Raiden IV: OverKill Review | Hardcore Gamer

Raiden IV: OverKill is a vertical-scrolling shoot’em up in the vein of classics such as DoDonPachi, Radiant Silvergun and Espgaluda. But while those particular titles are fairly hardcore manic shooters, Raiden is a more methodical series less concerned with hypnotic patterns of death-dealing projectiles, and more about using a sound-mind and various weapon options to make it through all the chaos (though it's still very bullet heavy, mind you). This approach is a breath of fresh air considering the SHMUP genre was mostly dominated by CAVE’s mega intense bullet-hell shooters last generation. Thus, this more straight-forward approach ultimately means a more accessible title with a less infuriatingly steep learning curve, making it a great title for folks wanting to cut their teeth on these types of games. That being said, Raiden IV is such a special game in that it doesn’t just pander to newbies. In fact, genre-veterans will find themselves right at home with the various difficulty settings and overall number of ways there are to play the game, and play it well.