Xbox Live Arcade is a great place for retro shooters, but if they aren't great examples of what the genre is capable of they're likely to get lost in the mix. IGN suspects that is what will happen to RayStorm HD, a solid shooter that will get some attention for its nostalgia factor but is ultimately a pretty generic effort.
Presentation - 7.0
Graphics - 7.0
Sound - 6.5
Gameplay - 6.5
Lasting Appeal - 6.5
Overall -
Console Monster: It goes without saying that the Xbox LIVE Arcade is a saturated market when it comes to classic arcade games. Nevertheless we regularly get news about yet another classic game re-releasing this time sporting high-definition paint. RayStorm HD is the pinnacle of such statement.
Diehard GameFAN writes: "Anyone who’s paid attention to anything I’ve written in the past couple years knows that I have a hard-on for anything that bears the Working Designs logo. Even bad games such as Silhouette Mirage sit on our collective game stand simply because of my love for that company and what they brought me for over a decade. One of the games that I own is Raystorm for the PSX, a great shooter on a system known for inspired shooters like Einhänder and light gun game Elemental Gearbolt. It was Xevious on steroids, with one of the best stages (stage 4, Earth orbit) I’ve ever played in a game. Taito has graced us with a port to the Xbox Live Arcade, with improved graphics."
"RayStorm is a vertical-scrolling shooter that was originally released in Japanese arcade machines way back in 1996. A year later, it was popular enough to be ported to the PSOne and Sega Saturn. Fast forward to 2010 and RayStorm has now gotten an HD remake of sorts and is available now for you to download on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace and the PlayStation Store." - Just Push Start
It really looks nice all HD res and whatnot. Reminds me of when I used BLEEM on my PC to play the ps1 original. I ran that game at 1024x768 with all the stuff turned on that BLEEM had to offer.
This is a nice widescreen rendition. AS a shmup kind of guy I will get this regardless of score (price is a different issue). Shmups are few and far between and should be brought back any way they see fit. Even if they were to "HD" the original star soldier or thunderforce games I would get them.