Rayxanber II isn't impossible after all

[runinruder]

Break out the champagne, folks.  The "impossible" Rayxanber II has just been conquered by some random bum from this very board.

(Me.)

I used no tricks, no chicanery, no save states, and no slow motion (except the slowdown imposed by the game itself of course). 

The only thing that was really required of me was patience.  When I first started playing, simple stage 2 seemed incredibly tough.  And I imagine that a lot of people who have already heard tales of the game's devilish difficulty run into trouble early on and immediately head for the haven of save states or whatever.  But once I got some practice under my belt and put a little thought into the challenges that faced me, I was able to breeze through the first three stages. 

And really, only stages 4 and 6 are what I'd consider an extreme degree of hard.  In fact, I'm hesitant to call it the Turbo's toughest shooter, as the second half of Sinistron rivals anything to be encountered here. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you plan on playing the game, also plan on being patient and don't duck out at the first sign of trouble.  It's a great shooter--great controls, great graphics, great music, everything.  And it feels really good to beat it legitimately. 

[rolins]

Congrats, dude.   

Anything spectacular about the ending?

[runinruder]

Congrats, dude.  

Anything spectacular about the ending?

Thanks.   

There was nothing at all spectacular about the ending, but just hearing the victory tune while the last boss was blowing up was good enough for me!

[Tatsujin]

gongrats dude will try to beat it as well.. some days

[akamichi]

Dude, I bow down to your Raisin Bar II skills.    I tried many times to beat that game and I just couldn't get through the stage you mentioned (pausing, unable to shoot, etc). 

Well, I'm going to have to try it again one of these days.

[Joe Redifer]

Yes, congrats are in order. 

[runinruder]

I tried many times to beat that game and I just couldn't get through the stage you mentioned (pausing, unable to shoot, etc). 

Yeah, that stage is murder.  It helped a lot when I figured out that my guns would keep firing if I moved my turbo switch down to the middle position.  At least then I was able to gun down those "chaser" aliens instead of just running for my life. 

Since I'm the one who's going around recommending the game to everyone, I should probably mention a potential problem as well.  Sometimes when I began a new level or continued, the music for the level would start playing, but my screen would simply remain black, causing me to reset it and start all over again.  I suspected that this was just an issue with my copy or system or whatever, but I read some random internet review the other day, and the author reported the same problem.  This didn't happen frequently, but obviously if it happens during the later levels (especially if you've played your guts out to get through stage 4), it can be demoralizing and frustrating.   

[GUTS]

You know stuff like that is what we make fun of the SNES for, I find your forgiveness of the game's shoddy programming slightly snerd-like.  It sounds like a shit-programmed, badly designed, shit game that you would laugh at if it was on any other system.

[Keranu]

You know stuff like that is what we make fun of the SNES for, I find your forgiveness of the game's shoddy programming slightly snerd-like.  It sounds like a shit-programmed, badly designed, shit game that you would laugh at if it was on any other system.

Congratulations for your attempt to turn over this thread like you have done before. I recommend everyone ignore GUTS post and continue discussing about Rayxamber II.

For anyone who has played both games, which one would you say had better music? I have only played III, but I loved III's awesome 80's soundtrack.

[runinruder]

For anyone who has played both games, which one would you say had better music? I have only played III, but I loved III's awesome 80's soundtrack.

I've only played II, sadly.  I can't wait to try III.  But I will say that II has one of the coolest and most interesting shooter soundtracks I've heard.  The first couple levels feature tunes that are really upbeat, and it gets mellower and mellower as it goes along, to the point where the track for the last stage is really slow and melodious and even "pretty." 

[Keranu]

For some reason I have a feeling that you're not going to like III when you play it, but who knows.

[runinruder]

For some reason I have a feeling that you're not going to like III when you play it, but who knows.

!

Why's that?  III looks cool!  I hear that it's much easier, but I could use a nice easy game after II.   

[Tatsujin]

For anyone who has played both games, which one would you say had better music? I have only played III, but I loved III's awesome 80's soundtrack.

i would go with part III, also like the ST a lot. but have to listen to part II again for sure, if by the cd-player since i couldn't reach the higher levels

[rolins]

Rayxanber III isn't very challenging, you can even beat it on the highest difficulty which IIRC is called Maniac.
There nothing maniac about at all.

The game does takes the prize for the best use of colors in the game, and the graphics are some the prettiest I've seen on the PCE. Alot people say it's must buy, and I used to think that way too. It is a one of those games that's worth playing at least once, but it's really not worth buying it unless you have loads of $$$ to spare. After playing thru the game once or twice I never felt like playing it again. There's just not enough replay value because the stages are short, the bosses are easy, and soundfx are so goddamn annoying.

I really must go find my copy of Rayxanber II, I never was able to beat it. Since finals are over, I have a lot of free time to devote to gaming now.