I bought it from cdkeys, which is a site I recommend for getting games really, really cheap, like PC games.
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Nice, I got Raiden IV on PS3 several years ago for only $1.39 during a PSN flash sale.
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I went through Raiden V and honestly it’s quite long for a shmup, took me over an hour and half to beat it. There’s also constant talking though I tried to ignore it and apparently you can turn it off. Well, the last 4 stages are crazy and each boss gets more absurd than the last!
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That’s even more than I expected. That’s almost double the going rate!
Again though, if it’s really as mint as it looks, it’s not a surprise. Mine is not so minty, but it has more character with the $9.95 sticker on the front I never removed. 
This is such a good video
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I played through V with a friend last year before the pandemic and we really enjoyed it but like you said it was really long and too much talking in the story bits. I forget what Raiden IV was like because I haven’t played my copy in years and still haven’t gone all the way through it, but if I remember correctly it was more traditional than V and also had proper TATE ratio. I’m definitely going to be picking it up on Switch when it’s out. I still haven’t played Raiden III at all, hopefully that will get a re-release someday.
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Ah, yeah, I agree with you. I would like to get Raiden 3 and Raiden 4 on Steam.
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Finished GG Aleste (1cc) tonight. It was actually my first time ever booting this game up, and it’s probably the easiest shooter I’ve ever come across. Anyone who’s played shmups should be able to breeze though this in one go, no problem.
There is a special mode though, we’ll see what that’s all about later.
That’s not to say it’s a bad game though, quite the opposite! It’s very fun, and the level design is varied and interesting. The music and sound is excellent and well put together. I found myself head bobbing to the music on a few stages! The only thing really lacking here is enemy patterns. They are mostly the same throughout the game, be and there’s quite a bit of slowdown, depending on the weapon you choose. Maybe that’s just a limitation of the Game Gear.
I would definitely recommend giving it a go of you like the genre. You can blast through the game in under a half hour, and it’s a good time to be had.
Can’t wait to check out the next two in the series!
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Alright… Lol
The special mode is significantly harder!
As far as I can tell the bullet speed, power ups, and enemy patterns are the same. The major change is that most of the enemies now shoot directly at you when they die, which increases the number of bullets on the screen probably 3x or more.
To make matters worse, some of the enemy patterns were easily dealt with by staying at the back of the screen and letting them pass over you. Now, they’re too close and will shoot directly at you when they die, so you’ll insta-kill yourself doing it that way.
It almost feels cheap now, maybe less fun… or I just suck, one of the two.
Played a couple of Deathsmiles credits tonight. Been tackling the Canyon stage and trying to optimize scoring opportunities, I think I more or less I have it down minus the boss which I can’t defeat without dropping a couple of bombs. My goal is to get 150 million right after the gorge, try and get 50 million in the last stage see if i can crack 200 million; Personal best currently is 165 million.
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I still have Deathsmiles sealed for 360 with the faceplate. I just… never opened it. Not because I didn’t want to play it, but because I was playing other things at the time and it got to where I figured it had to be worth more sealed so just left it in there.
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I’ve been playing Desthsmiles on and off since the original North American 360 release, I hope you can give the game a try in another format since you won’t open your sealed copy, it’s a really addictive shooting game that you can make as easy or hard as you like. Steam version is just OK, Japanese 360 one is the best since it’s closer in accuracy to the PCB plus it looks great on a CRT; it’s also releasing later this year with DS II.
I definitely will play it although opening that one is unlikely now. It actually hasn’t appreciated all that much unlike most games of that type. I think that faceplate was just a bit too much for most people at that time. 
I’m probably going with the release later this year at this point. I definitely had good intentions, but I have a bad (good?) habit of buying things and then not opening them if they look collectible and they’re in my gaming wheelhouse. Sealed Otomedius Excellent on 360 too… 
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I hear ya, I used to accumulate new sealed games I didn’t care for out for fear of missing out. Slowly selling that stuff, changing into new PCBs Lol.
Made some Deathsmiles progress tonight. Now my goal is to crack 250 million after a 1CC Ex Stage, I think I can do it.
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Raiden III and IV go on sale on Steam very frequently.
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Weapon II at full power is a viable option, as is Weapon IV with full fire, though it’s only really worth using at full power, or near full power. In fact, Weapon IV with full fire is generally recommended for the final stage, because of how much stuff it throws at you.
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Still working toward a Normal clear in Vritra. I think I’m close, but stage 4 continues to wreck me, and the spinning laser blocks in stage 5 are just evil. But I think I can get there by Friday night.
Yeah, the protection that spins around you is great for destroying bullets
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Yeah I have to keep an eye on that.