F-22 Raptor

The psychology of shmups is immensely difficult to figure out. Exactly what makes one scrolling shooter better than another isn't always immediately obvious.

It's not speed that's the key, and neither is it clever weapons or specific types of ships. Most likely it's a fresh and intelligent combination of these factors, and some have it, while others do a nosedive into the scrolling floor.

Regrettably, F-22 Raptor seems to belong to the latter category.

Perhaps the most immediate problem is that F-22 Raptor doesn't really do anything that 1942 or Tiger Heli didn't already do, only 25 years ago. You take control of the Lockheed Martin jet fighter as it meanders steadily through the skies shooting lasers - slowly - at a variety of enemies.

Very simple, like so many shmups, but the auto-fire system seems timed just right so that it never actually manages to hit anything unless you position yourself directly underneath it for a protracted (and suicidal) period.

Neither are these slow-moving skies exactly littered with enemies to shoot down. The usual, dynamic formations of planes snaking across the screen aren't present here, replaced instead by solitary tanks, or a trio of helicopters moving in a straight line.

Excitement, it seems, has been substituted for sobriety.

However, F-22 Raptor is salvaged to some small degree thanks to a few quirks in its weapons systems. Although these moments are too few and far between, deploying a flare to shake off a homing missile, or hammering out a quick-time event as a screen-sized enemy attacks adds much needed depth to the otherwise anaemic gameplay.

The impact of these great manoeuvres is lessened considerably by a host of graphical glitches. The worst of these are undoubtedly the flickering boss battles, where the giant ships appear and disappear gratingly rather than exploding in a ball of satisfying flame.

Roughly put together and badly executed, F-22 Raptor can't quite find that elusive shmup factor.