R- Type Game Review: The classic arcade game is back and It’s pulling no punches!

Details

Published on Friday, 16 September 2011 13:51

The classic 2D alien shooter, R-Type is back from it’s alien hibernation. Be prepared for a long battle as the game carries over all its original features. It’s guaranteed to keep you entertained for a whole bunch of peretrons, or hours to us humans.

Title: R-Type | Developer: DOTEMU | Genre: Arcade & Action | Players: 1 | Version: 1.0 | Size: 17 MB | Price: $4.13 |

Features:

• All 8 level’s taken from the original game.
• 2 difficulty levels; normal (I found that hard enough) and hard.
• A variety of upgrades – new weapons, power-ups and new attachments.
• 8 bosses and waves of enemies trying to push you back.
• Xperia Play Optimized.
• Openfeint enabled with achievements.

Gameplay

The Bydo Empire is running amuck, they need a maverick to sort out these crazy fools. Guess who that is… that’s right, you! Starting off in the game, it’s business as usual and instantly you are outnumbered, when has that ever been a bad thing when you have a kick ass ship?

If you’ve ever played the original then you’ll know exactly how this game works and if you didn’t play the original, its not rocket science. It's blast off time, let’s get right into level 1. You’re thrown in at the deep end (nothing new these days with games, what’s the rush?). R-Type loves throwing tons of enemies at you throughout the entire level, right up to the end where you face the boss. This isn’t as overwhelming as it sounds and on a plus side, certain enemies drop power-ups which can make levels a lot easier to go through.

R-Type is set out to be a classic 2D space shooter and what makes it different to other alien shooters is that R-Type takes a side on 2D view whereas other alien shooters of the time, took on a top-down view. I prefer the side on view personally as it seems to give the game a more in depth view of everything shown on screen.

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Controls

Controls, controls, controls… I’m kind of split here when it comes to the controls implemented for the touch screen. You have a choice of 2 control settings, move your fingers on the screen to move the ship but this can result in you not being able to see the ship/enemies/shots fired at you. The other option is use an on screen d-pad, my gripe with this that it’s really really slow to use. The ship doesn’t move as quick as you need it to.

Also featured on the screen is a button for firing (automatic fire is default enabled), holding this button actually charges up and when released it fires a huge beam at your enemies. Other than the D-pad (if you use it), you have another button for your attachment which can be attached onto the ship to add extra fire power and shield or fired off and you have an extra ship helping you out, shooting enemies.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics are identical to the original, although I would like to see a visual upgrade on this game but then again I’m a bit of a retro nut so this game really hits the spot for me. For me when starting up the game, hearing the retro sounds, seeing the retro graphics, it just makes the entire game feel special.

Now for the sound, I have to say I was very impressed. The whole retro feel has been captured and made slightly more clearer. I find that most retro games tend to use very annoying soundtracks that grate on my nerves after a while but with R-Type, the soundtrack is pretty much spot on, other retro games could learn from these guys!

{gallery}reviews/rtype/rt2{/gallery}

Overall

Now for the big finale! I think R-Type really brings back all the magic of the original. I was a huge fan when it was released on the PlayStation one, almost played it till the laser melted the disc. Now knowing that, I can see my android phone dying soon. If you where a fan of the original, this is a must have and a godsend. Another game to add to my personal top 10 of 2011, can’t waste anymore time writing this review, I have to go kill some…

Rating: 4.5/5

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