Raiden III (PS2)

Reviewing a modern day shmup is never an easy task. While the games in the genre do tend to differ quite a bit with the quality of their level designs, visuals, and gameplay systems, at the end of the day a good shmup (not an amazing shmup) simply means that the game in question is not a bad shmup and beyond that there really isn’t all too much to say about it. So with Raiden III, the latest entry in Taito’s classic shmup series that were favorites of many in the arcades, the only question that truly really arises is: Is Raiden III a good shmup?

Long story short, the answer to that is a solid (yet maybe not spectacular) yes. Raiden III’s design harkens back to the early 90s allowing players to re-live their days of Raiden glory, but now with 3D visuals and a green laser instead of a purple one. It brings back the era of shmups when there weren’t really any crazy deep scoring systems, Lolita girls, or incredible looking locations. No, instead Raiden III brings us back to the idea that shmups are about shooting things, dodging lots of bullets, and using the occasional bomb.

The biggest change in Raiden III from its predecessors is that the purple wavy beam that swung around and impressed everyone with its great visuals back in the 90s has now been given the color of green. Yes, indeed, that’s about it when it comes to changes. Scores are added up in a fairly standard way, which gives bonus multipliers if enemies are killed in quick succession. Weapons are powered up either by collecting P icons or continuously collecting power-ups of the same color and as always bombs are collected from defeated foes and use sparingly to wipe out the entire screen of enemies and just let the player escape from near certain death. For the most part though, the game is just about moving around, keeping watch on bullets, and shooting everything one could possibly see. Compared to the intense and rewarding scoring systems of Cave shmups it definitely feels a tad light and frankly just isn’t as much fun. But at the same time, the level layouts are great and the challenge level is setup just right so that beginners have a bit of time to learn the layouts, while even experts will be challenged by mid-game. The end result of the gameplay is an enjoyable shmup that proves there’s nothing too terribly wrong with sticking to a simple formula as long as you keep it fun.

The graphics are similar to the gameplay in that they do the job but don’t tend to stick out in any unique or interesting way. At 60fps, they’re smooth, fast, and look much better than quite many 3d shmups, but at the same time they don’t hold a candle to the 2D visuals Cave keeps pumping out on a regular basis. After going through Cave’s great levels, non-stop explosions, and awesome sprite-work enemies, Raiden III’s empty oceans, forests, and bases don’t do much besides “not looking bad”. Bullets remain easy to see, enemies crafts are well designed, and swinging around the green laser is just as neat visually as doing it with the purple one back in the day. In an age where many lower-budget games fail in their transition to 3D, it’s to Raiden III’s credit that it does look quite close to the originals in terms of visual style.

With regards to the music, Raiden III’s soundtrack is definitely a throwback to the olden days. Every track sounds like it could’ve been ripped straight out of the original Raiden and while some may be disappointed in the midish tunes, these same tunes do give the game some character and emphasize its retro feel.

The one thing that’s not retro about the game though is the modes added for the home version. Besides the main arcade mode and score attack (that lets you begin from any stage), a boss rush also becomes available after the game is cleared. In addition, straight from the start players can both record their own replays and watch an already recorded expert player breeze through the game (which is great for learning level layouts). There are also all sorts of art galleries, and bonus supplemental features that can be unlocked through repeated plays. Best of all, for those who are skilled shmup experts, once cleared, the second wave of the game allows players to control two ships at once while using both analogue sticks. Though most gamers will never actually see this mode, it’s a nice idea that should challenge even the hardcore to no end.

So in the end, Raiden III is a good shmup. Its solid looking, has good bullet patterns/enemies, and the levels are set at just the right level in terms of fun and difficulty (there are also multiple difficulty options available from the start). The game is never a bore, nor is it frustrating to the point of wanting to break the disc in two. For fans of the genre it’s simply a nice way to have some good fun for a week or two, and for others it’s a good reminder of what the genre was like before Cave. While it might not do anything to make it stand out as a must have shmups on the console front, Raiden III still well-made enough that’s its worth giving a shot.

Bonk's Revenge (Wii)

Now that Bonk's Revenge is available alongside Bonk's Adventure in the TurboGrafx-16 section of the Wii's Virtual Console shopping channel, people are bound to ask if Bonk's Revenge is better than its predecessor, especially those who spent 600 points ($6) on Bonk's Adventure and found it to be nothing special. In most regards, yes, it is. Once again, you have to guide the titular cavedude through a number of 2D platforming stages and use his thick forehead to bash whatever enemies and obstacles get in the way. However, this second game is much more extravagant than the first one was. Bonk has a couple of new abilities, enemies are more plentiful, the stages are larger and more inspired than those in the first game, and the graphics and audio better represent what the TurboGrafx-16 hardware is capable of.

Like its predecessor, Bonk's Revenge is a run-to-the-right 2D platformer that's not so much about jumping over bottomless pits as it is getting through the scads of enemies in each stage. Bonk's health bar still has three hearts, his main attack of choice is still the head-bash, and you can still make him spin through the air by pressing the attack button rapidly after a jump. Unlike in Bonk's Adventure, though, you can't just spin through entire stages in Bonk's Revenge. One reason for that is the stages are no longer linear and tend to involve backtracking, climbing, and the occasional swim. Some feature optional paths that diverge from the main route and rejoin it later. Another reason you can't just waltz through stages anymore is that enemies are more plentiful. They also do a much better job of making use of their axes and rocks than the enemies in the first game did. To balance things out, the developers made food items and extra lives easier to come by in this game, both as items you can grab within stages and as rewards for getting through the new bonus stages that are peppered liberally throughout each world. The meat power-up has been changed so that eating one piece lets you spit toxic breath and cause earthquakes that stun enemies, while eating two pieces transforms Bonk into an invincible monster with a forehead conspicuously shaped like a butt. Bonk's head-bash has also been modified, such that you can now use it to bounce between walls and climb upward, similar to how Samus' triangle-jump works in the Metroid games. In general, Bonk's Revenge is livelier, more involved, and somewhat more challenging than its predecessor.

In terms of overall length, Bonk's Revenge clocks in with seven worlds containing multiple stages and caps off each world with a boss fight. Unlike Bonk's Adventure, which had a couple of single-stage worlds, Bonk's Revenge contains at least three stages in each world. The boss fights involve the same strategy of dodging and bashing that the boss encounters in the first game did. The bosses in Bonk's Revenge are larger and more visually impressive than the bosses in Bonk's Adventure are. Instead of one dinosaur after another, you'll face off against a giant pirate with an extensible hook and a possessed ballerina who spins like a tornado, and you'll engage in a rematch against the pirate after he attaches his lower half to a space battleship that looks very similar to the Yamato from the Star Blazers cartoon. You should be able to work through the entire game in two or three hours. While that's not much more time than the span required to get through Bonk's Adventure, all of the alternate routes and crazy enemy encounters make Bonk's Revenge one of those games that you'll feel the urge to play through again.

Stylistically, Bonk's Revenge exudes the same sort of Flintstones-inspired charm as its predecessor. Bonk is a goofy little caveman, his enemies are a menagerie of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures, and the backgrounds are comical renditions of the jungles and volcanoes that we typically imagine when we think of Earth a million years ago. Bonk's Adventure gets by on its charm alone. By contrast, Bonk's Revenge actually coaxes some decent graphics and audio out of the TG-16 hardware. The characters have more animations, the backgrounds are more detailed and have more layers, and there's a lot more going on. The volcanoes that erupt in the background are neat to watch, especially when they toss molten rocks into the foreground that you subsequently have to dodge. You may not be impressed by the sound effects, but they are at least whimsical. The music, on the other hand, is a collection of intricate compositions that will have you bopping your head from time to time, unlike the bland melodies that were the hallmark of the first game's soundtrack. The Virtual Console's emulation of the game is accurate to the original.

Bonk's Revenge is easy to recommend to anyone looking for a platformer that is consistently charming and does more than simply emulate the Mario or Sonic formulas. Furthermore, since Bonk's Revenge is snazzier and more involved than its predecessor, the 600 Wii points ($6) purchase price seems appropriate.

Mortal Kombat II (PS3)

While the original Mortal Kombat certainly created a stir, it was Mortal Kombat II that absolutely blew up and made Midway's fighting game into a series that continues on to this day. The 1993 arcade game did everything you wanted a sequel to do: It gave you new characters, a healthy number of new moves, cutting-edge graphics (well, cutting edge for 1993, anyway), and a perfect reason to hang out in seedy arcades at all hours of the night. It's been successfully ported to multiple home machines over the years, and now it's back again as a downloadable game for the PlayStation 3. While certain aspects of this emulated classic could have been done with a bit more care, the bottom line is that this is MK2 with online play, and the online play works just fine.

Mortal Kombat II was a huge hit because it took everything that made the first game cool and built upon it. The graphics improved, making the gory fatalities even more over-the-top. Watching Jax rip off the arms of his opponent or seeing Kung Lao slice a dude in half the long way with his razor-sharp hat simply doesn't get old. Even after 14 years, the finishers still satisfy. If killing people isn't your thing, MK2 was also the first game in the series to have friendships, which are friendly finishers, such as Johnny Cage autographing a photo of himself or Raiden summoning his very own mini-me, Kidd Thunder. Lastly, there are babalities, which are even more ridiculous. Have you ever wanted to turn your opponent into a little baby? MK2 gave you that chance.

While the finishing moves always steal the show with their flashy nature, the core fighting in Mortal Kombat II is also a lot of fun. While some may scoff at the way that every character has nearly identical regular moves, this level playing field puts an emphasis on the various special moves. Sub-Zero now not only has the ability to shoot ice at you, he can also freeze the ground and cause you to slip. Jax's grab-and-pound move is immensely fun to see in action, as are moves like Baraka's blades, Liu Kang's multilevel fireballs, and, well, just about anything Scorpion can do.

For the entry fee of $4.99, you'll gain access to this roughly 250MB download, which offers an accurate version of the original arcade release, right down to its attract mode. You can play two-player games locally, which work just as you'd expect. You can also get online and play against players over the Internet. Like most online games, the quality of your connection, as well as the connections of the other players in the game, will dictate the quality of your match. On a standard, consumer-grade DSL connection, we didn't run into many games that were too choppy to enjoy. In fact, in a couple of cases we ran into matches that actually ran faster than the normal game, which is equally annoying.

The online mode in MK2 is really weird. Rather than set up some sort of custom two-player match that is book ended by menus and scoreboards, hooking up to another player just runs an emulated version of the arcade machine game. But instead of having a second player sitting next to you, that person is someone else in the world. So, if you wanted, you could just not hit start, not join the game, and simply watch a player play single-player. And games don't end until one player disconnects from the match. This aspect of the online play feels rushed and sloppy, especially when you consider that there's no manual or anything to tell you that you need to hit start to play. In these early hours after the game's release, expect to run into a handful of new players who have no idea how to join your game. And because there's no voice chat or other method of in-game messaging, you have no way to tell other players "Hey, hit start!" Most of them figure it out after a minute or so.

The game has an online leaderboard, but it doesn't make much sense. The scoreboard just lists a number, and it's not just a raw count of the number of wins you've scored. After playing for a few hours, we found ourselves with a score of seven points. What the heck does that even mean? The world may never know.

There are also handful of technical glitches and emulation issues. For whatever reason, the fighters don't cast shadows in the Dead Pool background in this version, though they do in the arcade version. When starting a match, the audio seems to cut out for a split second, occasionally making the announcer sound like he's saying "ound" instead of "round." Also, the fatality music cuts off and the game goes nearly silent if you do the first part of Sub-Zero's two-part fatality over and over again. In the arcade version, the music just keeps looping. None of these are absolute game breakers, but they're all disappointing.

Aside from the shadows, this looks like the arcade version of the game. On widescreen monitors, the game screen is surrounded by images of the characters taken from the versus screen, and the game will run in 1080p if you have the proper equipment. The menus, while functional, look and sound terrible. Everything, right down to the font, looks like something that the developers meant to replace at some point but never got around to cleaning up before release. And the sound that plays when you move between menu options is a loud, grating ping. The game audio is usually accurate, but it also sounds muffled and as if it is at a low bit rate in spots. That lines up with the arcade original, but on some home theater systems, the audio only seems to come out of the center channel and subwoofer, which is weak.

It's unfortunate that so many aspects of this emulation seem rushed because this is the sort of classic game that deserves careful treatment. Even something as simple as a four-player round robin network mode (which is available in the other online MK emulation, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for the Xbox 360) would have made a big difference. But at the end of the day, it's faithful enough to the original game, and the online works. If you're an MK fan, that's more than enough reason to spend the five bucks for the game.