Difference between revisions of "Raptor: Call of the Shadows"

From TheAlmightyGuru
Jump to: navigation, search
Line 29: Line 29:
 
* Nothing.
 
* Nothing.
  
==Box Art==
+
==Media==
 +
===Box Art===
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
 
Raptor - Call of the Shadows - DOS - USA.jpg|This is the box art used pretty much everywhere. It's well-painted and clearly depicts an action flying game.
 
Raptor - Call of the Shadows - DOS - USA.jpg|This is the box art used pretty much everywhere. It's well-painted and clearly depicts an action flying game.
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
==Documentation==
+
===Documentation===
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
 
Raptor - Call of the Shadows - DOS - Manual.pdf|Manual.
 
Raptor - Call of the Shadows - DOS - Manual.pdf|Manual.
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
==Maps==
+
===Maps===
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
 
Raptor - Call of the Shadows - DOS - Map - E1M1.png|Bravo Sector, Mission 1.
 
Raptor - Call of the Shadows - DOS - Map - E1M1.png|Bravo Sector, Mission 1.

Revision as of 13:45, 10 May 2018

US box art.

Raptor: Call of the Shadows is a scrolling shooter developed by Cygnus Studios and published by Apogee Software for MS-DOS on 1994-04-01. In the game, you play a mercenary pilot who profits by making attack runs on the territory of villainous super criminals.

I saw the shareware version of this game in the mid-1990s, and played the first episode to completion. On the PC I had at the time, the game couldn't run at full speed, and with the slow down, I was able to do extremely well. I enjoyed the game so much, I even hand-drew many of the game's sprites to catalog them. When I saw it in the discount rack at a Babbages, I bought it for a couple bucks and found it a bit harder at actual speed, but I still beat every mission.

Status

I own this game on 3.5" floppy and have beaten every episode.

Review

  • Overall: 5/10
  • Best Version: MS-DOS

Good

  • I like that the designers added adventure game elements to the game. You don't just shoot down other ships, but there is an economy, a home base, a basic story line, etc.
  • There is a nice gradual increase in difficulty as you get further into each sector.
  • The designers did a good job at creating new enemy ships, turrets, and environment objects for each sector.
  • The graphics are quite nice.
  • The variety of weapons makes it fun to customize your jet.

Bad

  • The game was pretty dated looking when it came out. More impressive scrolling shooters like Raiden and Lightening Force: Quest For the Darkstar predate it by a few years.
  • Unlike most scrolling shooters of this type, the designers didn't bother with a two-player option.
  • A lot of the weapons are redundant or inferior to others making them kind of pointless. After awhile you determine the best configuration, stick with it, and just buy shields and energy from that point on.
  • Many of the bosses feel repetitive, and the land-based ones are especially easy if you have ground missiles.
  • Although the game files contain boss music, it is never implemented.

Ugly

  • Nothing.

Media

Box Art

Documentation

Maps

Download

Raptor: Call of the Shadows is still available for sale. This download includes the shareware versions for DOS and Windows.

Links