Uploaded April 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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Full run through the rare MS-DOS/PC version of Raiden, played and captured from a vintage PC running DOS 6.22! I believe this is the first and only video of a full run through this game, and also marks the first run of a PC game on my channel.


00:00 - Install/Setup utility
00:33 - Game Start
00:55 - Stage 1
03:06 - Stage 2
05:53 - Stage 3
08:08 - Stage 4
11:28 - Stage 5
14:25 - Stage 6
17:45 - Stage 7
20:24 - Stage 8
22:30 - Final Boss + Ending
28:07 - Loop 2, Stage 1
30:15 - Stage 2
33:04 - Stage 3
35:20 - Stage 4

In the beginning of the video I show running the install utility, which lets you configure the game's settings. You can select to use the keyboard or a controller (I used a controller) and also which sound settings and game speed you want. If you have a sufficiently fast PC, I recommenced speed setting 2, as 1 is way too fast to be playable. It should be noted that this game DOES NOT run properly under windows or later versions of DOS (after 6),

I'm using the CD audio soundtrack and a MT-32 (specifically the LAPC-I in my PC) for sound effects. This soundtrack (both versions) is probably the best version of the Raiden soundtrack that exists, it's really quite amazing. It also contains many new tracks that don't appear on the other versions.

The native resolution of the game is actually 720x400, which is very close to 16:9 you'd see in modern games. However, back in the day the CRT monitor would "squish" it horizontally to display it in 4:3, so it wouldn't look all stretched out in practice. I have done some post processing on the video to make it looks more like it would display on a real CRT (which is what I played it on).

Unfortunately this game is rather clunky in that you cannot have both sound effects and use the Roland soundtrack (which is quite different from the CD audio track in this run). The only way to get sound effects and music at the same time is to use the CD audio soundtrack. I will probably upload both of these soundtracks in a later video as they don't appear on youtube and they are actually very good.

As far as the game goes, it's one of the lesser ports of Raiden, although still fun and at least it's a little more balanced than the arcade version in that recovery on death is actually possible (although still hard). In fact, I die numerous times in this run and somehow scrape by the final boss with some lucky dodges on my last life and with no bombs left. A no death run is quite easy in this game honestly, but this run is a little more exciting with all the deaths so that's why I'm posting it instead.

There are 3 different difficulty levels and as far as I can tell it only changes the number of lives you start with (there are no extends in the game, unlike the arcade version). Rookie = 7 lives, Veteran = 5 lives (default), Elite = 3 lives.

I've now done videos for 6 versions of Raiden:
Arcade
PS1
SNES
Genesis
TG-16
DOS

Still have these left:
PC Engine CD
FM Towns
Jaguar

Lynx
Android/Mobile?