Be careful... there are, including this one, three Hudson Zenki titles on SFC. The other two being Kishin Douji Zenki: Denei Raibu and Kishin Douji Zenki: Tenchi Meidou. Raiden is the beat 'em up of the bunch. For simplicity's sakeRaiden will be used from here on out
Based off the manga, Raiden is slightly similar to Battle Zeque Den in that it's a 1-plane side scrolling beat 'em up. Whereas I was lukewarm toward BZD, I actually like Raiden. It's much deeper thanks to its platform-y essence
The dark creepy intro sets a nice tone
You play a small dude, but certain levels he'll be his super hero alter ego. In level 1 you start out as the little guy
By the way, isn't that washed-out backdrop simply awesome? It reminds me of those paintings by the infamous painter with the fro -- he appeared on THE SIMPSONS once or twice. Hell, my uncle owns a painting or two of the guy
[Bob Ross you mean -Ed.]
Damn, yes, that be him. That's the drawing my uncle had...
Anyway, where was I?
There are plenty of neat little boss fights, like a giant wolf head and a red dragon. This one here is from the beginning
Level 2 places you in the shoes of the alter ego of our protagonist
Some baddies pop out for a nasty surprise
This part is pretty neat; you break a pod which releases a wavy energy current, lifting our hero up high
The shoulder buttons allow you to dash
Comes handy in this spot
Some baddies look menacing enough to pass as mid-bosses when in reality are just regular enemies
Your super attack will cost you some health
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Yes, you're restricted to 1-plane but the nice thing here is it's more of a platform-slash-beat em up hybrid. There are some devious platforming bits to navigate, such as the difficult lava ride, which keeps the game interesting. Some bosses not shown are awe-inducing. Health refills are hidden inside pods, but sometimes a spider baddie lies inside instead, to keep you honest. Nothing ground-breaking, but done better than Battle Zeque Den
It's relatively easy but there are some tricky bits, like the aforementioned lava ride. Some stages have a force field at the exit, so you must collect a certain item on that level in order to deactivate the barrier -- just like finding a key to unlock a, er, locked door
[*Slaps forehead* -Ed.]
There's a lot more to do here than in Zeque. I'm not crazy about Raiden, but I like it; there's definitely some quality here. Overall, worth checking out cheap, but you're not missing anything if you pass
