RayStorm

RayStorm (レイストーム, Rei Sutōmu) is a 1996 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and published by Taito. It has been ported to several consoles, including the PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and Xbox 360. Players control a starship, the R Gray, in its mission to destroy the Secilia Federation before it destroys Earth. RayStorm is one of three "Ray" games, all featuring similar gameplay, released by Taito. RayForce was released before RayStorm, and the RayForce prequel RayCrisis was released after the others. RayStorm is most distinguished from its predecessor by its usage of polygon based ships instead of sprites. as well as a different ending. Also in Extra Mode, when the player gets a "continue", the score accumulated from the first stage will be retained (i. e. score will not reset to zero). Completing either mode unlocks a "stage select" option to play individual stages in the completed mode (except for the final stage) for a high score, while succeeding in both modes unlocks a "13 Players" option. The "13 Players" option requires the player to complete the game using a total of 13 ships from 5 groups: three R Gray 1 ships using "manual" control, in which primary and lock on weapons are controlled separately; three R Gray 2 ships, with manual control; three R Gray 1 ships using "auto" control, in which primary and lock on weapons are controlled with the same button; three "auto" R Gray 2 ships; and one R Gray 0 "prototype" ship. Either mode can be played with this option; completing the game under Extra Mode with this option reveals an additional epilogue. A high definition version of the game, titled RayStorm HD, includes all three R Grays and the R Gear, a fourth ship that fires homing missiles.

Staff involved in the development of RayStorm include producer and director Yukio Abe, director Tatsuo Nakamura, music composer Tamayo Kawamoto, and sound effect composer Munehiro Nakanishi, who all had the same roles developing RayForce. Kawamoto and Nakanishi composed as members of Taito "house band" Zuntata, who trace their first work under that name to June 1987. A soundtrack to the game, including both its original music and some arrangements, was released on October 11, 1996. RayStorm was programmed for the Taito FX 1 arcade system board. The demonstration of the PlayStation version at the August 1996 Tokyo Game Show was reportedly on a massive screen that dwarfed all of Taito's other demos at the show.