Eighting/Raizing Shooter Collection

A selection of Eighting/Raizing shooters

Eighting is known for its shoot ’em ups (before 2000) and its licensed fighting games. The company, initially known as Raizing, also included the famous shooting game developer Shinobu Yagawa, who was the designer and programmer for Battle Garegga, Armed Police Batrider, and Battle Bakraid while at Raizing, before he left the company for Cave.

Mahou Daisakusen / Sorcer Striker

The first order of business is Sorcer Striker (known as Mahou Daisakusen 魔法大作戦 in Japan), which was released in 1993 for the arcades and was never released in North America. Sorcer Striker served as the debut project of Raizing, a development company founded by former Naxat Soft (later Kaga Create, now defunct) and Compile staff who previously worked on the Aleste series. Though first released in arcades, the game was later ported to other platforms, each one featuring various changes compared to the original version, and has since been re-released for PlayStation 4 in Japan as part of the M2 ShotTriggers label by M2. Atsuhiro Motoyama scored the game’s soundtrack.

In the game, players assume the role from one of the four bounty hunters to overthrow the Goblin empire led by King Gobligan and reclaim the bounty placed by King Codwenna of Violent Kingdom over Gobligan’s head. It is the first entry in the Mahō Daisakusen trilogy, which includes Kingdom Grand Prix and Dimahoo, and the first video game to be created by Raizing.

The game’s characters are as follows:

• Gain the Warrior/Fighter/Brawler (24 years old male): the series’ main protagonist. A self-styled wandering knight and bounty hunter who is always traveling in search of the ultimate weapon alongside his pet monkey Shain.
• Chitta the Witch (18 years old female): A young magic user and the granddaughter of one of the four legendary heroes who once saved the world of a great evil. Her hair is cut short in Armed Police Batrider.
• Miyamoto (68 years old male, no relation to Shigeru Miyamoto): A samurai dragon who lost both his parents during a great war at a young age, until he was eventually found and adopted by an old ninja master, who raised him and taught him the ways of ninjutsu and bushido. He doesn’t use a Sorcer Striker but relies on his own large size.
• Bornnam (age unknown male): An eccentric and enigmatic old sorcerer. He is an old acquaintance of Chitta’s grandfather, having fought in a great war long ago. He doesn’t appear in Dimahoo.

Shippuu Mahou Daisakusen Kingdom-Grandprix / Kingdom Grand Prix

The scrolling shooter/racer hybrid Kingdom Grand Prix (known as Shippuu Mahou Daisakusen Kingdom-Grandprix 疾風魔法大作戦キングダム-グランドプリin Japan) is the second entry in the Mahou Daisakusen series, but the first to be a shooter/racing hybrid. It was released in 1994 and like the first game, it was not released in the North American arcades. The game was later ported to the Sega Saturn in Japan in 1996. Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata both scored the game’s soundtrack. Four new characters are exclusive to the game are:

• Nirvana the Huge Fairy
• Kickle and Laycle
• Honest John
• Bul-Gin the Goblin Captain

Battle Garegga

Battle Garegga, another scrolling shooter, was released in 1996. In the game, Mathew Wayne (no relation to Bruce Wayne), a resident of a small country town, was a mechanical genius whose aptitude and skills were passed down to his sons, Brian and Jason. After gaining leadership of his automobile factory from him, the brothers’ skills became renowned throughout the country. Eventually, the Federation approached the brothers with an extremely profitable contract to help produce military vehicles for it. The Wayne brothers accepted the contract and created weapons without peer.

A short time later, the skies turned dark with the Federation’s encroaching air fleet, and towns and cities everywhere were ravaged by these armies — including Brian and Jason’s hometown. To their horror, the Federation was using the weapons and vehicles they themselves had designed to reshape the land to their pitiless will. Taking up planes whose designs had never been submitted to the Federation, the Wayne brothers prepare to destroy the Federation’s mad scheme. Manabu Namiki scored the game’s soundtrack.

Brian and Jason Wayne, this shooter’s brothers, also appear in Armed Police Batrider.

Soukyugurentai / Terra Diver

Soukyugurentai (蒼穹紅蓮隊, The title roughly translates to “Blue Sky Hooligans” or “Blue Sky Crimson Squad”), was originally released as an arcade game for the ST-V platform in 1996. The game was ported to the Sega Saturn and PlayStation in 1997, with neither port being released outside of Japan. The game is unusual in that, rather than using a 3:4 aspect ratio, to better suit the vertically oriented gameplay, it uses a horizontal monitor (4:3) in the style of Neo Geo vertical shooters as well as the later Radiant Silvergun and Giga Wing. Soukyugurentai never received any ports to present-day consoles such as the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and the Nintendo Switch. Hitoshi Sakamoto scored the game’s soundtrack.

Armed Police Batrider

Armed Police Batrider was released in 1998. The player controls teams of flying jet bikes (Batriders) each with their own pilot; players can choose up to three of nine standard characters plus another nine unlockable characters from the previous games of Raizing Mahou Daisakusen and Battle Garegga. The game is known for the announcer saying “Welcome to Violent City!” at the start of the game but has never received any ports to present-day consoles such as the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and the Nintendo Switch. The game also takes place in a fictionalized version of the United States. Manabu Namiki, Kenichi Koyano, and Hitoshi Sakimoto scored the game’s soundtrack.

Great Mahou Daisakusen / Dimahoo

Dimahoo, known in Japan as Great Mahou Daisakusen (グレート魔法大作戦), was published by Street Fighter creator Capcom in 2000. Atsuhiro Motoyama, Kenichi Koyano, and Manabu Namiki scored the game’s soundtrack (though Motoyama previously scored the first game alone). It is also the final game in the series. New characters include:

• Solo-Bang: A 20-year-old Elvis Presley-esque bounty hunter. His striker is the Detroit, named after the actual city in Michigan.
• Karte: An 18-year-old healing sorceress who inherited the healing powers of her great-grandmother, and from a very young age she was sent everyday to help the people harmed by the wars. Her striker is the Kurba-Rikku.
• Grimlen: A trio of 11-year-old necromancers (Goose is female, and the other two kids are Raine and Mur, who are males) who work for the mysterious “Association,” an organization that advocates the use of magic to bring world peace. They pilot the striker Cardigan.
• Golden the Prince: Secret character who previously appeared in Armed Police Batrider.

The game was not ported to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, or PlayStation 5, possibly due to the game still in Capcom’s hands (though Eighting still owns the Mahou Daisakusen IP and trademarks).

Brave Blade

Brave Blade, released in 2000, was the final Eighting/Raizing shoot ’em up before the Raizing division was incorporated into Eighting, and shooting game developer Shinobu Yagawa left the company shortly after the release of the game. The game features a medal scoring system, which also works differently from other Raizing games. Certain enemies drop medals of low value which the player can slash while in Mecha Mode, causing them to spin and become larger, with larger medals worth more points.

In 2016, Eighting became a subsidiary of COLOPL, a smartphone game publisher and developer.