In the future, there is only one way to make big bucks, and it doesn’t involve paperounds or painting fences – nope, it’s all about high-octane dogfights. Raptor: Call of the Shadows was created by Cygnus Studios and published by Apogee Software in 1994, a time when side-scrollers and scrolling-shooters were pretty common. So, how does this one fare against the competition of yesteryear?
Plot-wise, all you need to know is that you’re a mercenary with a Raptor jet, and you gotta shoot bad guys for handfuls of cash. Simple as. It’s just you versus them, all-out, guns-blazing. You’ll be treated with some superb visuals in Raptor: Call of the Shadows. The colours are bright, the backgrounds are detailed, and there are plenty of fiery explosions to greet you in your gun-toting adventures. It has a pretty catchy MIDI soundtrack and some nice, crisp sound effects alongside to boot. All in all, it looks and sounds lovely-jubbily.
The game is divided between three different sectors made up of nine levels each, though beginners will want to stick to the first zone on account of how tricky the others are. Once you beat a sector, you to replay it again at a higher difficulty. Enemy aircraft and ground vehicles will gradually appear, some of which move in predetermined paths while others float around at their own accord. Destroying these – as well as buildings, turrets and boats – will earn you small morsels of money. Seriously, you could probably earn more from fishing for coins in water fountains than in this game.
In each level, the objective is to make it to the end of the level in one piece while blowing up as many baddies as possible. Beware, though – if you die, you must load a previous save. Bosses will appear at the