RayCrisis
Encyclopedia
RayCrisis, known as RayCrisis: Series Termination in North America, is the third game released in the "Ray" series of Taito
shooting games. Chronologically, it is considered a prequel to the first game, RayForce
. First released for arcades in 1998, it supported co-op mode for two players, which the PlayStation ports
released in 2000 lack; these ports are the only games in the "Ray" series to lack co-op.
to RayForce
, details the events during the timeframe of the supercomputer
called the Neuro-Computer Con-Human gaining sentience and rebelling against its human creators, a direct result of a misguided scientist trying to bond a human clone
to Con-Human mentally. Now, against Con-Human's massive attack forces laying siege to the Earth, exterminating and cloning humans, a mecha-neurologist jacks in to the Con-Human system in an attempt to regain control of the rogue machine by means of the computer viruses, known as the Waveriders, into the Cybernetics Link, engaging Operation Raycrisis to cease the supercomputer's destructive actions permanently and prevent it from causing more havoc in the future.
However, even when Operation Raycrisis leaves Con-Human wrecked from the inside, it was too late to reverse the damage it has done. Furthermore, what is left of the human race has left for the space colonies as refuge from the destruction. In the end, years later, with the unveiling of the X-LAY starfighter and the ships of the fleet, Terran Command and the remaining humans initiate one final assault on Con-Human, who has turned the Earth into a bleak, metal graveyard. One final assault, in which will end the cybernetic nightmare once and for all, destroying the planet they've called home in the process. And that assault will be called:
Operation RayForce
.
, and the enemies he or she encounters are Con-Human's antibodies
, programmed to terminate any virus—including the player—getting inside the supercomputer's system.
An Encroachment system is added, which causes player to lose points when it reaches 100%, especially facing Dis-Human and Infinity prematurely when reaching a huge Antibody, in addition to a bad ending. Encroachment percentage can be lowered by deleting Antibodies, terminating huge Antibodies or obtaining items, keeping a low profile not to be recognized by Con-Human.
The game starts with Self-Area, followed by 3 other stages out of the following: Emotion, Consciousness, Intelligence, Memory, or Consideration, each reflecting Con-Human's details of sentience. After completing stage 4, having the emergency control activated by Con-Human because of the havoc the player have caused, the Waverider computer virus must fight against the Dis-Human Antibody, and Infinity, Con-Human's heart.
The player is given three ships called Waveriders to choose from at the start of the game:
Additionally, the two original ships from RayStorm (R-Gray 1 and R-Gray 2) can be unlocked on the PlayStation version.
In the PlayStation version, Stages 2, 3, and 4 can be freely chosen, and stages can be played more than once in a single game. An original mode is added, which allows player to fight all stages in the game. In original mode, the player can obtain extra items, but there is no continue option if the player loses all of their lives. This port is the only game in the series to include a customization feature that allows the player to choose between multiple colors for their selected ship; the arcade version did not include this feature, electing to give player 1 a red color scheme and player 2 blue. The game supported a downloadable game called "Pocket Ray" for the PocketStation
system.
The Windows 95 port of the game is also different from the PlayStation port.
This game was bundled with RayStorm as part of the compilation Simple 1500 Series Vol. 75: The Double Shooting.
Taito
Taito may mean:*Taito Corporation, a Japanese developer of video game software and arcade hardware*Taito, Tokyo, a special ward located in Tokyo, Japan*Taito, also known as matai, paramount chiefs according to Fa'a Samoa...
shooting games. Chronologically, it is considered a prequel to the first game, RayForce
RayForce
RayForce is a vertical space shooter style game by Taito released for the Taito F3 arcade hardware in 1993 and later ported to the Sega Saturn in 1995....
. First released for arcades in 1998, it supported co-op mode for two players, which the PlayStation ports
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
released in 2000 lack; these ports are the only games in the "Ray" series to lack co-op.
Story
RayCrisis, being a prequelPrequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
to RayForce
RayForce
RayForce is a vertical space shooter style game by Taito released for the Taito F3 arcade hardware in 1993 and later ported to the Sega Saturn in 1995....
, details the events during the timeframe of the supercomputer
Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
called the Neuro-Computer Con-Human gaining sentience and rebelling against its human creators, a direct result of a misguided scientist trying to bond a human clone
Cloning
Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
to Con-Human mentally. Now, against Con-Human's massive attack forces laying siege to the Earth, exterminating and cloning humans, a mecha-neurologist jacks in to the Con-Human system in an attempt to regain control of the rogue machine by means of the computer viruses, known as the Waveriders, into the Cybernetics Link, engaging Operation Raycrisis to cease the supercomputer's destructive actions permanently and prevent it from causing more havoc in the future.
However, even when Operation Raycrisis leaves Con-Human wrecked from the inside, it was too late to reverse the damage it has done. Furthermore, what is left of the human race has left for the space colonies as refuge from the destruction. In the end, years later, with the unveiling of the X-LAY starfighter and the ships of the fleet, Terran Command and the remaining humans initiate one final assault on Con-Human, who has turned the Earth into a bleak, metal graveyard. One final assault, in which will end the cybernetic nightmare once and for all, destroying the planet they've called home in the process. And that assault will be called:
Operation RayForce
RayForce
RayForce is a vertical space shooter style game by Taito released for the Taito F3 arcade hardware in 1993 and later ported to the Sega Saturn in 1995....
.
Gameplay
The gameplay of RayCrisis is based on RayForce, which features a viewpoint given to the player with an overhead perspective. The game is a vertically-scrolling shooter with a "virus infiltration" theme: the player plays the role of the Waverider computer virusComputer virus
A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability...
, and the enemies he or she encounters are Con-Human's antibodies
Antibody
An antibody, also known as an immunoglobulin, is a large Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique part of the foreign target, termed an antigen...
, programmed to terminate any virus—including the player—getting inside the supercomputer's system.
An Encroachment system is added, which causes player to lose points when it reaches 100%, especially facing Dis-Human and Infinity prematurely when reaching a huge Antibody, in addition to a bad ending. Encroachment percentage can be lowered by deleting Antibodies, terminating huge Antibodies or obtaining items, keeping a low profile not to be recognized by Con-Human.
The game starts with Self-Area, followed by 3 other stages out of the following: Emotion, Consciousness, Intelligence, Memory, or Consideration, each reflecting Con-Human's details of sentience. After completing stage 4, having the emergency control activated by Con-Human because of the havoc the player have caused, the Waverider computer virus must fight against the Dis-Human Antibody, and Infinity, Con-Human's heart.
The player is given three ships called Waveriders to choose from at the start of the game:
- WR-01 - a ship resembling the R-Gray 1 from RayStormRayStormRayStorm is a scrolling shooter developed by the Taito Corporation . Originally released in Japan as an arcade game in 1996, it was later ported there to Sony's PlayStation game console in 1997, to the Sega Saturn in that same year, and to Windows-based personal computers in 2001...
in terms of firepower. It features a wide laser attack and can lock onto 8 targets at a time. - WR-02 - a ship resembling the R-Gray 2. Uses a narrow-angled focused laser for its main gun and it has a max capacity of 16 lock-ons available to the player and uses a weapon called the "thunder laser".
- WR-03 - An unlockable ship that removes the lock-on feature and forces the player to use a powerful photon chain gun. Its primary weapons are small guided missiles that swarms the enemies but weak in terms of hitting power.
Additionally, the two original ships from RayStorm (R-Gray 1 and R-Gray 2) can be unlocked on the PlayStation version.
Home releases
PocketStation
The is a peripheral by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation home video game console. Categorized by Sony as a miniature personal digital assistant, the device features a monochrome liquid crystal display , infrared communication capability, a real-time clock, built-in flash memory, and...
system.
The Windows 95 port of the game is also different from the PlayStation port.
This game was bundled with RayStorm as part of the compilation Simple 1500 Series Vol. 75: The Double Shooting.