Another MOSS Classic Returns: A Raiden III x MIKADO MANIAX Review

By Manuel

Players: 1-2
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC

Raiden III x MIKADO MANIAX is an enhanced version of Raiden III, a vertical scrolling shooter that first appeared in arcades and the PlayStation 2 in 2005. This new version is now available on consoles and PC by way of NIS America, and features several upgrades. It's still a rather old game and has the odd distinction of releasing after its updated sequel, Raiden IV x MIKADO remix, which got similar treatment on consoles and PC previously. (You can see our review for that game HERE!) How does this game stand up to that release? Has time been kind to it? Is it a classic of the genre or one that players can skip? We'll answer all those questions and more as we dive into the game!

Raiden III is developed by MOSS who are known for their work on the Raiden series and the Caladrius games. They know shooters and have set rather high expectations for their games. To answer that last question above: Yes, this is a classic of the genre and should be experienced in any way you can. Now, moving on. Story usually isn't a factor in games like this, and I'm not even sure that the story I'm about to lay out is located anywhere within the game itself, but here it is anyway. The crystals are at it again and are invading Earth. (Oh, so that's why the final bosses of these games are giant crystals!) The VCD deploy their latest fighter to stop the invasion, the Fighting Thunder ME-02. And... that's pretty much it. You're piloting the Fighting Thunder and have to defeat every enemy in your path to save Earth. Fairies somehow play into all of this, but is any of this really important? We're all here to shoot things and see them blow up, so let's focus on that. I can't really fault the game for not having a strong story, especially due to its age, but I can't help but wish that shooters took a bit more time to give us something more than "You're a pilot defending the Earth. Go kill those invaders!" I guess I can't complain since there are several shooters that have even less of a story than this, but one can always hope for more.

Call me Godzilla because I'm destroying the city!

This isn't a boss surprisingly.

The game is broken up into seven levels, the first three take place on Earth and the last four take place in space. (I guess there's more story in-game than I thought!) These levels get progressively more difficult and each culminates in a boss battle. You get three lives, three bombs, and five continues by default. You can increase the first two within the options, with the continues being the sole thing you can't adjust. This isn't as important as it sounds though as if you're having trouble with the game you can simply start from the last level you managed to complete on your next playthrough. You can also adjust the difficulty from Very Easy all the way to Very Hard. Difficulties affect the enemy AI and strength, as well as the sheer amount of bullets you'll have to dodge. There's also a practice mode, which basically is a version of the game where you're invincible. The difficulty is set to "Normal" by default, and that's to be expected I guess, but I found it interesting that the difficulty labeled "Arcade" is actually above it is sandwiched between "Normal" and "Hard". Once you're beaten the game once, you can pretty much customize everything. If you choose to start on a later level you can also choose your starting weapon, which you get fully powered up. Also, the entire game can also be played with two ships, either as a fully realized two-player experience, or one where a single player controls both ships. I was not able to try out the multiplayer for this review, but it's local only.

An early boss.

We're in space now!

Raiden III features a lot of changes over the first games. Your ship's hit box is a lot smaller so you're able to squeeze between complex bullet patterns much easier than you could in the earlier titles. This is also the first game in the series where bombs are screen clearing. Previously they only affected an area surround this ship, only wiping out about half of the screen area. The Fighting Thunder can use one of three weapons: the vulcan cannon which is a traditional spread weapon, the ion laser which is a narrow beam that swerves very slightly when your ship moves, and the proton laser which is like the ion laser but swerves more when you move your ship. There are also three sub-weapons which are basically all missiles that are either set to fire in a straight line, or home in on nearby enemies. We've already mentioned bombs earlier, but they're real life-savers as they wipe out bullets that are probably an inch away from your ship. Raiden III doles out power-ups in a somewhat unique way where the main and sub weapons are all acquired with the same power-ups. Which you get is determined by the color said power-up is when you pick it up, or letter in the case of sub-weapons. This means you have to be a bit careful as to when you grab power-ups so you don't grab a weapon that doesn't suit your play style. It can be a little annoying and stressful waiting for a power-up to cycle to the color you're looking for, but it streamlines the entire process enough that it's something I really can't complain about.

This reminds me of a star destroyer.

This is a pretty cool boss.

There's not much else to talk about when it comes to gameplay as the rest is about what you'd expect. You fly, dodge bullets, and defeat as many enemies as you can before losing your last life. Bullets come in various sizes and type, with you actually being able to shoot the fuzzy looking ones out of the sky before they get to you. Bosses are all unique and have at least two forms to them. Score is important for unlockables, and to get on those leaderboards, so it's a good idea to take out as many enemies as you can and pick up every bonus or item you come across. If you get hit at any time it's instant death, unless you've collected a fairy. On a new life your bomb count resets, your weapon goes back to its basic version, and a sole power up for main and sub weapons float near the middle of the screen as a reminder of your past life. If you die three times, or however many lives you set the default to, you then are given the opportunity to continue if you have any credits left. If you continue it's pretty much the same thing as starting another life, except that you're also given a free hit to on-screen enemies when you respawn. There aren't many secrets or added bonuses to speak of, but there are two hidden fairies to get in the game and several point-based items to uncover. There are achievements in every version but the Switch one, but some of these are so difficult to get that it makes me wonder if many people will be able to get them all. 

Besides the main game you have a score attack and boss rush mode. The score attack is simply playing each level with whatever settings you choose and joining a specific leaderboard for that once you complete it. Normally your score in the main game is based on how many points you accumulated within a single continue, the score attack mode limits your points to just that stage. There isn't much to say about this mode except that if you're hunting down specific achievements, this might be the mode to do it in since you can kill two birds with one stone. The boss rush mode is pretty self-explanatory except that you get two main weapon, and one sub weapon, power-ups at the start of each "stage". Also, even though it's a boss rush mode, some of the stages start a bit before the bosses themselves and have you fighting several standard enemies. Similarly these shorter "boss-only" versions of levels count as levels for some achievements, so it might be best to spend time here even if you're not one to try out Boss Rush modes typically. There aren't any other game modes to speak of in Raiden III but beyond a full arrange mode like Raiden IV had, I'm not sure what else could've been added here.

Fighting on Earth's coast I guess.

Be sure to take out all the tanks.

Seeing as Raiden III is a game that is very near twenty years old you'd expect it to have a bit of age when it comes to graphics. It may not be able to stand up toe-to-toe with modern titles in the genre, but it has aged very gracefully all things considered. There's very few cutscenes so everything is pretty much in-game graphics, which are all rendered in glorious mid-2000s 3D. The ships and enemies all look great, the bosses are impressive, and the fairies are back. One of the most important things in shooters is contrast, as enemies, bullets, and other nonsense are always flying across the screen. I'm pleased to report that everything looks sharp and on point, and if you're hit by a stray bullet, it's probably due to you not paying attention and not it suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Speaking of a lot of stuff going on, the game runs very smooth, and I didn't experience a single hiccup during my several hours of gameplay. The action can get a little intense at times, but the game does a great job managing the experience so you can focus on staying alive without having to worry about things like slowdown. Outside of the game itself you can enjoy the game's various 3D models in a separate gallery, and you can even choose from several wallpapers for the otherwise dead screen area on the left and right of the game. These wallpapers are all well put together too and I had a hard time choosing my favorite. I have mixed feelings calling graphics from such an old game "perfect", but I'm definitely leaning in that direction.

Creating your own game OST is fun.

The Fighting Thunder in the Gallery.

Music is where it's at when it comes to shooter games and Raiden III is no exception. Moss shooters are known for their soundtracks, and I have a particular fondness for Raiden IV's, so you probably know what to expect here. Every song within the main game is guitar-driven, leaning towards power metal, and does a good job keeping you pumped up for the task at hand. That task at hand being saving all of Earth, so it's a good thing you have the perfect playlist to go along with that. Contrasting the stage music is the menu music and stage clear music, which are a bit mellower but are great compositions as well. Remixes of popular shooter soundtracks (usually referred to as "arrange" versions) are nothing new, and you can expect them just about every shooter re-release. The MIKADO MANIAX version of Raiden III does things a little differently though and has several arrange tracks that you unlock by completing the game and amassing a certain overall score. These unlockable tracks can then be inserted into the game and replace the tracks that are already there. This means that you can create your own version of the game that features a playlist that suits you. It's not all that deep, but it's a nice touch and I made use of it in my later playthroughs. I can't help but feel that Raiden III's strongest factor is its overall sound design. I'll definitely be picking up this game's soundtrack to add to my personal playlists.

Raiden III x MIKADO MANIAX has a lot to offer when it comes to content. There's the main game mode which is highly customizable and can be played in in solo or dual versions. Besides that there's also a score attack mode and a boss rush mode. Those have already been covered, but they also have similar customization options as the main game. There's extras to unlock, leaderboards to place onto, and achievements/trophies to get if you're playing on anything other than the Switch. Is it a bit ungrateful to say that all of this wears thin rather fast though? I completely cleared those three aforementioned modes four or five times for the purposes of this review and I'm barely creeping towards five hours of gameplay. Somehow there's just about as much content as you'd expect a game like this to have, and even some you don't like the soundtrack choices, but it still comes off as lacking. This isn't helped by the fact that this game releases after Raiden IV x MIKADO remix which had several more gameplay modes, multiple ships, and just an overall greater depth of content. I don't want to judge this game compared to others, but it can't be helped that even in the world of modern re-releases that this feels 3-5 years behind the times. This doesn't make what's here bad by any means, just that it might not be as appealing to someone just looking to pick up a random shooter. Fans of the series like myself will eat it up though.

Get used to this screen early on.

This final boss, but I was playing on Easy here.

Even though I'm of the mind that the shelf life of Raiden III x MIKADO MANIAX​ is lesser than it could've been, I still have to give it a high recommendation. It's just such a great game, and just about everything about it is near perfect when examined on its own. Playing through it with friends, creating your own solo challenges, and mixing the music and wallpapers to find your perfect mix will keep most coming back for more, everyone else can just have a great shooter. It's a bit pricey at $29.99 in my opinion, but I need to remind myself that in the modern gaming landscape that's a bargain price. Pick it up on your console of choice, and maybe look into Raiden IV afterwards. (Oh, HERE'S our review of that one again!) Let's hope that we see a wider release of Raiden V somewhere down the line.

For More Information on Raiden III x MIKADO MANIAX:
https://nisamerica.com/raiden/3/

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Story: A-
Gameplay: A+
Graphics: A
Music/Sound: A+
Value: A+

Overall: A+

Pros:
+ Loads of customization and difficulty options makes Raiden III highly replayable.
+ Challenging gameplay that feels very rewarding once mastered.
+ Some of the best music in the series. This version also features several arranged versions.
+ Graphics and presentation look amazing for belonging to a near 20 year old game.
+ The most definite version of the game yet.

Cons:
- Releasing after Raiden IV x MIKADO remix is an odd choice as this one is not nearly as fully featured as its sequel.
- While the game is very customizable, the core game is pretty much always the same and is pretty short.
- Having to wait for the weapon power-ups to cycle to your preferred one can be quite annoying.
- Hard to whole-heartedly recommend with other, possibly better, shooters currently available.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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Until the next mission!