Raiden V

While not being a revolutionary shoot'em up, thanks to a precise and compelling gameplay, high variety and an infinite replayability Raiden V is a great bullet hell shooter that lovers of the genre shouldn't miss.

Raiden V is fun, spectacular and solid. Its price is high, but hardcore shoot 'em up fans will find here a must-have.

It lacks a two player mode and the graphics look dated, yet fans of old-school shoot'em ups will feel very good playing Raiden V, especially if they are high-score hunters.

Raiden V remains a superior vertical shooter, one with a unique feel, a spectacular aesthetic and a pleasingly aggressive combo and weapon system.

Raiden V is without a doubt a solid shmup experience from start to finish (and start to finish again and again), but the real question is if it’s worth the asking price of $49.99 CAD. If you’re an old school gaming fan of the genre, like myself, you’ll easily find value here with lots of replayability, even more so if you want to climb the online leaderboards. That being said, everyone that isn’t into this niche genre will no doubt wonder how a game like this is priced so high, so this group of gamers may want to give it a chance once it’s on sale.

Raiden V is a top old-school shmup, enriched by excellent gameplay features, great calibration and perfect rhythm. In the background of this pleasant scene, a notable work was done with the sound as well. Unfortunately the artistic direction doesn't look wholly brilliant and considerable extras are missing. However Raiden V stands as an absolutely recommended purchase to the vertical scroller shoot 'em' up lovers, very hard to master but as much fulfilling as few other games are.

In many ways Raiden has been left in the dust by its successors. The series that have survived have moved on and tried new things in an attempt to remain relevant, whereas MOSS is content on clinging to old-school sensibilities.

You don’t always need “bullet hell” in a shoot-em-up. Raiden 5 is a solid old school arcade experience with an interesting rhythm to the action while delivering a decent challenge.

No doubt ardent vertical shooter fans will find enough value in Raiden V to make the cost negligible, but those who just like to dabble in the genre now and then are probably best waiting for it to go on sale.

The core gameplay is as excitingly well-crafted as usual but some strange design decisions, and odd omissions, make this an underwhelming sequel.

I love the shooter genre, and feel like we don’t see enough of these titles anymore. I am always happy to see a new one crop up, but with its lack of modes and hefty price tag, it feels like this game is really taking advantage of the players like myself just wanting a new game in the genre.