. A level in the clouds where an enemy airship suddenly appears with views of the deck crew, a colosseum battle against mini bosses while the enemy faction cheers on both sides and throws food and debris at you in addition to some powerups when you win, a castle with traps that slam walls shut and that fills with water that can push you back when you destroy the wall, an area with multiple pass where enemies on opposite ends will kick and launch debris at you. Not too difficult and not much in the way of cheap or out of nowhere enemy attacks. If you die on a corner it might launch all your upgrades off the map so you can't collect them on your next life or continue, and once when I lost everything was the only time I died a lot. Ok soundtrack, not very memorable or exciting, more of foreboding theme to sometimes that doesn't seem that fitting.

Screenshots: https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/1343413711462002688