I Got My Most Wanted Arcade Machine! Raiden II from 1993

Grab your purple toothpaste lasers! Raiden 2 has been at the top of my most wanted list for as long as I can remember. Now this one is mine, acting as a vertical shmup JAMMA setup. The cabinet is a Dynamo HS-5, a classic in its own right, which housed tons of arcade games in the 80s and 90s. Only some of the hardware repair work is complete but we do at least install a Raiden II PCB, matching marquee, and upgrade to all-new controls in this video. More to come in the future as I gather components and tweak things, for sure!

● LGR links:

● All background music licensed from:

00:00 I got a Raiden II arcade cabinet!
00:55 Dynamo HS5 Video Game System
02:28 My house is a MESS so let's do this
03:09 Arcade machine specs and things
04:52 Going inside the cab is super easy
05:56 Gratuitous Raiden II gameplay
06:25 Viper Phase 1 & HS5 conversion kits
07:56 Fabtek and JAMMA arcade PCBs
09:48 Backlit marquee, monitor bezel
10:28 Replacing the controls
12:51 New inputs are great! Monitor is ehh
13:58 More repairs in the future!
14:48 Raiden 2 is just awesome

#LGR #retro #arcade

[polaroidjay]

I was an arcade technician for about 7 years at a local theme park and watching this video brought back so many memories of opening machines like this up and replacing the switches/buttons and cleaning it out. It was also fun setting up arcade cabinets for free play for free play events. Speaking of which, we have an arcade convention in my city coming up at the end of the month!

[acomingextinction]

That service disassembly is a terrific piece of industrial design. Love it when clever ideas pop-up in somewhat unexpected places.

[silverywingsagain]

Raiden II is the game that got me into shmups. Wasted so many quarters at the local arcade, great memories too.

[teitake]

As a Japanese middle aged man, I remember playing Raiden as a kid back in Japan. Nice to see it being loved here.

[mr.bayless]

I myself have always wanted an arcade cabinet in my home. Good to know that the Dynamo HS5 was built to be so customizable. Sounds like I'll be vying for one of those.

[Qwarky]

Clint, this is downright therapeutic. Raiden II was awesome and I too have fond memories of these cabinets and the game itself. It's also fascinating and incredibly satisfying watching you switch parts and getting things in working order. I'm so happy for you, this is delightful.

[coolshtmagazine]

This is awesome. Arcade cabinets are so amazing for those of us who grew up experiencing them. I'm glad your dream came home.

[MC-sgyr]

The quality of life features built into that cabinet are so clever! Love the way the board slides out and how easy it is to access everything. Great tour.

[pazzieanneknexx]

It's so incredible to see you acieving your childhood dreams. Thank you for teaching us about arcade history as well!

[Subar_Sama]

That cabinet is surely an absolute unit! I wish I had that much space to put one of those at my home...

[FrancesBedoya]

Love this. I bought a mint condition Raiden II machine (that same HS5 cab) off Craigslist back in 2016 for like $350, but had to part ways with it when I moved to the East Coast in 2017. That hurt. I miss that and my MK2 machine.

[jorger]

this game was so cool and scarce, I liked Raiden one very much and when this machine went out, I was hooked, great gameplay, the explosion debris flying everywhere and falling on the floor and water, destroyed airships losing altitude and exploding over the buildings, the boss mecha designs, the animations, the pace, the music, it really was an arcade masterpiece. I loved it.

[Schmeck]

I can really appreciate that feeling when you find the arcade machine you have been wanting for so long. I found a Street Fighter II Champion Edition Capcom big blue not far from my home back around 2016. It was cheap, but needed some work. I loved working on it and it's the one arcade machine I don't think I would ever sell.

I'm looking forward to some future arcade content from LGR. Enjoy the new arcade. Raiden II is awesome!

[JapanSkies]

I absolutely love how passionate and appreciative Clint is. We can all learn from him and take more pride in the things we like.

[MikesArcadeMonitorRepair]

Awesome. Congrats! If you ever need help with the monitor, let me know! It's actually a K7400, not a K7000. A bit of trivia, this game was responsible for Raiden's name change from Raiden to Rayden for the home ports of Mortal Kombat.

[mushroomsamba]

Glad to see Clint is spending some of that LGR money, well deserved!

[SuperNicktendo]

I remember being at Pizza Hut with Raiden 2 and that 3D jet as an attract screen. One day I'll have an arcade cabinet. One day

[rokushou]

I see Clint is a fan of the "toothpaste laser" as well. It was always my favorite weapon but the downside was that it took forever to kill bosses. To compensate, I would try to convince my co-op partner to take the blue laser for boss damage.

[paxhumana]

I remember playing both of the first two Raiden games on arcade cabinets, and there is also a surprisingly good port of both of those games under The Raiden Project for the PS1.

[guerrillaman]

I remember playing this game a lot as a kid. My extended family would rent two cabins for a week at a resort on a lake every summer, and there was a club house/diner that had a few arcade cabinets. I spent a LOT of time (and quarters) in there, playing this game and eating choco-tacos. I remember saving up all my quarters for the whole year just so I could play this game. I wish I could go back there now, but the resort no longer exists.