How to play River Raid II online
- Bank left and right: left and right arrow keys
- Climb (and slow down): down arrow key
- Dive (and speed up): up arrow key
- Fire missiles at aircraft: tap the Space bar
- Launch torpedoes at ground and sea targets: hold the down arrow key and press Space
- Take off: hold Space to race down the carrier deck, then press the down arrow key at the end of the runway
- Start a new game: F12 (Reset)
- One or two players: F11 (Select)
- Straight or guided weapons: F4 (Player 1 difficulty)
Gameplay
Each mission has three parts. First you take off from your carrier. Then you fly over open sea and up a river to the target bridge, which shows as a flashing blip on the radar at the bottom of the screen. Finally you head back out to sea and land on the carrier again. A successful landing ends the mission, and the next one is harder.
Height matters all the time. An altimeter bar shows how high you are, and it flashes red when you are dangerously low. Fly too low over land and you crash. Missiles hit helicopters and jets; torpedoes hit ships, tanks, buildings, water towers, landing strips and the bridge. Flak bursts cannot be destroyed, so you have to steer around them.
Fuel still runs down as you fly. Over the sea you refuel by flying into the gold tanker planes coming towards you. Over the river you drop low and pick up gold buoys floating on the water. A warning sound tells you the tank is nearly empty. You have three planes. If one is lost, the next continues the mission from the same spot with full fuel and maximum height.
| Target | Points |
|---|---|
| Fighter jet | 100 |
| Helicopter | 150 |
| Destroyer | 200 |
| Carrier | 250 |
| Water tower | 300 |
| Building | 400 |
| Landing strip | 500 |
| Tank | 600 |
| Bridge | 2,500 |
With the difficulty switch on A (expert), missiles and torpedoes fly straight ahead. On B (novice) you can steer them after firing.
Tips
- Start on B. Guided weapons make the ground targets far easier to hit while you learn the altitude controls.
- Keep an eye on the altimeter over land. Diving gives speed and lets you collect buoys, but a red bar means you are about to hit the ground.
- Top up over the sea. The tanker planes come straight at you, so line up early rather than chasing them.
- Save fuel for the trip home. Destroying the bridge is only half the mission; you still have to reach the carrier.
- Land slowly. When calm water appears, the carrier is near. Hold the down arrow to keep your height, hold Space to add thrust towards the carrier, then let go and press the up arrow to touch down.
The story behind River Raid II
By the late 1980s Activision wanted to build on known names, and River Raid had been one of its biggest hits, so a sequel made sense. Carol Shaw, who made the original, was not involved. Dan Kitchen designed the new game and David Lubar did the coding. To keep the look of the first game, the river is generated with the same kind of mathematical method Shaw had used for her endless river. The result is a busier, more complex game than the 1982 original, released late in the life of the 2600.
Similar games to play next
- River Raid – the 1982 original by Carol Shaw
- Commando – another 1988 Activision cartridge programmed at Imagineering
- Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator – more F-14 flying on the 2600
- Chopper Command – Activision’s helicopter shooter
- Seaquest – shoot enemies and manage oxygen instead of fuel