Fans of overhead scrolling arcade shooters, rejoice. You can now enjoy one of the best trilogies this genre has to offer – Taito’s Ray series. Rayforce, Raystorm, and Raycrisis are all three on sale right now on Google Play and the iTunes App Store. For way less than you are going to spend to get any one of the domestic releases, you can have the whole trilogy in your pocket.

This franchise started life in Japanese arcades and quickly took over the home market with releases hitting the 32-bit consoles of the time (PlayStation and Sega Saturn). Decades later on the go fans got a chance to try their hands with the Taito shooter franchise when the Android and iPhone ports were released.

These are premium games and they come with a premium price tag, which right now is discounted quite a bit.

All three titles are pay once and you are done purchases. No ads. No In App Purchases to worry about. Just good old overhead scrolling arcade action that will test your mettle as a gamer.

Fans of later shooters will probably see the early days of bullet hell shooters emerging here as these shooters are intense and can fill the screen quite often.

Fans of the genre will feel right at home here as these are almost perfect arcade ports. They have been adjusted for touch screen devices (they have included controller support for those that just have to have physical controls – which I am one for certain games).

Just remember, there is no hand holding going on here. You are put in, given a basic startup sequence and off you go. Just the way we like them.

While there have been plenty of mobile overhead scrolling shooters over the years, none really compare to the challenge and fun factor of a classic franchise like this.

If you are the type that just has to have the physical releases then you are in luck as eBay has deals on Rayforce, Raystorm, and Raycrisis.

If you are cool with cheaper, more portable mobile versions then I have pulled the links for your convenience:

Rayforce (Google Play/iTunes)
Raystorm (Google Play/iTunes)
Raycrisis (Google Play/iTunes)

Carl Williams

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