Raystorm is one of the best shooters I've played in a long time. Taking gameplay from classics such as Aero Fighters and Raiden II, it scrolls vertically up the screen, and features some of the best graphics I've seen on a shooter. The graphics are a mix of detailed polygons and hand drawn graphics (at least that's how it appeared). The overall effect is a very cool game. Although it's a vertical shooter at heart, the 3D effects let the screen rotate around and create some very cool interaction with the background and enemies.

You have a choice of two different ships, and although they vary in appearance and weaponry, they get the job done equally well. One of the ships has a super rapid firing gun, the other has a solid laser stream. Both have laser target weapons, one shoots out multi beams, the other fires a lighting bolt simlar to the one in Raiden II. Basically you just go through the levels wasting everything in your path, like any good shooter, only this one stands out because of it's great graphics and good gameplay.