Top down scrolling shooters have had a short but strange history on the 360. Despite being a port, Ikaruga has managed to become the most popular game of the genre on the system. So when DoDonPachi and Ketsui weren't allowed onto the Live Arcade we thought that MS simply didn't like the bullet hell shooters as much as the rest of us. While the aforementioned classics likely won't see any form of full retail release, we're glad that someone out there (Moss Ltd) sees fit to release another game like this.Raiden IV is currently set for Japanese release in September, with the developer expressing interest in following up with a Western release (oh please, oh please). The game has most all the bullet points one would expect from a great shump: vertical screen mode, recordable replays, and worldwide leaderboards, but sadly no co-op. Partly thanks to the increase in the "standard" graphical fidelity of games, older gameplay styles seem to be slowly dying out. We just hope that our favorite hardcore genres don't end up going the way of the dodo.
