Ray'z Arcade Chronology

Impressive efforts with a few noticeable problems holding them back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash.

This is the best of it in regards to home ports of the Ray series, spit-polished by M2's dedicated commitment to quality. It offers very accurate arcade ports of three superb, nuanced shoot 'em ups, famous for their fantastic soundtracks, engrossing gameplay mechanics, and visual showboating. Lag is minimal enough to have no impact, and the HD upscaling is wonderful. With no training modes, historical bonuses or rearrangements, however, it falls shy of being the ultimate package. But only just.

While it’s not a must-own shoot ’em up collection, any shmup fan will have a good time with Ray’z Arcade Chronology.

Ray’z Arcade Chronology is a great collection of vertical shoot ‘em ups but one that could’ve been even better. The games here have great emulation quality and will provide plenty of hours of shoot ‘em up fun for any fan of the genre. It’s just that it could’ve been even better if all the titles were included in the digital version and if there was more extra content like Museum type stuff.

... after spending a decent amount of time with them I’m glad they’ve been preserved for the future. Three great games, three great ports, a fine little collection.

So if you ever wondered what made the Ray series of shmups so special, then this collection should hopefully help you with that, along with an abundance of homing lasers.

Overall, Ray'z Arcade Chronology is great collection of some classic Shmups. No matter which game you like best, you will find something to love here.

Ray’z Arcade Chronology is a series that fit the HD treatment well. It was innovative in its time and still is an excellent choice for those who love Taito's classic shoot ‘em ups. Keeping the collection from being impeccable, this edition doesn't highlight the console versions of the trilogy and all the options they offered, and it could have invested in its historical value, sharing a little more of the Ray franchise's trajectory.

Three great 2D shooters, lovingly recreated and, in the case of RayStorm and RayCrisis, updated for the modern era – even if some corners have been cut.

Needless to say, it’s hard not to recommend this compilation to older players who have nostalgic memories of this era – you definitely won’t find better versions of these games in earlier compilations or on emulators.