RayStorm was released in 1996 and is a vertically scrolling shooter published by Taito. It is the second game in the Ray series, with RayForce being released in 1994 in the arcades and RayCrisis getting a 1998 release. Both of those games were eventually released on the home console.
Three shooters happen to be part of a series. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, we didn’t know exactly what was being released from Japan and what they were holding back. Today, these things are better archived.
TLDR:
Narrative
I don’t know if there is a story in this game. When I went looking for the manual, I found the story. Here is a link to the manual (Link).
So, in 2119, space travel became a reality, and one hundred years later, space colonies were expanded to Orion. What we have is a rebellion by the colonies against the Earth Government. The colonies won the war and are now planning to destroy Earth for some reason.
This is where the game picks up. Someone has created the ship you’re going to be flying, and you have to stop the destruction of Earth. Apparently, humankind’s future is at stake, somehow.
The story gets you started and explains what is going on. It isn’t all that involved, but it doesn’t have to be. I’m still unclear how destroying Earth is going to endanger humankind, especially when humans were fighting humans.
Gameplay
This is a standard vertically scrolling shooter. Your ship can roam freely across the screen, and you fight enemy spaceships, tanks, and boats. There are also a bunch of power-ups to get along the way to each level’s boss.
You can’t beat the game on Easy mode. The game will let you play, and then it will instruct you to up the difficulty to keep going. It is a nice way to ease into the game and learn what you need to do.
Enemies and bosses have patterns that you need to learn. This isn’t all that different from other shooters, or other games for that matter. The screen doesn’t get too cluttered, but it is busy enough to give you problems right off the bat.
The controls are very simple. You have three buttons:
- Special
- Attack
- Laser
The game lets you move these around to suit you best. There are two ships for you to try. I like that you have this; it changes things up a bit, as they don’t have the same weapons.
Aside from that, there isn’t anything else to the gameplay. This is a fun shooter. There are a lot of flashing lights and explosions, so if that bothers you, then be careful with this game.
Visuals
This is a good-looking PS1 game. The graphics hold up very well for a game released in the mid-1990s. I was a little worried it would look too close to Star Fox 64, but that wasn’t the case.
Like any other shooter, locating and tracking enemy projectiles can be a little hard. This happens with every shooter, and it isn’t like RayStorm is unfair. If you die, you won’t feel cheated by the game.
Overall, this is a very good shooter for the PS1. The graphics held up very well over the years. The enemies aren’t all that impressive, but that goes with the setting. The bosses are big, and their patterns aren’t too difficult to learn.
Reviews at the Time
RayStorm received good reviews when it was released. It received 7s and 8s, which was very good for a game at the time. I’ll be looking at the GameSpot and IGN reviews.
IGN gave the score a 7.5/10. The reviewer focused on the graphics and how you can’t beat the game on easy. If you want to see the ending, you have to up the difficulty.
GameSpot gave the game a 7.8/10. The reviewer gave a little historical context without knowing it. In the mid-1990s, shooters like RayStorm were being ignored in favor of Doom clones. That doesn’t surprise me all that much. They also praised the graphics and gameplay.
There were other reviews of the game from 1996/1997. It was seen by some of the reviewers as the best shooter on the PS1 at the time. I haven’t played too many shooters on the system, so I’ll have to take their word for it and make up my mind when I’ve played more.
8/10. Great graphics and gameplay make this one of the better shooters on the PS1.
Pros
- Great Graphics
- Great Gameplay
Cons
- Short
- Lots of Flashing Lights
Conclusion
I had fun looking up information on this game. It has a standard plot for a Japanese science fiction game. There are so many games that revolve around space colonies rebelling against the Earth government.
The graphics and controls are very good. I don’t have too much more to say about this game. It was fun learning about and playing this game.
If you liked this post, please check out my list of the Best shoot’em ups on the SNES or my review of Thunder Force V.