RayStorm (PlayStation)

Raystorm
Developer: Taito Publishers: Taito (JP), Working Designs (US), SCEE (EU) Platform: PlayStation Released in JP: January 10, 1997 Released in US: June 1997 Released in EU: September 15, 1997 This game has unused graphics. This game has regional differences.

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Is there any noticeable difference between the used ZT_XA2.STR file and the one used as a padding file in folder ZZDUMMY?

A port of the Arcade release.

In the far future, under strict martial law, a rebellion grew so strong that it wants to destroy Earth, and the player's goal is to prevent it from happening by blasting down everything.

Unused Graphic

Among the Player Select screen graphics, at DATA/PSEL/ROMPSEL.BIN, is an English graphic from the original Arcade version, which is never displayed.

(Source: tikal.)

Regional Differences

Movie Order

• In the original Japanese release, the opening cinematic is displayed after the mode is selected. This was changed in the localizations so that the movie displays before the mode selection screen.

Title Screen

• In the localizations, there is more cooldown time between the title screen and the demo sequence.

Options

• The original Japanese release has the difficulty threshold set to 2 in all levels by default. While the American release increases it to 4, the value was not changed in the European localization.
  • Additionally, in the American release, setting the difficulty of an individual stage below the threshold or the life setting above the default value forces the game into "Training Mode", which ends the game after Stage 3 is completed.
• The localizations feature a limited number of plays under normal conditions; the American release defaults to 7, and the European release to 9.

Player Select

• In both localizations, the HUD elements were moved further from the screen borders.

Japan	US

• The arcade joystick/button controller graphics were not preserved in the localizations, being changed to resemble the PlayStation gamepad.

Japan	US/Europe

• The lock-on indicator graphic received a new translation for the American release; the European localization uses the text from the original Arcade version (which can also be found unused in the Japanese release).

US	Europe

Demo Sequence/Gameplay

• As with the Player Select screen, the HUD elements were moved further from the screen borders in both localizations.
• Much like the Player Select screen as well, the arcade joystick/button controller graphics were not preserved in the localizations.

Japan	US/Europe

Ending

• In the localizations, after the game is completed, the screen fades to black, revealing a detailed sequence with the player's final score and stats, then proceeding to the name entry/game over sequences. In the original Japanese release, the screen never fades to black, and the detailed stats sequence is not shown.