Remembering: R-Type

Some styles of game I'm fascinated by, even though I'm terrible at them. Your average 2D spaceship shooter, circa the 90's, is the sort of thing I mean. I love watching letsplays of these. While games such as this do have their modern descendants in the bullet hell genre, its a form of game that has basically been extinct since the PS1/3D era, having previously been as common as muck. The reason why I'm terrible at them is due to poor reflexes and a difficulty processing all the info on screen, versus the precision required. Spaceship shooters, regardless of viewpoint, leave little margin for error due to their arcade origins. The reason why I'm fascinated by such things is because of that same difficulty, and because these games were kinda cinematic. The best ones were always distinctive to look at. And amongst the most distinctive was a game I played on the old Sega Master System: a port of 1987's R-Type.

When you got right down to it R-Type had no plot to speak of and some very disjointed visual design. This is not unusual for the genre, but worth mentioning. I mean, narratively it's just "Blast off and strike the evil Bydo Empire!“, and it's a bit of a trope blender. Why do some Bydo look like vehicles, and others angry meat? Why are some levels high tech, and others look like the inside of someone's digestive system? Am I fascinated with this specific game only because of this discordant stream of techno-organic imagery? Does it matter? Is this all superficial? Maybe not, but it did have subtly complex gameplay. The active ingredient is the "Force", a little multi-purpose attack drone that's your first power up. This can attach to the front or back of your ship, acting as a shield, and boosting your firepower. Attached, it can block most bullets, but detached it can help destroy lesser enemies by firing at a different angle or with a spread effect. Meanwhile, you have probably the most destructive weapon in the game immediately, a charge cannon which is devastating to bosses if you time it right. These tools make R-Type a decidedly methodical and unforgiving experience, and one few have dared to copy. As the game gives you more or less everything you need in the first five minutes to master the game, you are expected to master the game. Play its way, and play flawlessly. I never could. Thanks to its level design and approach to difficulty, it's possibly as much a single solution puzzle as a shooter. 

 

R-Type got a fair number of sequels, but these skipped Sega platforms, so I didn't touch base with any until the supposedly last game: R-Type Final. During that gap, the franchise became known as a uniquely hard-core and somewhat creepy example of its genre, a big name that was always remembered despite lengthy gaps between instalments. Final, released in 2003, was very much a nostalgia product, although you could say that about the franchise overall. By this point, it was played in a 2.5D view, with graphics rendered in full 3D, but gameplay being resolutely 2D. To my eyes, this only makes things more challenging, in an unearthly vertigo sorta way. The original R-Type could be oddly disturbing for its time, but Final seems to delight in using camera movements to heighten a sense of unease. I could not complete this one either, a bit of a shame that, given the fricking dozens of ships you could unlock. But then again, perhaps the R-Type franchise was too set in its ways? Being aggressively difficult just because you can, is not necessarily a cool thing in game design these days. Well, unless we're talking Dark Souls, but it's not like you can reasonably complete that in under 30 minutes of play time. 

Did R-type end with Final? Dear me, no. At the time of writing, there's a kickstarter project making Final 2. I'm sure it will please its backers, although it remains unclear if this will be a success on the level of Sonic Mania or Streets of Rage 4. It looks rather a lot like Final, or that remastered release Dimensions, only with better graphics and less creative risk. Irem did however mix things up things up in the 16 year interim with R-Type Tactics, aka R-Type Command. This is a game I want to play, as its a turn-based strategy game, which is one hell of an unexpected detour. It even got a sequel. Sadly, untranslated. Sadly, both on PlayStation Portable. <sigh>

So, should you play R-Type? Or an instalment thereof? Well, probably. I've been somewhat dismissive above, but I can't deny it's strong appeal. Which it obviously has, because I wouldn't be writing about something I suck at if it didn't.