Raptor: Call of the Shadows

Raptor: Call of the Shadows is a vertically scrolling air shooter in which the player, a mercenary pilot, takes on jobs against corporations and spends the earned cash between missions on new weapons and upgrades for their ship. It's exactly this shopping element that makes the game more than a classic arcade shooter: the player has to weigh whether to invest in a stronger main weapon, a shield, or homing missiles, and every decision shows up in the next mission. The campaign is split into several sectors, each with its own set of levels capped off by a battle against a giant ship or a ground base. Downed enemy craft drop crates with bonuses and cash, so it pays to risk flying into heavier fire.

Technically, this was a very accomplished piece of work. The game runs in VGA mode with a huge number of colorful sprites, the explosions are unusually detailed, and the backgrounds shift from deserts through cities to factory complexes without the pace ever dropping. Sound Blaster audio accompanies the action with fast music and punchy explosion effects that give impacts real weight. At the time of release the game felt like proof that a PC could hold a first-class shooter of this type, a domain that until then had belonged to consoles and arcade cabinets, and it remained one of the few genre representatives to truly succeed on DOS.

Released under the Apogee label with the usual shareware model and a freely available first episode, the game was very well received by players, mainly for combining arcade action with the gradual buildup of one's own ship. It's exactly this purchasing system that gives it a structure keeping players glued to the screen longer than pure arcade action, which is why it's still mentioned among the best PC shooters of its kind. Today it delights with its straightforwardness: you take off, you fly, you shoot, and between missions you treat yourself to the joy of buying stronger gear. The difficulty rises smoothly and the game stays readable and fair. This clarity, plus the pleasure of gradually upgrading your own ship, is exactly why players keep coming back to it even after all these years.