Show profile
Link to this post
Subject: Viper: Phase 1
One of the best traditional shooters ever made is Seibu Kaihatsu's Viper: Phase 1. It was the second game to grace their new modular arcade hardware, and I've always kind of thought it was a trial for them, a game that was just like their seminal Raiden series but with a different name in case it sucked. It was similar in a lot of ways - only one ship to choose from, slightly different weapons (but not too different), and similar gameplay.
![[Image: http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-logo.png]](http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-logo.png "http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-logo.png")
It was a really solid game, and it must have proven to their satisfaction their ability to carry on the Raiden name without disgrace, 'cause they followed it up with three more Raiden games (called Raiden Fighters) which were, basically, nothing like Raiden at all.
Because the real Raiden sequels weren't really Raiden, I've always considered Viper to be the last of the real Raiden games. No speedups, no fancy scoring, no combos or chains or bullet hell to mess up what is possibly the last great vertical shooter.
Please, enjoy the screenshots.
![[Image: http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-1.png]](http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-1.png "http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-1.png")
![[Image: http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-2.png]](http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-2.png "http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-2.png")
![[Image: http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-3.png]](http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-3.png "http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-3.png")
![[Image: http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-4.png]](http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-4.png "http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-4.png")
![[Image: http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-5.png]](http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-5.png "http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-5.png")
![[Image: http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-6.png]](http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-6.png "http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-6.png")
![[Image: http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-7.png]](http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-7.png "http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-7.png")
![[Image: http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-8.png]](http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-8.png "http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-8.png")
![[Image: http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-9.png]](http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-9.png "http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/VP1-9.png")
It was a really solid game, and it must have proven to their satisfaction their ability to carry on the Raiden name without disgrace, 'cause they followed it up with three more Raiden games (called Raiden Fighters) which were, basically, nothing like Raiden at all.
Because the real Raiden sequels weren't really Raiden, I've always considered Viper to be the last of the real Raiden games. No speedups, no fancy scoring, no combos or chains or bullet hell to mess up what is possibly the last great vertical shooter.
Please, enjoy the screenshots.
BLEARGH