Raiden X

Raiden X is a flash tribute to the classic shoot-em-up "Raiden". In this game, you pilot an aircraft among a swarm of enemies to blast apart anything in your way with a myriad of high-tech weapons. The game features 8 stages each with a boss at the end. Raiden X is one of the most complex games in the arcade, due to the sheer amount of options and features contained within it.

How to Play
From the loading screen, hit "Start" once the loading bar vanishes. You will then be taken to the title screen. Use the arrow keys to select "New Game, Load Game or Setting" and press the space bar or enter key to make a selection. Select "New Game" to start the game, select "Load Game" to load a saved game and select "Setting" to choose from a list of options: The "More Games" option does nothing, and the "Back" option takes you back to the main screen.
 * Control shows the controls used in the game.
 * Graphics lets you choose graphics quality.
 * Difficulty lets you choose between Easy, Normal, or Hard.
 * Sound lets you adjust the volume.

Once the game begins, just shoot enemy ships, and avoid enemy fire all while collecting power-ups to strengthen your ship. If you die, you lose all power-ups and your bomb count is set back to 3. (Regardless if you had ten bombs or zero bombs, the count always resets to three.) If you defeat a boss and finish a level, you have the option to save your game. The game will start all over again if you manage to defeat all 8 stages, but you will keep your score, lives and power-ups. When you run out of lives, you may submit your score.

Controls
Use the arrow keys to move your ship up, down, left or right.

Press and hold "Z" to fire your primary weapon.

Press "X" to use any available bombs.

Press the space bar or enter key to pause the game and bring up a list of options.

Power-Ups
Power-ups are dropped mostly by larger enemies. There are a few types of power-ups. Move your ship over a power-up to collect it.
 * Weapon: Weapon power-ups are small squares that float around the middle of the screen. They cycle though three colors, Red, Blue, and Purple. Collecting a power-up of the same color will upgrade the weapon, while collecting a different color will switch the weapon but keep it at the same upgrade level. There are 5 upgrade levels for each weapon. There is also a rare "P" power-up that will occasionally appear, which will upgrade both your weapon and missiles to a maximum "6th" upgrade level. The type of bomb you drop will change depending on which weapon you are using.
 * Red (Machine Gun): The machine gun is your default weapon. It starts out firing two shots straight forward, but increases the number of bullets fired with each level. At the third level and beyond, the shots fan outward, allowing you to fire upon the entire screen without needing to move.
 * When using a bomb, the bomb is dropped beneath your plane and creates a firey explosion at that spot.
 * Blue (Laser): The laser is the most powerful weapon in the game, but covers very little area. The laser only fires straight forward, and barely covers the area in front of your ship. The higher the laser is upgraded the more deadly it becomes, adding more lasers. The "6th" upgrade level grants you one large laser that can tear through nearly every enemy in the game in one shot.
 * When using a bomb with this weapon, your plane fires out a large flash of light forward, incinerating most enemies in the way.
 * Purple (Electric Beam): This weapon fires an electric purple beam that locks onto enemies, and hits all other enemies that happen to be in the way. This weapon also "arcs" off of nearby enemies, and can take out entire clusters of enemies with ease. It is, however, the weakest weapon in the game, but takes the effort out of damaging your enemies while dodging enemy fire. Each upgrade increases the thickness and damage of the beam.
 * When using a bomb with the weapon, the screen gets filled with rapid firing purple beams.
 * Rockets: Rockets act as a secondary fire weapon. They are also small floating squares, but will cycle between the letters "M" and "H". These will also automatically reach maximum level if the "P" power-up is collected.
 * Missiles (M): Missiles fire straight forward and cause massive damage to any targets in their way. The higher the upgrade level, the number of missiles as well as their size and damage is increased.
 * Homing (H): Homing rockets seek out any targets and attack them. They do not cause as much damage as missiles, but fire at a much faster rate. The also increase in size, damage, and number when upgraded.
 * Bombs: Unlike weapon and rocket power-ups, the bomb power-up bounces around the screen erratically. It's looks like three colored orbs with the letter "B" in the middle.
 * 1-Ups: A triangle with a lightning bolt in the middle. Collect it for an extra life.
 * Medals: Medals come in different shapes and sizes, including things like fairies and stars. Collect them for bonus points. They usually appear when a ground target is destroyed, and remain in that spot, scrolling with the screen.

Tips
The control of your ship is very sensitive, so even the slightest tap will move your ship over quite a bit. Take a while to get used to the speed of the game.

If you feel things are moving too fast, playing the game on a higher graphics setting will slow things down a bit.

While it may be tempting to use bombs, you get a nice bonus at the end of each level depending on how many bombs you're holding.

Collecting medals also give you a bonus to your score at the end of each level.

If your weapons are maxed out and you collect another upgrade of the same color, you will receive a 5000 point bonus. This will only work if you've collected the "P" power up.

The right combination of weapons can really suit your playstyle. If you like to play defensively and just dodge fire, the Purple beam, or maxed-out Red Machine Gun and the Homing rockets are probably best. If you prefer to destroy everything you attack in seconds, bosses included, combine the Blue Laser with the Missiles and watch everything you shoot get vaporized in no time flat.