![]() ![]() The terrain is the same and so are the bosses, and the enemy placements are similar if not exact. The Bravo set of levels comprise the “Novice” course, which is actually just the first five levels of Raiden II. However, there is a definitive ending to this gauntlet complete with a tough new boss: A large striped desert tank with starburst turrets. It could be considered “training” in the sense that it’s meant less for beating and more for gauging your overall skill at Raiden. You get no continues once all lives are gone instead, your overall progress of how well you did is calculated (how far you got, how many enemies you shot down, etc.). ![]() It is one long unbroken marathon level that totals to about fifteen minutes, and it becomes increasingly difficult the farther in you travel. “Endurance” is a more fitting moniker for the Alpha level. This is only half right: It is merely one level, but I’m not sure I’d consider it “training” when it’s just as difficult as the rest of the game. It is billed as a “Training” stage consisting simply of only one level. These courses are seemingly in order of increasing difficulty, but the very existence of the Alpha course defies conventional difficulty structure. The new content to DX comes in the form of significant replay value by offering three different courses selected at the main menu: Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie. The feel of the original games is still very much intact, but what exactly are the changes that warrant the “Deluxe” moniker? All the weapons are intact: The vulcan, the laser, the toothpaste plasma beam, the straight missiles, the homing missiles, the nuke bombs, the cluster bombs, and those awesome starts that fire off when weapons combine in two-player mode. It plays exactly like Raiden II without any notable changes in arsenal. ![]() The sound design is similar and the OST consists of remixed tracks from the first two Raiden titles. There is a nifty graphical change to the plasma beam where it flashes multiple colors as it locks onto an enemy, but other than that, it looks much the same as the previous games. The graphical style of Raiden DX is essentially the same as Raiden II, which is just fine. The same classic gameplay is there, and while the differences aren’t that prominent at first, they come through as welcome additions that make everything just that much better. Raiden DX features completely different stages from Raiden II and a very interesting way of arranging them for play. The best comparison to draw is Metal Slug X compared to Metal Slug 2, as both games have different enemy arrangements and graphics, but their stage structure is essentially the same. However, while it is not quite its own game, it offers a fair deal more than Raiden II that sets it apart and arguably makes it the best title of the classic series. Raiden DX is a definite curiosity in the series, as it appears at first to be nothing more than an updated re-release of Raiden II. ![]()
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