Raiden Fighters 2

Overview

Raiden Fighters 2: Operation Hell Dive is a vertical-scrolling shoot-'em-up developed and released by Seibu Kaihatsu (along with Fabtek in the North America release) for arcades (using their Seibu SPI hardware) in 1997.

The sequel to Raiden Fighters, Raiden Fighters 2 revamps the aircraft roster while introducing the Hybrid Attack (where both players can combine their charged attacks into an invincible super-powered energy beam).

Similar to the rest of the series, it was included in two compilations: the 2019 Raiden Fighters Aces and the 2012 Raiden Legacy.

Aircraft

The game includes 15 playable aircraft, each with their own performance and weaponry. Eight of them are available by default:

• Aegis IV
• Beast Wing
• Chaser 2000
• Death Header
• Eraser
• Flying Ray
• Griffin

The remaining eight aircraft are hidden, normally requiring a cheat code to access. Seven of them are made available without cheat codes through specific arcade configurations.

• Hell Diver - Fast maneuvering.

• Raiden mk-II - Originally from Raiden II / Raiden DX. Very slow maneuvering. Does not use a "main cannon", instead using both sub-weapons simultaneously. Its Laser sub-weapon fires twin plasma shots at a fast rate, with upgrades transforming it into a continuous plasma beam that sways with the ship and locks-onto enemies. Its Missile sub-weapon launches volleys of homing missiles. Cannot use charged attacks and uses a unique Bomb attack based on their corresponding game's.

• Judge Spear - Originally from Viper Phase-1. Insanely fast maneuvering. Does not use a "main cannon", instead using both sub-weapons simultaneously. Its sub-weapons are fast-firing but all fire in a straight spread in front of the ship, with the Laser firing multiple vulcan shots at a faster pace and the Missile firing twin missiles at a slower pace. Cannot use charged attacks and uses a unique Bomb attack based on their corresponding game's.

• Raiden mk-IIβ - An alternate version of the Raiden mk-II. Average maneuvering. Its Laser sub-weapon fires volleys of vulcan shots in a wide arc while its Missile sub-weapon fires volleys of cruise missiles.

• Blue Javelin - An alternate version of the Judge Spear. Fast maneuvering. Its Laser sub-weapon fires vulcan shots in an arc, while the Missile fires multiple bursts of missiles at multiple angles.

• Miclus - Seibu Kaihatsu's mascot and a hidden target in the Raiden series. Average movement. Its weaponry is unique in that it doesn't use sub-weapons at all, only rapidly spitting fireballs in an arc from the upgradable "main cannon". Its Slave companion ships are also replaced with fairies (which are hidden power-ups in the Raiden series) and its Bomb is replaced with a continuous flamethrower burst (which can sway with player movement).

• Aegis II-C - An alternate version of the Aegis IV. While its sub-weapons are much faster-firing, it cannot use charged attacks.

• Dark Sword - A hidden alternate version of the Judge Spear and Blue Javelin, only playable with a cheat code. The fastest ship in the entire game, even beyond the Judge Spear, with the Laser sub-weapon of the Judge Spear and the Missile sub-weapon of the Blue Javelin.

In addition, through a special cheat code, players can play as a hidden "Slave" variant of their currently selected aircraft. While they share the same appearance as the ship's companions (and thus have a smaller hitbox) and share the ship's maneuvering speed, all variants have the same weaponry (based on the companion ship's high-powered shots, with no sub-weapons or charged attacks).