Raiden IV is a popular 2-D vertically scrolling shooter and a favorite among fans.  It must be, as I’ve seen it ported to nearly every console since it’s release.  Now it’s also on every current console and PC (reviewed on PS4 here).  Not sure what the “x MIKADO remix” part means, but there are a lot of new modes, stages, challenges, and features, so maybe it’s one of those.

Play control is simple and what you’d expect from this kind of game.  Move around with the left stick and hold down the fire button to shoot.  You get a number of screen clearing bombs to use in an emergency, and you can pick up power-ups to expand and change your firepower.  You can choose from two different kinds of spaceships plus a…fairy?  Yeah.  Two can play at the same time as well.

There are tons of modes and ways to play.  Overkill Mode adds new ways to score by collecting items as well as two extra stages.  Additional Mode also adds some extra stages and Score Attack Mode lets you try for a high score on the stage of your choosing.  But if you want the original arcade experience, Arcade Mode has you covered.  You can view your rankings online as well as view a gallery of pretty much every ship in the game plus record and save your plays.  My only problem with this one is that you have limited credits, but you can earn more as you play so you can at least get further each time.  There’s not really anything here that separates it from other games like it, but it’s still a pretty good one.

Kid Factor:

Raiden IV x MIKADO remix is rated E-10 with ESRB descriptors of Mild Fantasy Violence and Mild Suggestive Themes.  You can shoot spaceships that explode when defeated.  On one of the screen borders if you pick the fairy character, it shows a naked fairy but hair is covering up most of her.  Reading skill is helpful for some of the menu text, but not necessary to play.  Younger gamers may find it too difficult, but a second player can always join in to help.

Tags: Game Reviews