ESP Ra.De.

It was the first project by Junya Inoue as art director at Cave, who wanted it to be a visually attractive shoot 'em up for players taking place in a realistic setting with humans as characters.

proved popular among Japanese arcade players and critics praised its unique power gauge mechanic, stylistic presentation, Inoue's artwork and audio design but the scoring system was found to be complex and confusing.

is a science fiction-themed vertical-scrolling bullet hell game similar to DoDonPachi where players assume the role of one of the three playable characters (Yūsuke Sagami, Jb-5th and Irori Mimasaka) through five increasingly difficult stages.

[1][2] The plot involves ESPer Lady Garra and her Yaksa syndicate launching an attack to remove opposing forces and take over Tokyo.

[2][3] Unlike most Cave shoot 'em ups, the characters only possess a shot attack but players can hold down the fire button to reduce movement.

[2][4] Activating the force field renders the player's character invincible, turning enemy bullets into power-up and gold blocks, until the shield button is released and drains the power gauge.

was developed in conjunction with Dangun Feveron (1998) by a small crew of nine members: art director Junya Inoue, designers Akira Wakabayashi, Atsushi Aburano, Riichiro Nitta and Yūko Nakamura, programmers Ryuichi Yabuki, Satoshi Kōyama and Tsuneki Ikeda, and composer Masahiro Kusunoki.

[21][22] This version features the original arcade release and additions such as enhanced visuals, extra modes, re-recorded voiceovers and a new playable character called Alice Master.

[2] Famitsu's four reviewers praised the inclusion of "Super Easy" and "Irori's Room" modes in the Psi version, as well as the addition of a new playable character.

[23][24] Nintendo Life's Mark MSX compared its visual style with both Akira and Ghost in the Shell, while finding its gameplay and scoring mechanics to be departures from DoDonPachi but commended the Psi version for addressing issues with the original scoring mechanic, the new playable character, user interface and extra modes but criticized the lack of an "arranged" mode and additional music options.

Arcade version screenshot