Even in this age of high-def graphics, online gaming and complicated textures, there's still something to be said for the classic arcade jet-plane shooter.

Raiden III, originally a 2005 Japanese arcade release, is everything you'd expect from an airborne arcade game -- while constantly moving forward, your provide a stream of gun-, laser- and missile-fire to obliterate the advancing enemy brigade in the air and on the ground.

The first level of the title opens with your red intergalactic starfighter rushing off the mother ship and bringing napalm justice to your foes over a jungle setting. You start armed with machine guns against teams of planes and big ol'warships that crop up, but as you bump into colored power-ups your weapons get upgraded and changed -- your machine guns shoot wider and faster, you'll attain a lucid green laser and gain a powerful, rigid blue laser to crush foes. As you push forward, the battle moves over a city that's seen better days. Tanks roll out from behind buildings and fire into the air, and you blow up sections of street and rooftop obstacles that yield yellow bonuses and 10,000-point fairies. The first level's ending puts you up against two ginormous rocket-launching tanks. Blast them with your missiles, the tanks goes for a crazed spread shot and -- if you haven't wasted them -- you can unleash your bombs to eradicate the bulky machines.

Everything you just read takes about two minutes and thirty seconds to do in the game.

Like any arcade game worth its cabinet, there's a lot going on in Raiden III. To me, there might even be a bit too much. The background cities, jungle and space scenes are highly detailed and look great, but when the screen lights up with yellow bullets, silver ships, lasers, bombs and robots, it's almost impossible to keep track of what the hell is going on, and it only gets worse when a second player pops in and the machinegun fire doubles.

Then again, maybe I'm just an old man and my peepers aren't as up to snuff as they used to be when I'd rock Spy Hunter in the old days.

Raiden III features several modes for you to battle through if the full-fledged arcade game isn't your thing. You can select one of the title's seven levels and try to set the high score in Score Attack, you can have rematches with the baddies you've already bested in Boss Rush, and you can watch your saved runs and scope the game's artwork in Replay & Gallery.

As the final touches are put on Raiden III, it seems like the title is shaping up as a quality purchase for anyone hankering to relive the days of grasping an oily joystick and attacking the bad guys.