Sunday, April 7, 2013

Find of the Week (3/31/13 - 4/6/13)



RayStorm (PSX)
Value: $30 on eBay
Actual Cost: $3

I found this in a thrift store which usually has nothing but junk. The disk is scratched pretty significantly but works fine. RayStorm is not only a decent find money-wise, but it's a really fun game too. This Taito shoot-em-up is the sequel to the well-regarded RayForce, also known as Layer Section here in the states.

RayStorm gets a lot of flack from shooter enthusiasts. Apparently it's not as good as its predecessor. Having not played Layer Section, I can't comment on this. As a standalone play experience, however, this game impresses. Most notable are the polygonal graphics. Unlike older polygon shooters like Silpheed that stream the 3D from full motion video, everything here is generated real time. For a game made in 1996, this is very beautiful. I'd say the graphics rank on the high end of all 3D Playstation games.

At first, it can be hard to keep track of everything going on screen. Ships fly below and above you, and bullets tend to have long flame tails. Once you get going, though, you won't have too much of a problem. This game is a little on the easy side. I don't mind that. I honestly had more fun playing this than overrated shooters like Battle Garegga. Then again, I'm not much of a fan of vertical shooters anyways. I prefer horizontal shoot-em-ups like Gate of Thunder and Thunder Force III. Anywho, if you're a shooter fan, forget what the majority say and try this one out.

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