Classic Game Room HD - RAIDEN IV on Xbox 360 review

Classic Game Room HD reviews RAIDEN IV for Xbox 360! One of the greatest SHMUPS ever made has landed on your non-Japanese region blocked game console, hooray for Raiden! SHMUP goodness in full high definition, Raiden IV is smooth, explosive and hard as nails. Dodge more bullets than you can shake an copy of Raiden III at, Raiden IV is not for scaredy-cats who can't take the heat of the virtual 2D battlefield that doesn't really exist yet it's still hot anyway. This CGR review of Raiden IV has gameplay from Raiden 4 on Xbox 360 showing the game play in this vertical scrolling 2-D shooter SHMUP for Xbox 360. CGR is playing on an American Xb0x 360 where you can earn Raiden IV achievement points and compete on an awesome global leaderboard full of people who are waaaay better than you. Holy Raiden Raiden, this is almost becoming an exciting time for Japanese space ship shooter fans with new releases of Raiden 4, Raiden Fighters Aces and R-Type Dimensions (and that one I can't spell on PS3). Is the era of non-stop 2D shooters coming back?? Probably not, but as long as we get some of them we're happy. Raiden IV will appeal to fans of Giga Wing, MUSHA, Thunder Force, Gradius, Galactic Attack, Ikaruga, Radiant Silvergun and Mars Matrix. With numerous difficulty settings. leader boards, amazing visuals, awesome music and def gameplay, Raiden 4 is out of this world!

[@sinbysin666]

Raiden V is out for Xbox One now.

[@b-retrogamer2925]

This game brought me a lot of comfort while my broken foot was healing and loaded with Vicodin up to my gills. Thanks again Mark for spending my money.

[@HappyFatzKid]

I remember playing the first one in the arcade when I was like 8. Great to see that it still has great game play after all those years.

[@MikeTaylorLives]

I just downloaded this to my Xbox One the other day. I am way out of practice with shoot 'em ups like this.

[@Alevamltd]

Players rejoice! "Raiden V" is on its way!

[@MAXTHUNDER99]

@LawrenceHill2010 It is actually coming to the PS3. I love it when 360 fanboys have to eat humble pie.

[@StarlancerAstro]

Considering it's years later and a new gen is out I'm not to sure I'd call it eating humble pie but it's nice to see everyone get a chance at this great shmup.

[@bozolozo21]

Is Japan version better than North American version?

[@neros77]

I think it is better to use a stick instead off the xbox360 controller!

[@Zukan]

USA only :( Same deal with Raiden Fighter Aces. Us Europeans get no shmup lovin' it seems...

[@tomfum]

I cant find this on UK Xbox Marketplace. Is it USA only?

[@vittau]

Sometimes I feel like buying an X360 just for XBLA alone man...

[@Hayatenogotokuluey]

I want too! BUT I HAVE NO XBOX!!

[@kyringe]

This game almost makes me wanne buy an xbox

[@ronnieradon]

It's insane how much this game costs physically right now

[@dahnilama1417]

You can get it cheap on switch now

[@KedViper]

I feel sorry for you. :, (

[@Xonatron]

only one of five game modes have global leaderboards... worth noting... a common theme in arcade ports (you have to play a specific mode to get on the boards, a specific mode that is usually last on the list and never the default game mode). i love this game, though. but i wish every mode i play would be recorded online. most people who play this game will not be playing in the "world rankings" mode. :(

[@drmifune]

pronouncing raiden wrong bro

[@Xonatron]

compare this to geometry wars 2 were every game mode (except multiplayer modes) are recorded onto leaderboards... most of the people who play this game will not be playing the restricted leaderboard modes, which means it's not quite as connected to all the fans out there as you might wish for.

[@TrueRiderFan]

As a veteran of Top-Down shooters and Curtain Fire games I noticed something odd when I first played this game at a cousins house: It was too easy. I beat it in my first try. I blame the 3D rendering for that. It takes up more memory to have many 3D objects on the screen at one time instead of just having 2D sprites. The high detail of the 3D objects allows for far, far, far fewer objects to be presented.

[@neontetra1000]

@cocncrete you are right about mushi,amazing! gorgeous,exciting! but having now played death smiles a lot i can honestly say it is the best game i have ever played in my life,a symphony of colour and excitement! ps a little tip get an nintendo ds and r4 card and download caves ketsui death label,bullet hell in your pocket! ps espagaluda 2 and ketsui 360 soon! get them ntsc-j 360's off ebay!

[@gurriato]

Lol, have you ever played a shoot'em up in your life? The difference between horizontal and vertical is like day and night, of course it would affect the gameplay. If you want tate mode, the game gives you the option to rotate the screen 90 or -90 degrees, just like Raiden III and many other ports. Don't presume to know better than the people who've been making and playing these games for decades. Even PC exclusive vertical shmups are designed this way.

[@dingo535]

Mark with that shoot 'em savvy. Preaching the truth about the magic of the tap dodge in Raiden.

[@sudoukun]

this one is a lot better than raiden v.

[@CaliBoyinJapan]

awesome, I'll have to pick this up. I just got Mushihimesama for 360, that one is region free. It's kind of short. That's funny you said they're cheap, because in Japan all new shmups are REALLY expensive, like 7,000 yen, which is like 80 bucks. I loved the first Raiden on PS1, so I'm sure I'll love this, haven't played it in forever, but looks the same just better

[@neontetra1000]

well i have never noticed any issues with my dlc,it's fine,if you went more cave goodness get yourself a chipped ps2 and visit a site called called snesorama,that's what started it for me,now happily playing ibara,mushimi-same,espagaluda and dodonpachi,love it!

[@maiki60fps]

agreed... just look at that shit... 3/4s of the screen covered with some nonsence artwork... obviously they did not develop this for Xcrap but is surely a cheap conversion... NO THANK YOU

[@Battlepants82]

i think UNDER DEFEAT on the dreamcast has better visuals than this game and has better game play but this is still a good game but not the best out there, if you want a challenging game then get IKARUGA or for fun then get TRIGGER HEART

[@rippinkorpse]

obviously u missed the point of this game. u cant compare this game to any of the raiden fighters, i agree raiden fighters, raiden fighters 2 and raiden fighers fuckin kick ass. but this sequel to raiden 2 3 and 4. get it fuckin right.

[@TheReconer]

What's the difference between Raiden IV on 360 and Raiden IV Overkill on PS3? O_o

[@neontetra1000]

This is now available on the japanese xbox live market place for under 3000yen (under £20gbp)if you have such an account,but in my opinion nothing touches cave games! check out death smiles and mushimesama futari!

[@gurriato]

What the fuck are you talking about? Raiden IV an old game? It came out in 2007 in the arcades, and you didn't play then, unless you live in Japan or imported it. And good job comparing two completely different games.

[@moshXpit91]

it's not marketplace and the game is not out yet. at least as far as i can tell. It's a dvd based game. goes on sale later this month. Mark is just awesome so he gets the good games early

[@KaiserChiefsPocketbombs]

i picked up a copy, i liked it, but damn this shit is impossible when you play on ultimate difficulty, its harder than the silver suffer game on the NES......ok maybe not as hard

[@mistanelsin]

Picked this up at Gamestop today for $6 compete with soundtrack.

[@Horangs]

I love this franchise series. I am so glad they brought the graphics to current-generation consoles, instead of just porting them from the old arcade graphics. The music is also fantastic!

[@andylawlzz]

what an ignorant statement. Even if that wasn't completely wrong you saying "lite" is silly. This video doesnt even show the second hardest difficulty =/

[@markvergeer]

Oh 'lots of explody things' hope this will be available in Europe as well. Good reviews man. You got a good speaking voice!

[@segagenesis1989]

They are selling this game for $59. Although I am a fan of the Raiden franchise, I will be waiting for the price to drop. Good review!

[@KancerStick]

Does this shit not exist on ps3?????? WHY????????????? is it for PC at least? i dont care i just want to play it lol

[@digitalworms]

I never understood why they don't make many new shoot em ups or convert some over from Japan! I know they aren't to popular but damn some of us still love em lol

[@tempo0029]

game looks awsome. i havent play a game like this in about 15years.. too bad that this game is a 360 exclusive

[@AngeloBangelo]

Fun game if you're just getting into schmups, but if you're a die hard fan that NEEDS a lot of replay value and you need that "OMFG THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE" mode like Ikarugas Hard mode chaining the whole level, DeathSmiles 999, or Mushihimesama Futari... This game is a little on the easy side. Not saying it's an easy game, it's just not as hard as some of the bullet hell games out there.

[@ReverseInReverse]

@NeverendingTwilight1: I hear Touhou generally gives out plenty of stuff for the player to use, so yeah, it's not as comparable to, say, CAVE games as you might initially think. That said, I've never played Raiden IV, but I've played Raiden, Raiden II, and Raiden DX, and Raiden X doesn't even come close to their difficulty levels in the long run. It would've been a lot better if they actually made the second loop harder, but then again I don't blame them for re-introducing me to shmups anyway.

[@stretchypants123]

See, the main reason why I wanted to get an Xbox 360, was because of its awesome games. Especially House of the Dead 4, Raiden series, and etc... and it's not fair because I have a PS3. Oh well. I would like to have an Xbox 360, but I just don't think I can afford it right now, money or time wise. But ya, this game would probably convince me to buy an Xbox 360 even more. It's a perfect arcade game too.

[@Themultiroleman]

At first I thought that Raiden 2 rocks when it came to the soundtrack but this one is the best Raiden game!

[@AngeloBangelo]

@JohnnyK98k Agreed 100%. I've only recently started playing on ultimate and the speed that the bullets fly at are insane. If you don't have the patterns memorized you have NO time to dodge or think of your next moves. Definitely getting harder as I move to the higher difficulties. Love this game so much!

[@kdj29]

i have 1,2 and 3 of the raiden series. I am going to wait till this one drops to 19.99 or try to get it used. I dont think the ps2 slows down at all for 3. I will be getting 1942 before this one just because i already have 3 of the raidens. Oh, and Giga Wing for the dreamcast sucks, unless you want to die 50 times to finish the game.

[@StudioGuyMN]

I bought this and Raiden Fighters Aces earlier this week. Both are great additions to the Xbox 360 The only bad thing about Raiden IV is that the Arcade Mode is kinda short with merely 5 levels. But in The Xbox 360 Mode, there are two new exclusive levels. So you then get a total of 7. Either way, Raiden IV is a very challenging and nice looking game. I highly recommend it

[@crazy4guitar3000]

@UncleBetty32k The 360 pretty much has one exclusive that I want, and it's this game. Ah, I tell I lie, maybe Dead or Alive 4 as well. Other than that I'm pretty happy with my PS2, PS3, Wii, DS, PSP, and ESPECIALLY my Dreamcast. I see absolutely no reason to buy a 360.

[@brightsuzaku]

I need to get better for those Leaderboards. I posted an OK run her eon youtube, but I've got a better replay I'll upload sooner (no getting hit! Yay!) I may have memorized Level 2, but definitely not that damn boss. I'm working on using less bombs in my gameplay, and better dodging. :3

[@SpecterM91]

The irony is that the publisher for this is known for publishing nothing but awful shovelware. But recently they picked up the license for a bunch of Japan only games that no one else would dare publish here due to their niche-ness. Pretty bad ass move on their part, if you ask me.

[@TronPachioftheDynamo]

@MakoXL I have this and DoDonPachi 4 on the Xbox. Personally, I have no idea whats harder. DDP may have a LOT of bullets and a brutal scoring system, but Raiden's enemies fire clones of Super Sonic and the Flash with no slowdown at all.

[@DarkShroom]

still cant get this fucking game for 360, i am very happy to have been forced to play ikaruga so much but then wtf, this would really top it off they promised me raiden ages ago, still no download in the UK

[@trinikid2k2]

really? what size is it? well thanks for the advice, btw have you cleared raiden 4 on expert as yet?? man its hard!!!! i play a lot of street fighter 4, so i won't be putting my tv on its side, and its a 37" so its tedious ...

[@crazy4guitar3000]

@ryu11 Really now. See now THERE'S a reason I would maybe get a 360. All I have is Chaos Field, Thunder Force VI, and the Gundenmonium games on the PSN. But those sound really fun, I'll look them up...

[@lokey57]

I am only disappointed that after the hell known as the touhou series, other SHMUPs start seeming a tad easy :/... That said though, Raiden is still an awesome series, hands down. Wish I had a 360 now...

[@mondrometal]

yup.. music is amazing. i want to download some of that music...but i don t know where..:( 7:36 he is good at every game he plays.. haha and the game is great... as the review... haha 5/5

[@crumcon]

''BUY, SO THEY'LL MAKE MORE OF THEM'' best comment on youtube for quiet sometime

[@Reigam4]

Why did they only put one game on the disc? A Raiden collection would have been better...

[@cbazan66]

@crazy4guitar3000 I like PS3 but there are some amazing exclusives, Gears of War, Halo, Forza, Fable. Lots of reasons to get one. Luckily i know someone with a PS3 so I can play both.

[@ridddgggedchippes]

@auritone How does "Games on Demand" region-locking work? Raiden 4 and Fighters Aces are both in the US marketplace, I believe. RFA might be the Japanese marketplace; I don't remember.

[@PetreysPlantation]

I figured it would have been on ebay for cheap (Since ebay has EVERYTHING) I seen the import ones and freaked out. But at gamestop its 29.99 and it usually ships in 24 hours Thanks guys.

[@SpencerLemay]

If you have a steam account download Audiosurf. Its 15 bucks doesnt need much and really cool. Its a puzzle game/racing thing. Also the levels are made from YOUR music Mp3's

[@gigas81]

If you like Raiden games or just shooters in general and don't have a Xbox 360, get one! P.S. Touhou isnt available in US mass market so that doesn't count yet.

[@thoughtotherwise]

@somekindawizard While that sounds cool to say, FFXIII just sold over 5 million copies. SFIV sold 3 million copies. MGS4 sold nearly 5 million copies. etc.

[@trinikid2k2]

yah i know you can adjust the screen that way, but no way im putting my tv on its side!!! thanks for the help anyways ... btw, can you beat the game on hard?

[@trinikid2k2]

man why isnt it full screen, how come there is a wall paper?? whats up with that, seriously that pisses me off!!! is there a way to make it full screen?? geez man

[@VTranslanka]

1) To the people asking about widescreen: It's a top-down upscrolling shmup...why would you WANT it wider? >_> 2) Awesome pink laser is pink again! lol

[@the.big.boss.]

this game looks great, i miss shooters like this. old style games with better graphics = win. if only the sonic team took notes on what these guys did.

[@Torqegood]

The thing shooters need, is a good story line and can ensure a large amount of of time wasting gameplay in one playthrough. As shooters are too short.

[@ghostmouthzach56]

Why the hell is the screen so small? I understand it being vertical but jesus...

[@MooseBurrito575]

thats awesome how it showed the plains take off on the ground before you fight em

[@PhyA52]

I hope they make this downloadable like they've been doing with Xbox On Demand. This looks like a game I always want ready on my hard drive.

[@virtualskysk]

Looks great, but it's such a shame that it only fills less than a third fo the screen. It just seems like such a waste of space to me.

[@fantacy2is2mi5life]

wooo wooo wooo only good at pegle yr amasing at alot of the games u put up apart from gears 1 tht wer slopy but apart from tht grate :D

[@Hylanvahr]

There's something about this game that makes me comfortable to watch it in action more than most shooters...but i'm not sure what, lol.

[@TronPachioftheDynamo]

@HeyMrSrickification There is a Raiden 3 on PS2 if that helps. Plays, looks, and sounds just like this. I think it's better actually.

[@BlazinZoner]

OMG WHO DOESN'T LOVE RAIDEN! brings back memories for MY days. Playstation and Arcade Raiden.. ahh Imm getting this game for sure!

[@troycloude19]

Raiden 3 on the ps2 was good but, it has a serious sound issue that wasn't present in the arcade and pc version of the game.

[@superrams34]

you guys in the u.s and japan are so lucky! one of my favourite game series and we cant get it in the u.k. bad times dudes!!

[@Tinnguyen123]

also the same from raiden II and I :) thast why we like it.. ima do some research on this to see if they have this on Ps3..

[@orientalbeef]

The gameplay is almost exactly like the previous Raiden versions and the Raidon X, but just with the hardcore graphics.

[@MasterOrHan1]

I actually thought he was pretty good at this game. Raiden series is hard as heck to me. Learned a few things watching.

[@SterileProphet]

Just started playing this last night. It's really fun. I would like to see Raiden 1 and 2 on the Xbox Live Arcade.

[@bland9876]

This is y I am GLaD I have a 360 now if only I had 40$ to download this :( at least I have raiden fighters ace :)

[@bricks0212]

seriously though...we should make a petition to get this game in the UK...its one of my most loved game series !!!

[@brtshstel]

I've been playing a flash games called Raiden X and it's fantastic. I love bullet-hell style top-down shooters,

[@JoeMamma23]

What's the name of the jazzy song that plays right after the squirrel is shown at the beginning of the video?

[@TheCrushmeister]

I got excited about this game and was going to buy it but it costs £74 in the UK, which is like $120 :o :o :o

[@Trane209]

the purple laser looks like the ghostbusters proton pack thing because once it locks on it stays on them lol

[@chocomunky128]

@ChrisPetrey87 you should be able to get it new at gamestop. raiden fighters is a bit harder to find though.

[@sierinlang]

@rambo78787 check out movie store as well.. they could have it.. i live in canada and hmv got the game..

[@reezdog]

Can you change the aspect ratio on this? If you can turn your HD TV on its side that would be awesome :)

[@marvelmania7283]

Good for you american shooter fans...but what about us poor pal gamers =( I wanna play raiden IV DAMNIT!

[@TheIceGryphon]

Subscribed because you are doing some serious awesome reviews now.

[@madsli]

angry/sarcastic european: gee you guys sure are jucky for getting raiden 4 and aces ported over.

[@dfer159632]

is tatio legend 2 the name of the whole package or is it just one of the game thats comes included

[@1994fishcake]

I wish i knew how much my Sixaxis was before i threw it across the room. Damn. MLB 09 THE SHOW FTW

[@VanArtic]

i really wish it comes in PAL territory, i really want to play it

[@badgerbun]

nice review...and whao...you are pretty good at shooters! wait...what was the forth weapon?