Cleared on May 7th, 2024 (SEGA Genesis Challenge: 64/160)
You know, having gone through a good chunk of the Sega Genesis library, I've reviewed shoot em ups that go horizontal, 3D, ones that have you go on foot, and even one that goes diagonal, but barring that one level in Twinkle Tale, this is the first vertical shoot em up that I've reviewed, despite the system having so many that I haven't even catalogued them all. Raiden Trad is... ok, I guess. It's nothing special and it gets really really hard.
The first two levels start out easy enough. You still die in one hit, but if you're familiar with the gameplay style, you should be able to manage and if you do well enough, you can get some really beefed up weaponry. You can equip both a missile and a gun at the same time for massive damage output, but the bad news is that there are only two of each type and one is more favorable than the other. For the missiles, you have one that fires a barrage of missiles in a straight line for massive damage which isn't too bad if you end up getting it for boss battles, but the homing missile will fire rapidly and shoot down nearby enemies and the more you collect, the more missiles you fire. As for the gun, you have either a spread shot or a laser. The laser can be good for damage, but when it comes to dealing with enemies, it requires you to move around which may put you in a bad position if you're not careful which is why spread shot is more preferably as at max rank, it can cover almost the entire area which gives you more leeway to focus more on positioning. Much like with the shoot em ups, if you lose a life, you lose all of your powers, but the game does have a bit of a mercy aspect with a fairy that will drop off a few items that you can pick up to barely get back in power. One time when I was down to one life, it just gave me a max power of both the missile and gun which I suppose is supposed to be a last ditch effort. That's a cool touch if that's the case.
Of course, the game demands great precision with your dodges which becomes especially apparent during the 2nd half of the game and even beforehand, Boss 3 and 4 are arguably harder than even the final boss (well, the one before the credits, anyway). Boss 3 in particular is batshit insane with how it just barrages you as soon as you down its weapons in addition to the enemies assisting it. At least to the game's credit, you can utilize bombs to nuke all foes on screen. Oh, and if you aren't using save states, you don't just lose a life and then pick up where you left off, you gotta start back at a checkpoint which I suspect will be a huge annoyance when you think you're so close.
But one thing that stood out to me is that this is probably the first case that I've ran into on the Sega Genesis where it has a post game level that you can go through once the credits finish rolling, and it's fucking brutal even on easy difficulty. Enemies come in fast, enemies shoot fast, high in numbers, harder to take down, and there are points where its down right impossible to get through without your bombs and if you lose a life, you're shit out of luck because weapon upgrades are more scarce then ever before. Not only did I have to save scum to stand a chance, I came up with a new strategy called pause scumming where as soon as the foe shoots, you pause, then you analyze where you can dodge and just go there. It is a useful tactic if you're playing on original hardware. In fact, you're going to need it especially even if you can get to the superboss by some miracle. It's projectiles are already one of the more difficult to avoid, but it takes so much damage and the more damage it takes, the more aggressive its attacks get shooting more space trash at you and just shooting from its mouth and whatever turrets it has left.
The game also gets negative points for having only two level tracks that rotate between 8 levels, the special level doesn't get its own track, and neither the final boss nor the superboss gets its own boss theme either. It's just the normal boss theme.
Overall, it's just a run of the mill vertical shooter. I imagine there are better ones out there in the Genesis line-up.
You know, having gone through a good chunk of the Sega Genesis library, I've reviewed shoot em ups that go horizontal, 3D, ones that have you go on foot, and even one that goes diagonal, but barring that one level in Twinkle Tale, this is the first vertical shoot em up that I've reviewed, despite the system having so many that I haven't even catalogued them all. Raiden Trad is... ok, I guess. It's nothing special and it gets really really hard.
The first two levels start out easy enough. You still die in one hit, but if you're familiar with the gameplay style, you should be able to manage and if you do well enough, you can get some really beefed up weaponry. You can equip both a missile and a gun at the same time for massive damage output, but the bad news is that there are only two of each type and one is more favorable than the other. For the missiles, you have one that fires a barrage of missiles in a straight line for massive damage which isn't too bad if you end up getting it for boss battles, but the homing missile will fire rapidly and shoot down nearby enemies and the more you collect, the more missiles you fire. As for the gun, you have either a spread shot or a laser. The laser can be good for damage, but when it comes to dealing with enemies, it requires you to move around which may put you in a bad position if you're not careful which is why spread shot is more preferably as at max rank, it can cover almost the entire area which gives you more leeway to focus more on positioning. Much like with the shoot em ups, if you lose a life, you lose all of your powers, but the game does have a bit of a mercy aspect with a fairy that will drop off a few items that you can pick up to barely get back in power. One time when I was down to one life, it just gave me a max power of both the missile and gun which I suppose is supposed to be a last ditch effort. That's a cool touch if that's the case.
Of course, the game demands great precision with your dodges which becomes especially apparent during the 2nd half of the game and even beforehand, Boss 3 and 4 are arguably harder than even the final boss (well, the one before the credits, anyway). Boss 3 in particular is batshit insane with how it just barrages you as soon as you down its weapons in addition to the enemies assisting it. At least to the game's credit, you can utilize bombs to nuke all foes on screen. Oh, and if you aren't using save states, you don't just lose a life and then pick up where you left off, you gotta start back at a checkpoint which I suspect will be a huge annoyance when you think you're so close.
But one thing that stood out to me is that this is probably the first case that I've ran into on the Sega Genesis where it has a post game level that you can go through once the credits finish rolling, and it's fucking brutal even on easy difficulty. Enemies come in fast, enemies shoot fast, high in numbers, harder to take down, and there are points where its down right impossible to get through without your bombs and if you lose a life, you're shit out of luck because weapon upgrades are more scarce then ever before. Not only did I have to save scum to stand a chance, I came up with a new strategy called pause scumming where as soon as the foe shoots, you pause, then you analyze where you can dodge and just go there. It is a useful tactic if you're playing on original hardware. In fact, you're going to need it especially even if you can get to the superboss by some miracle. It's projectiles are already one of the more difficult to avoid, but it takes so much damage and the more damage it takes, the more aggressive its attacks get shooting more space trash at you and just shooting from its mouth and whatever turrets it has left.
The game also gets negative points for having only two level tracks that rotate between 8 levels, the special level doesn't get its own track, and neither the final boss nor the superboss gets its own boss theme either. It's just the normal boss theme.
Overall, it's just a run of the mill vertical shooter. I imagine there are better ones out there in the Genesis line-up.