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R-Type

R-Type is a side-scrolling shoot-em-up video game produced by Irem in 1987. It is widely regarded as a seminal title in the shoot 'em up genre.

Legacy

R-Type is remembered as a pioneer among horizontally-scrolling shooters. While games of the same ilk had been seen before (for example, Gradius in 1985 and Darius in 1986), R-Type 's impressive graphics, detailed animation, inventive features and simple yet surprisingly involved gameplay made it a huge success for Irem.

Features

R-Type 's most famous innovation is a unique device called the "Force"; a glowing, spherical pod that can be attached to the player's ship to act as a shield and a powerful weapon, or can be forcibly ejected from the ship and controlled in a limited manner, acting as an independent, secondary gun. Players of R-Type also variously refer to this device as a Force Unit, Force Pod or Force Satellite.

The game also popularised the 'charge weapon' concept in computer games. By holding the fire button down, the player can build up energy in their ship, drawing in tiny, glowing particles through the ship's nose. A 'BEAM' bar at the bottom of the screen indicates how much energy the ship is charged with. Releasing the fire button then discharges this energy as a destructive beam, which at full power can tear through waves of enemies. This is very reminiscent of anime-style energy attacks, and resembles the Kamehameha Wave attack from the Dragon Ball Z anime.

R-Type II, released in 1989, developed the beam weapon further by giving it an extra level of power. If the player continued to charge beyond full beam strength, eventually the ship would become supercharged and capable of releasing a massive storm of energy waves, capable of wiping out every enemy on the screen.

R-Type III refined the weapons and charging system somewhat, and added a new mode called 'Hyper' to the ship, which the player could use instead of the Beam if they desired. By supercharging in Hyper mode, the ship could temporarily become super-powerful, capable of firing rapid beam-bolts. However, once the power is depleted, the ship must spend several seconds recharging, during which time weapon power is reduced.

R-Type III was also the first game in the series to provide three different Force Units, each with a different set of weapons and unique enhancements. The latest title in the series, R-Type Final, expands this massively by offering 100 different ships (which can be unlocked through the course of the game), each with different weapons, Forces, and handling.

Gameplay

Games in the R-Type series are well-known for being incredibly difficult, having levels that rely more on memorising obstacles than on the player's shooting skill. There are usually 'safe' paths through levels, but it is up to the player to determine what these are.

R-Type Games

• R-Type (Arcade)
• R-Type II (Arcade)
• R-Type III (Super Nintendo)
• R-Type DX (Gameboy)
• Super R-Type (Super Nintendo)
• R-Type Leo (Arcade)
• R-Types (Playstation)
• R-Type Delta (Playstation)
• R-Type Final (Playstation 2)

On the Usenet newsgroup alt.games.mame, there is a running gag involving R-Type. Whenever someone asks for help identifying a game, and provides an inadequate description, one of the answers is always "R-Type".

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