Raimais

38 Years old Arcade Video game Taito Corp. [Japan]

Raimais © 1988 Taito.

A great maze chase game.

The players take the lead of beautiful Rika Midorikawa, a heroine of bikers, in order to rescue her kidnapped brother, she must ride her 3 wheeled jet vehicle to challenge and explores the labyrinths while collect all the dots and pick the power-ups to defeat or avoid all the enemies in each stage, to open the exits and destroy the big bosses and win to rescue his captive brother.

TECHNICAL

Taito L System hardware
Prom Sticker : B36

Main CPU : (2x) Zilog Z80 (@ 6 Mhz)
Sound CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 4 Mhz)
Sound Chips : Yamaha YM2610 (@ 8 Mhz)

Players : 2
Control : 4-way joystick
Buttons : 2

TRIVIA

Raimais was released in April 1988 in Japan.

Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Taito DJ Station : G.S.M. Taito 5 - PCCB-00037) on August 21, 1990.

UPDATES

The original Japanese version has a storyline and voices. They was removed on the Export versions (see Tips and Tricks section for more information).

SCORING

Energy Plates come in 8 colors
White	50 points
Orange	60 points
Light blue	70 points
Green	80 points
Red	90 points
Blue	100 points
Purple	110 points
Yellow	120 points
Metal Plates are different. Multiple passes are required to collect these. Every 8 rounds the number of passes increases by 1.
Round 1 to Round 8	2 times
Round 16 to Round 9	3 times
Round 17 to Round 24	4 times
Round 25 to Round 32	5 times
The points awarded for Metal Plates are calculated by the round number x 50. So in the 10th round these will be 500 points.
Since Metal Plates have the highest points, to get a high score the player may choose mazes with plenty of this type of plate.

TIPS AND TRICKS

In each level the player starts from the bottom row. If the player collects every "Energy Plate" (the dots) in a stage, all enemies and the items the player did not take disappear. 8 gates will be opened, two in each direction, to proceed to the next stage. The direction chosen determines which maze is next. Taking either door in the same direction has the same outcome. One of them probably is a backup, in case the maze design blocks one of the gates.

There are 4 different maze types associated with the 4 directions:
Up: Red Maze
Down: Blue Maze
Left: Gray Maze
Right: Green Maze

The direction taken does not affect the stage design. For example, if Down is chosen on round 22nd, the same 23rd round will be seen.

ITEMS LIST:
(S) Slow Down: Slows down enemies.
(L) Laser: Gives ability to fire a laser to destroy enemies. The laser can be fired with the item button. This item can be collected more than once to increase the fire rate (maximum 4). This ability is kept after losing a life, but not to the next maze. There is also automatic rapid-fire available by holding down the item button.
(A) Armour: Gives shield to protect player from dangers. Like the laser, the more items you take, the more hit points can be gained.
(P) Extend: Awards an extra life.
(B) Brake: Opens up 2 gates to advance to the next stage without requiring the current one be cleared.
(C) Crash: Clears dots on the screen. This works like passing over every dot on the screen once, so Metal Plates may still require more passes.
(O) Other Route: Opens an entrance to the reverse round where a giant boss may be hiding.
(R) Rainbow: Causes a random effect. Some possible effects are cleaning up all plates on the screen including Metal Plates, or giving a powerful shield.

The Japanese version of the game has a storyline and 4 endings. The game checks several variables to determine which ending you get, the most important being whether or not you have the Light Mirror. However, beyond obtaining the mirror, there are two other variables that determine whether or not you can access the endings:
- Whether or not you’ve lost any lives: you must do a no-miss clear.
- How many stages you’ve completed: it must be under 17.

So here are the different endings you can get:
1) Reach the last stage going through 17 stages or more and by having the Light Mirror.
2) Reach the last stage going through 17 stages or more and by not having the Light Mirror.
3) Reach the last stage going through 16 stages or less without losing a life, and by having the Light Mirror.
4) Reach the last stage going through 16 stages or less without losing a life, and not having the Light Mirror.

This mirror can be obtained at the Reverse Round entrance at 23rd Round (down).

STAFF

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