When I was young there was a proliferation of shareware discs available at my local discount shop sporting titles such as the (should-be) classic One Must Fall: 2097, Commander Keen and Raptor: Call of the Shadows. Standing apart from the crowd of games available under the shareware business model, with incredible and rich graphics, a series of fun and compelling gun upgrades, interesting menus and some very intense (often outright punishing) boss battles, Raptor became a rare but highly sought after gem to find in its full version. The game does not play at the same breakneck pace as one may be accustomed to seeing from todays crop of vertical shooters or from the equally classic competitor Tyrian, but don't be fooled for a second. This game manages a great learning curve, whilst starting off intense from the word go and only getting harder from there. I'm very glad to see it here on GOG, as it is one game very worth playing for anyone with the nostalgia for the shareware title or newcomers wanting to see where the popular game style of vertical shooters comes from.
