Rayxanber III

~ RAYXANBER III ~

Data West

Super CD-ROM

1992

I waited, like, an eternity to get this game. I'd wanted to get my hands on Ray III ever since I saw some awesome-looking screenshots of it in EGM many years ago, but it just didn't happen for a very long time. During that lengthy period of Ray-III-lessness, I played through Rayxanber II, which I found to be one of the coolest and most rewarding PCE shooters. So suffice it to say that I was amped up for the Ray III experience. Unfortunately, it didn't go the way I'd hoped it would.

The weapons suck this time, and they make some of the most irritating sounds that have ever been heard by PC Engine players. (I'm being generous here; other unfortunate people have testified that they were driven insane by these horrific high-pitched noises.) You needn't worry much about which of those noisemakers to use, as there's very little strategy involved here compared to what is called for in the daunting Ray II. I beat Ray III the first time I sat down with it, and I rarely had to make use of the speed burst that is essential for success in the second episode. The music doesn't help audible matters much: fans will recognize some Ray II melodies, but the tunes are all kind of "loungy" here, coming nowhere near the greatness of II's tracks and offering very little variety (aside from the last boss's mellow theme). The graphics are sometimes very impressive as far as little details and occasional effects go, but while Ray II's visuals are extremely colorful in some areas, the levels here are all boring blends of gray, brown and red. It's like Data West took the color scheme utilized for II's Stage 5 mutant lair (which was really cool for one level) and stretched it out over an entire game.

Not that I had a completely awful time with this title. There are some fairly interesting level concepts, such as water in Stage 2 slowing down your ship and showing off a decent "swirly" effect and another big metallic creature hounding you for most of Stage 3 (a complete chump compared to II's massive spider, though). And while they aren't exactly original in concept, the tight caverns of Stage 4 and the backwards ride through Stage 5 make for some decent fun.

You get a neat auxiliary weapon, spreading heat-seeking missiles that charge up as you shoot (as opposed to the usual charge-weapons that make you sacrifice standard fire as they power up). And the bosses are huge, interesting creatures that place you in tight spots and make you work hard to discover their weak points.

But while I appreciate the neat missiles and the water effects and all that, the overall package here just doesn't cut it as the follow-up to one of the PCE's sweetest and most satisfying horizontal blasters. Of course, there will be an audience for this game. Folks who got smoked early on in Ray II and gave up on it will no doubt prefer the leniency of Ray III. But for the stalwarts who braved Ray II's dangers and know the feeling of accomplishment that comes with beating that monster, Ray III will probably feel a bit lacking and empty.