For some inexplicable reason I was obsessed with Rayxanber II & III. I’ve already described how being a Turbo Grafx owner was a lonely experience so if I wanted new games I had to buy them. It was just another shooter among a sea of the things but the screenshots in EGM looked really cool. Sadly the series never came to the US. Or maybe it isn’t so sad in the case of Rayxanber II. I can safely this is one of the most frustrating and difficult games I have ever paid and I will never play it again.
The Rayxanber series is one of the few that never left Japan and I can see why. The first game was released for the FM Towns Marty, one of the most obscure platforms in existence. From all accounts it was a vicious game and it seems developer Data West did not learn from their mistakes as this second installment is just as grating. Even with an emulator and save states I still found myself frustrated at just how badly designed the game is. Literally any good idea is trumped by bad decisions all around that make me question who the game was even targeting. Stay away from this one folks.
Weapon selection is light at only three choices. The flame laser, multi-shot, and explosion gun are all you get. Depending on the direction the icon is facing when picked up the weapon will only fire in that direction, good for very specific situations but stupid otherwise. Charging up the weapon briefly will supposedly unleash a more powerful blast but it is so small and weak you would be a fool to even bother. Activating turbo fire on the controller is not only better but I would even say mandatory as you won’t last more than seconds otherwise.
See the thing about the weapons is no matter which one you pick they are all woefully underpowered. Literally every enemy is a bullet sponge to an absurd degree and they always attack in groups. The opening seconds of the game demonstrate this beautifully as you will encounter moving turrets before receiving your first powerful that will not die no matter how hard you pound on them. I’m sure the explosion gun is more powerful than the multi-shot but they are all so weak they might as well be cosmetic choices. The weapons at the very least needed to be twice as strong to not be an absolute joke.
And even then it still would not make much of a difference. It isn’t just weak weapons that make the game so hard. Enemy placement is completely unfair and the number one cause of death. The game delights in having enemy waves sneak up from behind with no warning. Staying in the middle of the screen isn’t always viable so you’ll have to risk being blindsided at any time until you memorize the exact enemy spawn points. That kind of trial and error level design doesn’t work in a shooter, especially one with no checkpoints aside from boss battles. Speaking of, if you die during a boss fight you might as well reset the game. Trying to destroy these monsters with the standard pea shooter is just flat out stupid.
I mentioned that the game’s few good ideas are sabotaged by some flaw at every turn and it’s true. The third level is sees you flying underneath a massive mecha crab and avoiding its legs. It would actually be pretty cool if you didn’t have to random enemy waves from the left and right, tanks on the ground, and the occasional turret from above. Try to process all of that. Just no. I love the premise of stage 4; the entire level is encased in ice that your ship can break. You can carefully carve your own path and avoid enemies but the nearly game breaking slowdown ruins it. The last level is a maze of tunnels with plenty of cover to avoid walls and bullets but runs way too long, which makes the lack of checkpoints even more pronounced.
What makes the fucked up game balance and difficulty so sad is that it is obvious that money was put into this production. The graphics are pretty damn amazing despite the derivative nature of the game’s theme. There’s a healthy amount of parallax in every level with some of the backgrounds, especially stage 2 being especially bright. The bio-mechanical enemies aren’t all too different from similar titles but are large, varied, and impressive nonetheless. The similarities to R-Type are definitely there but the exceptional quality of the sprites really sets it apart. Unfortunately all of this spectacle is ruined by crippling slowdown that reduces the game to a slideshow at times. Stage four is especially bad about this; nearly the entire level moves in slow motion.
The soundtrack is fantastic and really puts the CD to good use. There’s a nice selection of techno tunes and symphonic arrangement that almost seem out of place in a shooter. Most of the music however is recycled from the first game. The overpowering music tends to either drown out the sound effects or make them disappear completely which can screw up your timing.
It’s just too bad the ridiculous difficulty will hinder your enjoyment of the game’s production values. I’ll be honest, even if the game were balanced this would simply be a decent game and not a true standout like Lords of Thunder or Soldier Blade. You are better off listening to the soundtrack on youtube than buying the game and punching the wall in aggravation. At least they got it right next time.
