Raiden[a] is a 1990 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed by Seibu Kaihatsu and published by Tecmo in Japan.

The game was conceived after Dynamite Duke, Seibu Kaihatsu's prior title, failed to sell as well as expected.

Cheaper arcade hardware had to be used due to financial constraints caused by Dynamite Duke's poor sales.

[3][4] Although Seibu doubted Raiden's success, it managed to sell 17,000 arcade units worldwide, helping to recuperate the company's investments through word-of-mouth.

Collectible items include bombs, which cancel out enemy fire and deal damage over a wide area; weapon power-ups; and score-increasing medals.

If all lives are lost during a gameplay session, the game is over unless players insert more credits into the arcade machine to continue playing.

The story of Raiden takes place in the year 2090, when a species of alien lifeforms known as the Crystals invaded Earth.

[4] Komazawa noted that the development of Raiden had a negative outlook, but an earnest beginning, since the shoot 'em up genre was "relatively inexpensive to produce" games for, as well as increasing in popularity at the time.

[4] Seibu took production notes from the overseas market, borrowing ideas from popular titles such as Capcom's 1942, Xevious from Namco, and Twin Cobra by Toaplan.

[2] Near the end of development, Komazawa praised the programmers at Seibu for being able to produce a high-quality game on less powerful hardware.

[7] The PC Engine conversion was developed by A.I Company and first published by Hudson Soft in Japan on 22 November 1991, and released a few months later on the North American TurboGrafx-16 by NEC Technologies.

The included games are based directly on the original arcade releases and offers several options not found in other ports.

[3] The Project version of the first Raiden was re-released by HAMSTER Corporation as a stand-alone PlayStation title for their Arcade Hits series.

[22] The original game was later included as part of the 2012 compilation Raiden Legacy by DotEmu for mobile devices, PCs and other platforms.

It was intended to be published by U.S. Gold, but according to a former Imagitec employee on an Amiga-dedicated internet forum, it was left unreleased due to the arrival of newer systems on the market.

[30][31] The original arcade release of Raiden did not make as much money initially, with Komazawa attributing this to the game's underpowered hardware and lack of flashy visuals to draw players in.

Two of them described Raiden as "above average", and two described it as mediocre, saying that the ship moves too slow, enemy fire often blends in with the background, and the graphics are subpar given the Jaguar's capabilities.

[56] GamePro similarly criticized that the gameplay is outdated, the ship moves too slow, and that the graphics do not live up to the Jaguar's potential.