By sheer coincidence one of my favorite retro-gaming sites just put of this article on the entire Raiden series. Check it out!!''
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/raiden/raiden.htm
haha. That's pretty nuts. I love that site, too. If you want to know about a series of games, that's the place to go.
He seems to give the TG Raiden pretty decent points, and gives special props to the sound chip:
The Turbografx-16 port, handled by Hudson, is unfortunately quite frustrating. The graphics look decent, a bit pixilated but with brighter contrast than the arcade version, and the sound carries over well to the TG16's awesome sound chip. However, the gameplay somehow feels off, as the modified resolution somehow makes it a bit harder to dodge enemy projectiles and firing your own projectiles just doesn't seem to register as well. The worst change is how you start back at a checkpoint after losing a life, not just after continuing, and you only get six credits to beat the game. It's overall more frustrating than fun, even if it looks and sounds decent. Speaking of sound, it was also released on the Turbo CD under the name "Super Raiden" and given a cool Redbook audio soundtrack and two new levels, but otherwise little is changed from the flawed HuCard version.
-Hardcore Gaming 101 - Raiden
I whine about it more than I probably should, but since this article mentions it, I feel it gives me an opening.
Why didn't all vertical shooties come with variable resolution options? It makes games like Dragon Spirit far more playable, while Nexzr goes from superb to ubersuperb in arcade resolution mode.