"R-Type" - Turbografx-16/PC-Engine

Oh god an arcade shmup. I may as well just scroll down and fill out the "no" on "Did I beat the game?" right now. Especially because it's R-Type. I've had the pleasure of playing R-Type in an arcade a couple times before, but I've forgotten everything about it except that it was really hard.

It was developed by Irem, and released in July of 1987 for the arcades. It showed up on the PC Engine in March of 1988, which is a pretty short wait. The port was developed by Hudson Soft (apparently the only developer on this damned console besides Namco), and apparently it's pretty accurate (according to Wikipedia). It does have a decreased resolution which means some screen scrolling and sprite quality drop. It also had to release on two separate HuCards in Japan, as R-Type I, and R-Type II.

Interestingly enough, the Japanese Wikipedia says that Irem didn't provide the source code, and Hudson had to reverse engineer the game for themselves.

Otherwise, apparently it's a pretty good port of a pretty good game. So let's see for ourselves:

We don't ask what happened to A-through-Q Type.

----- Playthrough -----

R-Type is a horizontal scrolling shooter, and with it come all the trappings of that genre. If you've played something like Gradius, you pretty much understand all the basics, so feel free to skip the next paragraph. Also, if you know what "horizontal" and "shoot" mean, you probably also get it... but I'll explain anyway:

You control a ship on the screen and can move in any direction, while the screen scrolls horizontally and enemies come in from the right side (mostly). There are power-ups that can be collected that change your shot type, and movement speed, and allow you to carry a small orb that shoots with you when you shoot, for extra firepower, as well as absorbs shots like a shield. Eventually, you'll encounter some kind of boss, and after you beat it, move to the next level.

There are a couple things that make R-Type unique. One is the charge shot.

I feel so powerful.

Like Mega Man, if you hold down the shot button for a few seconds until the 'BEAM' meter fills, you'll fire a shot that takes up more screen space and penetrates enemies. That means you can line it up to take out rows of enemies instead of just the one in-front like you can with the regular shot. Using this seems pretty key to finding your way through some of the challenges the game will throw at you.

The other thing that makes R-Type unique is the treatment of the little helper sphere. If you press the I button while the sphere is attached, it'll shoot off in the direction it was attached in, allowing you to push it further into the screen to hit enemies there, or simply to change where it's attached on the ship (front/back). This is also pretty essential to know, if you plan on beating any of the stages where firing backwards is necessary.

You could also just not, and die, if that's what you want to do. We make choices in this life.

I think R-Type is also pretty well known for its weird boss designs, and the ones I saw were indeed pretty creepy and interesting and live up to the hype. The 'Dobkeratops' opening boss is certainly one of the most iconic. He (she?) makes an appearance in the other games, and is pretty recognizable as "that thing from R-Type."

"Hey, don't I know you from somewhere...?"
'ssskrrREEEEEEE!'

I made it my mission to at least complete half the game before writing the post, but after an hour of trying, I had only seen the level 4 boss once and I was starting to get a serious case of the this-game-can-suck-it's. I felt I'd played enough to at least write the post...

[Loud, sustained screaming]

But then I played some more and finally beat that accursed fourth level. But that was as far as I got, for now. If you're playing R-Type I, the Japanese release that is just the first four levels, upon completion you're treated to a little cutscene of the ship destroying some enemies, and then a code, but for what I don't know, because if you pop in R-Type II it'll start on level 5 right away with no codes necessary:

I think I've had about all the go-ing I need for one night.

----- Review -----

How long did I play?
An hour and a half or so.

How much did I beat?
4 of 8 levels.

Intuitive Design: 

How easy is it to intuitively understand the game?

All of the shooter stuff is pretty intuitive. If you experiment with holding the shot button, the bar at the bottom will tell you it's doing something, and if you try hitting A to shoot your companion orb out, the way it slowly floats back will give you time to experiment with attaching it backwards. The game lends itself to you figuring out how to play it.

Gameplay / Difficulty: 

How rewarding does playing the game feel?

Shooters inherently feel fun and rewarding to me, and I always say that.

This game is really hecking hard even for a shmup, maybe a little (gasp!) too hard. But, you didn't hear me say that, because if I admit that something is too hard for me I'll instantly lose all my cred in the retro game world.

I'd like to beat it one day, but that day is not today (I already beat something for an upcoming review today, and my patience was shot going into this, so I admit, bad timing on my part).

Depth: 

How deep/long is the game?

Eight levels isn't a ton, but you'll probably play all of them a million times, so I wouldn't expect to finish the game too quickly. It will definitely take a little while and some serious patience and memorization (neither of which I'm good for) to get it down.

I'd ask how you're doing, Mr. Worm, but I've already seen you 85 times today.

Sound / Graphics: 

How's the sound? How are the graphics?

The enemy designs in this game are very distinct and cool, they're pretty unique. The backgrounds were probably a little more detailed in the arcade release, but in the PC Engine release there's a lot of black space that would be cool to see filled with some kind of background, but to be honest it might just be distracting.

Honestly the soundtrack is just okay for me, it lacks any real ear-catching tunes, but it's serviceable and pretty much goes along with the game just fine. I probably like this one the best out of anything I heard while playing.

Personal Chord: 

Does the game have that undefinable "something" for me?

I like the weird macabre art style of R-Type, although to be honest it's not my preferred aesthetic. I have an appreciation for this kind of art, and like it, but really my thing is more of a cute/unusual aesthetic (like Touhou, or Parodius). Still, the style of this game doesn't register a 0 on my scale, it's like a 6 or a 7. So I'll give it the personal thumbs up.

Should You Play: 

Is there a reason to even bother with this one?

Sure, I mean it's R-Type. It's kind of a legendary shmup-- you could also play the arcade version if you'd like to be able to continue a little easier, but with the way it sets you back when you die, you're still gonna have a rough time I bet you, even with infinite quarters.

But the PC Engine version seems like a serviceable port from what I can tell, and I think it's good fun even if it's hard as balls.

Honestly, I might recommend playing it separated into two games like it was released in Japan, as R-Type I and R-Type II. It would certainly make it more digestible with some sort of checkpoint in the middle.

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