In 1997, with their past as a Sega-exclusive publisher
firmly behind them, Working Designs joined the ranks of
publishers that are trying to break into the massively
successful PSX market with a killer game that will bring in
the critical acclaim and the gamer's hard-earned bucks. A
funny thing happened on the way to the market, though, as
it took until WD's second game ("Alundra") for the acclaim
and the bucks to roll into the coffers of Victor Ireland's
Sweedish bank account. Oh, the good life!
Best known for bringing to America neglected Japanese RPG's
(the "Lunar" series, "Albert Odyssey") and other different
genres ("Iron Storm", "Sega Ages"), WD formed a new label
dedicated to twitch shooters called 'Spaz' and announced
their first shooter, Taito's "Raystorm". A sequel to the
arcade game "Rayforce" (released under Acclaim's label in
the US for the Sega Saturn with the name "Layer Section"), Þ"Raystorm" is further proof that the Japanese know their
shooters, and that the shooter flood of the 16-bit era has
yet to affect the land of the rising sun. With Square's
"Einhander", Fox's "N20" and WD's own port of the Saturn 3D
shooter "Thunderforce V", the PSX is experiencing a
mini-revival of a genre that hasn't been entirely embraced
by today's console gamers; for every "Starfox 64" or
"Colony Wars" there has been a "Philosoma" or a "Raiden"
around the retail corner. Despite being almost 18 months
since its Japanese release (and approx. 12 months since the
domestic release), is Taito/WD's "Raystorm" worth your
gameplay dollars in 1998?
The story and artistic design of the game cry for anime FMV
cinemas and a Bandai-caliber license that, sadly, are not
present in the final product. In the year 2119 Earth's
government has formed a Star Federation to impose rule and
order on the rapidly-expanding colonies that are appearing
throughout the solar system. Fast-forward 100 years, and
the Feds have imposed such an iron-fisted and authoritarian
rule of life (outer space martial law?) that several
colonies declare mutiny and rebel. One of these colonies,
the one from the planet Secilia, forms its own Federation
and goes toe-to-toe with Earth's Star Federation, defeating
them badly in the process (up until now the plot stinks to
Psygnosis' "Colony Wars", but "Raystorm" was released
BEFORE "CW" so it's just a coincidence... or is it?).
After slaving the planet's population and moving them into
other colonies (which tried unsuccessfully to stop the
overkill tactics), the Secilia Federation sends a fleet
with the purpose of destroying Earth and wiping it off the
solar system. That's when YOU come in, piloting a
super-secret spacecraft named R-Gray assembled in the
colony of Balca; this ship is made out of several parts
from Secilia Federation's best crafts, and features an
experimental weapon system (echoes of "CW: Vendetta"). Can
YOU stop Bruce Willis, Ben Afflock, Liv Tyler and the
marketing blitz that has become "Armageddon" (get it)??!!
GRAPHICS / VISUALS: B+
The game controls like an overhead shooter in the vein of
"Xevious" and "Raiden", but it has a behind-the-ship view
that mostly resembles "Axelay" on steroids, with the rare
roller-coaster ride that doesn't affect (or is controlled)
the player, but sure is cool-looking; imagine what a
slightly-uglier 3/4 overhead-view version of "Einhander"
would look like, and that's "Raystorm". The game moves at
45-60 frames-per-second with not a trace of slowdown during
the one-player mode, and a few instances of slowdown when
two-players take on the task of saving Earth.
The textures and resolution of the graphics (especially the
city backdrops, space battle cruisers, enemy ships, etc.)
are a little bland and muddled when compared to
"Einhander"; think of a medium-resolution version of the
textures used in "Tobal #1", and that's what most of
"Raystorm" looks like. Your R-Gray ship, the floating
diamond-like power-ups (red/green/blue) and the mecha-like
bosses are straight out of "Raiden"/"Raiden II", but the
all-polygon engine and the PSX? A fine couple they do
make, indeed. There is enough variety in the game's seven
stages (eight if you know the way) to keep the game fresh
on the eyes, with scenes ranging from Earth oceans and
abandoned cities to the Secilia colony itself. An early
example of third-generation software, or a late reminder of
the high-end of second-generation PSX code? Regardless,
it's miles ahead of "Philosoma" and it has a cool color
manual for the player to read, just like all Working
Design's games.
MUSIC / SOUND EFFECTS: C+
The well-known musical gurus from Taito, Zuntata, attempt
to compose a hardcore-shooter-mixed-with-anime-JPop-tunes
soundtrack that lays a monumental egg of a BGM; it doesn't
suck as much as the music in "Road Rash 3D", "Tobal #1" or
"Batman Forever" (the one with the Casio-composed rendition
of the Batman theme), but its too eclectic and badly-paced
for me to recommend. Your own musical tastes may determine
if "Raystorm" has videogame tunes of your liking; there are
Audio Settings in the Option Mode for the player to lower
the music and to select from the original arcade tunes
and/or arranged tunes (they both suck IMHO). The sound
effects and other assorted atmospheric elements
(explosions, lasers, bombs) are OK, but it doesn't feature
anything that hasn't been heard before in a gazillion other
shooters; what's in "Raystorm" is, however, sampled at a
high rate and comes across as clean crystal-clear sci-fi.
The announcer, though, is one sad and boring man that
repeats in a monotonous tone the names of the game's
several levels in broken English. Oh well!
GAMEPLAY / FUN FACTOR: C+
Forgetting for a moment the inexcusable lack of a FMV intro
or anime-related cinemas as rewards for completing the game
(there isn't even an exciting intro unless you count the
"Robotech"-like ship going toward the camera), "Raystorm"
has all the follies and positives of the 32-bit shooter,
and that means people other than shooter fans will not find
anything in this game that will turn them into "R-Type"
genre-worshipers. The blockbuster N64 game "Starfox 64" is
the exception to the rule that shooters don't sell well to
the masses, and after playing "Raystorm" you'll realize how
watered-down a shooter Nintendo's game really is.
The bad about "Raystorm" first: the game's too short, and
despite the American-exclusive feature of having the number
of levels available dependent on the difficulty level (1-8)
and number of ships chosen by the player (select more than
5 ships and a difficulty level lower than 4, and you'll be
stuck playing until the 4th level), the game feels kinda
empty when you battle your way to the 7th/8th level and
realize that the game can be beat in under an hour.
Granted, if you're looking to clear the entire game with a
single ship and no continues (the shooter equivalent of a
no-hitter baseball game) this game is a beast that won't be
easily tamed without repeated play time. The good: for 95%
of gamers out there that just want to blast some ships and
relax from a crummy day at the office, "Raystorm" offers
either too marginal a challenge or too difficult an
experience, but you can tell it is quality product through
and through despite the rare design flaw that pops up here
and there.
Part of the problem (and "Einhander" veterans can relate to
this one) is that the game's 3/4 overhead-view plays tricks
in the eye and makes distinguishing between the
foreground/background objects more trouble than it should,
and that is not helpful when split-second decisions are
needed and dozens of ships, deadly rays and power-ups are
floating around you (try playing through Stage 4, located
on Earth's space orbit, and not getting confused when the
huge space carriers launch their barrage of blue lasers).
The control is flawless and tight, as it should be in every
shooter that requires constant and precise movement; shame
that it doesn't support analog control, but we'll get that
and Dual Shock support with WD's upcoming "Thunderforce
V". The battles take place in Earth and Secilia (with the
already-mentioned Stage 4 providing a nice 'outer space'
break), but the game plays the same: shoot, or die trying.
The two R-Gray ships are separated by usefulness (one is
automatic and ideal for beginners, the other one's manual
and ideal for shooter Gods... how original), and there is
an enhanced version of the original Arcade game with higher
difficulty levels and a few surprises.
OVERALL: B-
Unlike "Einhander", which looks and plays better than
"Raystorm", Working Design's first PSX game turned out to
be a retail dud that has faded into obscurity and become
yet another cult game that is played religiously by the few
devoted shooter Gods that import their fixes from Japan. A
good selling-point for "Raystorm" is that it's (a) an
affordable $25 or less at most retail outlets, and (b) it's
a simultaneous two-player shooter, and we all know how fun
those can be with the properly-motivated gaming partner.
Give it a rent if you can, and then see what an old-time
shooter wrapped in shiny 32-bit eye-candy looks/plays
like. Who knows, you might like it so much you will become
a shooter nut and start spreading the gospel about
"Raystorm" to fellow PSX heads; somehow I doubt it.
