Raiden Fighters

Raiden Fighters (ライデンファイターズ) is a 1996 scrolling shooter arcade game by Seibu Kaihatsu. It is followed by the sequel, Raiden Fighters 2: Operation Hell Dive. It introduced unique gameplay elements that are a departure from the original Raiden series.

Plot
Raiden Fighters' plot is not directly apparent in and of itself. The opening prologue of Raiden Fighters 2 hints at a plot from its predecessor, which the sequel follows. The protagonist squadron must quell a massive guerilla uprising headed by a ruthless dictator. The setting of this conflict appears to take place in eastern Asia, as the briefings for each "Mission" include a war plan superimposed over a map depicting the countries of China and Japan.

Stages
The game's seven levels are divided into three distinct Missions. The first two Missions have three levels each. The final Mission is a lengthy fight through the enemy's fortress.

By default, the stage order is chosen at random. Players can force a specific stage order by holding the joystick in one of the four principal directions before pressing the Start button after inserting a coin.

Fighter craft
In Raiden Fighters, there are five standard fighter craft from which to select, each with a Laser and a Missile weapon. Each standard fighter craft has different strengths and weaknesses. Depending on a particular machine's settings, the cameo ships Raiden mk-II and the Judge Spear can be directly chosen, or selected by performing a specific joystick sequence. The Raiden and Judge Spear differ from the standard planes in two respects. First, each uses their signature bomb rather than the Firestar bomb and begins each life with three of them. Second, instead of employing charged shots, the cameo planes can shoot both lasers and missiles simultaneously. The Slave plane is playable, inheriting the bomb and movement speed of the fighter craft they normally accompany.