The Raiden Project was one of the playstation's earliest titles, and
although it never really demonstrates the full potential of the system, it
has a tremendous amount of nostalgic value.  a faithful, pixel-perfect
recreation of both the original arcade coin-op Raiden, as well as its
sequel (cleverly titled "Raiden II"), the Raiden Project offers sixteen
levels of two-player cooperative carnage in the classic vertical shooter
vein.

in numbers:

ORIGINALITY - 2 - its age alone scores the Raiden Project both of its
points in this category--as shooters go, it's not terribly creative.  the
enemies never really deviate from their rather predictable patterns, and
even the bosses are fairly non-threatening.  Raiden offers only two
weapons: a weak spread shot and a powerful, concentrated laser beam.
Raiden II offers only one more weapon than its predecessor (though it must
be noted that it is a cool one), for a grand total of three different
cannons.  the power-up system is fairly standard, as well--simply shoot the
easily identifiable power-up carriers, and then fly into the remaining
icons, which will give you bombs, missiles, or gun power.

RESPONSE - 10 - though the Raiden Project is no powerhouse of originality,
it is a very solid title in its category--and the control is part of the
reason why.  every move you make happens in instant syncronization with
your control pad, leaving you no one to blame but yourself when you get
shot down.

GRAPHICS - 7 - Raiden is graphically dated, and it shows.  Raiden II, on
the other hand, is really quite subtley impressive, visually.  your bombs
may be either of two kinds--one is a single blast, a gigantic firestorm
that rolls up the screen.  the other is a hail of smaller bombs, which
explode independently of each other as they hit the ground, leaving you
with a warm, fuzzy, "i just killed a lot of people" feeling inside.  Raiden
II also features the homing, twisting purple laser, another great visual
effect; but most impressive of all are the individually rotating, scaling
pieces of shrapnel that hurtle to the ground after you've eliminated an
enemy ship or tank--although the effect is subtle, it really adds a great
deal of depth to the visual impact of this classic.

ANIMATION - 6 - nothing really special is going on in the animation
category for the Raiden Project; again, this game's value lies more in its
nostalgia than in its once-stunning visual effects.  however, the animation
is by no means poor, and players won't be dissatisfied--the Raiden Project
runs about as smooth as any other shooter.

SOUND FX - 7 - all the sound effects throughout the Raiden Project come
across as weak, or too quiet... except the big explosions.  if you've
turned up your stereo at all, these unnaturally loud bursts of volume will
have you and everyone else in the room pasted up against the wall opposite
your stereo's speakers--and that's a real nice feeling.

MUSIC - 3 - well!  let's just move right along to the final score, shall we?

in practice:

on the M.A.R.C.H. scale (of IGNORE IT, RENT IT, or BUY IT)...

THE RAIDEN PROJECT
SEIBU KAIHATSU/SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT

RENT IT RENT IT RENT IT RENT IT RENT IT RENT IT RENT IT RENT IT RENT IT

anyone who plays video games and is over the age of 10 has most likely
played some incarnation of Raiden at least once in their lives--and because
of the game's status as an arcade shooter classic, the Raiden Project, with
a total of 16 levels spanning two games, is a great show of sony's respect
for the old favorites.  while it doesn't offer any thrilling
next-generation special effects, it does still get your pulse going, and is
definitely worth checking out.