Raiden IV Confirmed for Xbox 360

June 19, 2008

For fans of oldschool shooters, Raiden should require no introduction whatsoever.

As shoot-’em-ups go, it’s among the more approachable series in what’s a notoriously unapproachable genre for many — with only a few types of weapon power-ups and a difficulty level that starts out simple and gets challenging on a nice, leisurely curve, it’s a nice introduction to the genre as a whole. And Xbox 360 owners will have a chance to get acquainted very shortly — Raiden IV developer Moss has announced a September 11 release date in Japan for the 360 port of their arcade shooter.

Readers with especially sharp memories might recall that Raiden IV was actually previously confirmed over a year ago in an interview with UFO Interactive, but since then the game dropped off the radar.

This is the first we’ve heard with more specifics on the game and its 360 port since then.

In addition to all the usual hardcore-friendly amenities you’d expect from a shooter (including the obligatory “tate” vertical-screen mode), Raiden IV has grown a wealth of brand-new features for the big home port. In addition to the Arcade mode (a faithful port of the original), the game features a new Xbox 360 mode that both readjusts the challenge for home users and features two completely new stages, for a total of eight in all.

You’re able to save replays of previously-played games to watch later and figure out why you’re so terrible at shooters, and there’s also a World Ranking mode in the works where you’ll get to upload replays and see how well you stack up against the best players worldwide. (You can download other people’s replays, too, of course — and you’ll probably need to if you want to learn how to beat the best.)

Raiden IV goes on sale in Japanese stores this September for 7140 yen. U.S. publisher UFO Interactive has unofficially stated its intention to release the game in America (as noted above), but no official announcement has been made yet.