RedRaptor Review: Flying the Bland Skies

Developed by Novax Games and published by eastasiasoft, RedRaptor is a vertical Shmup inspired by the classics of the genre. Also much like its contemporaries, the plot isn’t anything special, though that’s not strictly necessary for this sort of game. Keep reading to see if RedRaptor succeeded in distinguishing itself from the pack.

RedRaptor is split between 5 stages, and like usual you’re the lone force standing against a devastating invasive force. Here, pretty much everything arrayed against you is some form of ship or robotic structure. There’s no creepy biological monstrosities or giant, confusing fish ships. It’s pretty traditional, and that’s perfectly fine. I’ve played plenty of Shmups that felt very similar but were still a ton of fun.

Don’t Hurt Me…

Unlike many other Shmups, RedRaptor lets you gradually upgrade your ship, acquiring permanent boosts to a variety of stats. Generally speaking, those are increasing your damage output, number of lives and number of drones that fire independently. It only costs cash, and you’ll acquire a lot from blowing up enemy ships. It’ll even zoom to your ship automatically, saving you the headache of weaving through bullets to reach your bling.

In between runs, you can head to the Upgrade menu from the start screen, and buy what you want. The most important upgrades were probably the number of lives, as well as a couple of unusual options. One lets you boost how much cash you’ll get in the next run, and one even lets you start from the final stage at the very beginning of your adventure. I nearly tried that option, but thankfully was able to get strong enough over a half dozen attempts to beat the game without the extra help, other than the stat boosts I already mentioned.

Upgrade to Survive

I will say, until you’ve boosted your ship a couple of times, you won’t be blowing up many enemy ships. Waves zoom by fast, and if you’re lucky you’ll be able to smash a couple ships before they escape. You don’t even take contact damage from running into enemy ships. The same can’t be said for their bullets, and many foes in RedRaptor fire bullets that home in on you and harass you for a few seconds. So you will still need to weave back and forth, especially in the stage where swarms of missiles fires at you, forcing you to get evasive.

The main mode in RedRaptor is Campaign, and until you’ve beaten it once you can’t play the other mode, Arcade. The key difference between the two is that in Campaign mode there’s some semblance of a plot, with you receiving communications from HQ regularly at set points in stages. There’s no dialogue in Arcade mode, and I found that a relief since the writing in Campaign mode was sloppy at best. The other unique factor for Arcade mode is that you’ll loop stages after you beat the final boss, allowing you to strive for a truly impressive high score for leaderboards.

I Hope You Like LASERS!

One thing that really surprised me about the game was how much damage you can take. You actually have a health meter that can withstand a couple of shots before destruction. You’ll also find a shield powerup that is game-changing. It lasts between stages, and can help you safely withstand a bunch of hits before it goes away. There are other powerups, but they’re far less important. There’s also a laser Ultimate attack you can charge up by defeating enough foes, but I found it a little underwhelming, other than the bright red lettering that appears on the screen when you unleash it. It seems to have few invincibility frames and doesn’t do much damage to the bosses.

Speaking of which, the bosses in RedRaptor are sadly pretty disappointing. They look fine, but most of them just blend together as far as attack patterns. The only exception is one really irritating boss that puts up shields to block your shots and will occasionally target you with a slow-moving laser grid. I expect bosses to be the best part of Shmups, and thus was really disappointed by how bland they were in this game.

Not the Boss Of Me

Visually, RedRaptor won’t win any awards, but it also looks the part of a 90 ‘s-inspired Shmup. There’s a decent variety of enemy ships, and they have unique attack patterns. I’m a little dismayed by the color choices, however, since often stages look washed out or flat. The worst example is the middle stage, where you have a lot of grey on grey, which makes it nearly impossible to discern where barriers that block your bullets stand. Musically the game fares better, with responsive explosions and a decent if forgettable soundtrack.

Shoot, Upgrade, Repeat

More than anything, I’m torn by how it would have only taken a little more effort to make RedRaptor shine. Things like having comic book panels to buttress the dialogue, or making the bosses more memorable. As it stands, the game is relatively fun but sadly doesn’t do anything to differentiate itself from the pack. It just felt very generic and uninspired. That said, the game is very affordable, so if you’re looking for a basic Shmup, you might enjoy RedRaptor.

Final Verdict: 3.5/5

Available on: Nintendo Switch (reviewed), PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Series X|S; Publisher: eastasiasoft; Developer: Novax Games, eastasiasoft; Players: 1; Released: October 11, 2023; ESRB: E for Everyone – Mild Fantasy Violence; MSRP: $4.99

Editor’s note: The publisher provided a review copy to Hey Poor Player.