September 9, 2009 -Raiden was one of those shoot-em-ups that drifted under the radar. It made a big splash when it debuted in 1990, and Raiden Project became a favorite PlayStation launch game in 1995, but the series didn't properly return for another 10 years, with Raiden III. Raiden III was quickly followed by Raiden IV, and after staying dormant in Japan for a while, UFO Interactive has finally brought the Xbox 360 version of the game to America.

Raiden IV features seven stages of destructive insanity (plus a secret eighth stage if you complete the game twice in one sitting), three different playable ships (though you have to download the extra two on Xbox Live), and some other nifty extra features. Players can save replays, upload them to leaderboards, and watch others' -- something that is finally becoming standard in the genre, but always nice to see. An added option is to play in "Dual" mode, where one player controls both ships. It's something best left to the professionals, but again, the option is there, and not every shooter offers it.

If anything characterizes Raiden, it's the Plasma Laser, a big purple beam that can curl and connect to any and all targets it touches. Despite looking cool, it's also very useful, as it lets you attack more than just one or two enemies at once. The laser was impressive back when Raiden was new in the '90s, and still makes some nice eye-candy in 3D, but now it's just plain helpful, and doesn't make Raiden IV stand out any more than its predecessors.

Of course, this is a shooter, so Raiden IV is supremely difficult, with enemies that love to either fire a swarm of rapidly-moving bullets at you, or just one pellet that may catch you off-guard at the most inopportune time. Raiden has always stuck to the somewhat more traditional view of shooter design, where you're encouraged to shoot as much as you are to dodge, and so the bullets have less of an artistic consistency to their patterns as those made by Cave or other prominent developers.

Regardless, if you're in it for simple enjoyment rather than setting out to master the game, Raiden IV is compassionate, repeatedly offering you more credits after each play session until it just gives you an infinite number, and even throwing out a full-power item if you lose too many lives. It presents an amusing conditioning that can "spoil" someone more zealous, especially when power-ups tend to hover around the upper half of the screen, where it's really dangerous to position your ship (unless you let a bomb loose and have a few precious moments to grab the items). Irritating? Yes. But it's just one of those things that teaches you that, in shooters, greed is a sin.

Whether as a Raiden game or a general shoot-em-up, Raiden IV doesn't really take any steps forward. That's not so bad, though: it looks good (better than most other similar games on Xbox 360), plays good, and has a suitable amount of extras. For a shooter enthusiast, it's just about all you can ask for -- and at around $40, less than standard retail price. It's just nice to see Raiden again.

Editor Rating: B