R-Type Deluxe Game by Bits Studios, Irem Software and Nintendo Reviewed by John Craig john@dmgice.com Save: battery Released: 1999 Works with: All Gameboys, Gameboy Color enhanced **************************************************************************** Opening Snide Remarks: I dont think I had as many games on my Commodore as Philip brags (heh heh), but one of the ones I did have was R-Type. I had it on my Commodore 64, I have it on my Mac, Super R-Type, and I have the two old Gameboy versions. Do you know how long Ive been waiting for this upgrade? Of all the horizontal shooters in the world, Bits Studios R-Type has always been my favorite. Nintendo took the liberty to combine R-Type I and II into a Deluxe upgrade. Was it worth the wait? Is it REALLY five games in one? **************************************************************************** Gameplay Description: Scrolling shooters are everywhere. Theres one for every gaming system you can think of, theyre still at the arcades, and odds are, no matter who you are, youve played one in your life time. You know the drill. It's you, in your puny, one-hit-you-die-fighter, against an entire space fleet. Whats the one advantage you have? Its the fact that your little fighter can pound out a fantastically amazing amount of unrealistically huge barrage of fire power at one time. All at the press of a button. On some flight shooters (Radian, Areofighters) the amount of fire your ship puts out can somehow get up to 10 times the size of your ship. The normal tactic is - if an enemy is on the screen, dodge the shots and hit that damn button as fast as you can. Theres always a compelling story. "Yeah...Ok... Im saving the world...whatever....HEY, watch me blow up THIS thing." While R-Types weapons dont get that mindlessly big, the use of the "pod", the level design, weapons, and bosses have always made the R-Type series the best shooter in my book. If youve never played a R-Type game, heres the gist of it (in my own words): Relations between the Bydo and Earth had always been precarious at best. Now a deep space probe has discovered that the Bydo empire is planning an evasion of humanity. Peace cannot be negotiated, any full scale attack would be detected by the Bydos long range sensors, any surprise attack would be useless. The only hope would be a single fighter, to penetrate Bydo defenses and dismantle their plans. The R-Type fighter is constructed of a metal alloy that the Bydo sensors cannot detect. Your mission is to take the long range fighter into the heart of Galaxy IXI, and destroy the evil empire before it can launch its attack. One of my favorite innovations that R-Type makes is the use of the "power pod". The pod is a power up that can either attach to the front or rear of your fighter, increasing your fire power, giving you extra weapons, and absorbing any enemy fire (the pod is indestructible.) Or it can detach itself from your ship, and fly and fight along side you as a wing man, all at the touch of a button. R-Type features an array of awesome weaponry also. Collect power ups for the pod, and you can have lasers that bounce off walls, powerful beam lasers, lasers that craw along the walls, even air to ground missiles. Basically the game scrolls to the right, and you destroy anything that moves. Yes, on Gameboy Color, R-Type DX does feature five games, each different enough to make you want to play all of them. The first two are the old monochrome versions of R-Type I and II. These were the first two games I played when I finally got my hands on this. Why? #1, nostalgia #2, I wanted to be very impressed when I played the much anticipated upgrade. These are exactly the Gameboy versions to the letter. Controls, graphics, everything the same, no color. That is to say, only four. Nintendo didn't use the Gameboy Colors true "black" and "white" to create this. Instead they used a sort of light, pale yellow for white and a inky black and grays. The end result is, it looks exactly like your playing it on an old Gameboy screen, only without the blur. Very cool. The next two are the upgrades to R-Type and R-Type II. Was I impressed? Yes. Especially after I started playing R-Type II. When I started playing R- Type II I had to check my hands to make sure I wasnt holding a SuperNES playing Super R-Type. They pulled all the stops. The DX versions include all the classic tricks. In R-Type II I even noticed the walls in the background moving slightly slower than the foreground, a 3D illusion. The colors and new cut scenes are great (I will get to that in the graphic section) and have new optional features like rapid-fire, so you can give your thumb a little break. The last is the official "R-Type DX". (I thought this was the only thing that this cartridge would be. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised.) R-Type DX seamlessly binds the two upgraded R-Types into one game. (If you don't really care to play the old versions, or play the upgrades separately, this is what your looking for.) The games do feature a "sort of" save. In the option menus of each game you can skip ahead to levels you have completed, but the games aren't so long that you cant beat them in one setting, so I rarely use the option. The game saves all high scores. Liked: R-Type is has overall great gameplay. The use of the power pod, the weapons, the challenge. The deluxe versions are well done. Hated: Only the balance problems that were inherent to R-Type. i.e. The first three levels of R-Type I can be easy to the experienced shooter, while the fourth seems suddenly hard. No Infrared score trading. (Probably because its backward compatible.) **************************************************************************** Graphics Description: Very nice. Everything is very detailed and colorful (or not colorful when its supposed to be) in the DX games. Some simple enemies have just been colored, while other things, like the explosions, have been completely redone. The R-Type itself looks as good as it does in Super R-Type, it also seems to roll more as it turns (a plus). Some of the backgrounds scroll slower than the foreground, a trick you usually only seen on a 16 bit platform. There are also things you don't notice the first time through. Look closely at the backgrounds, theyre all very detailed, complete with blinking lights and twinkling stars. Watch the cavern walls on level 2 of R-Type II (level 8 of R- Type DX), they very slowly alternate colors. I didnt notice this until I played the level a few times. You can tell they put work into the bosses too, they look good. Sprite clipping is there, and it is noticeable (clipping occurs when there is a lot going on on-screen at once. It makes some sprites flicker, and some disappear all together.) There have been a few times, though, when Ive been destroyed by a shot I didnt see because it simply disappeared. There are new entrances to games too. Notably the one to R-Type II. It shows a back view of the R-Type racing through a tunnel and blasts into space. A nice effect, but I still like the old one better. The one with all the little people getting the R-Type ready, and a little guy getting into the ship and blasting off. Luckily I can select the original R-Type II to see it. If you don't have a Gameboy Color (What?!?!?) you cant see any of the enhancements, and can only play the original 2 R-Types. Liked: Good eye candy. Probably the best they could do without making it a color dedicated cartridge. Hated: clipping, no enhancements if you dont have a GBC **************************************************************************** Sound/Music Description: Other than the new music at the game selection screen, the music and FX during gameplay are the same. The music can be turned off, but I never do, its good music. Its probably good that they didnt try to change the sound. Liked: They left the sound alone, it good music and good sound. Hated: well...maybe they could have re mastered a few things......maybe not... **************************************************************************** Play Control/Game Design: All the levels are ports of the old version. Just like the old version you can select a difficulty level too. The only thing new is the addition of 2 more control settings in the DX versions. The default controls are the same, but the new ones feature rapid fire mode, like in R-Type III. (I always switch to "Auto 1" mode on the options menu before I start a DX game.) Give the thumb a break. Sadly, there arent any new levels, not even in the upgrades. Liked: Original levels are there, rapid fire controls are much needed. Hated: I was hoping for some new levels :-( **************************************************************************** Improve: Combine R-Type I and II into one GBC cartridge with the option to play the originals......wait a minute! RIYL: Any other R-Types, Nemesis, Solarstriker, The Hunt for Red October, any other scrolling shooter. **************************************************************************** Final Words: Despite the fact that this cartridge will please any R-Type fans, there are those who wont enjoy the game. I have a friend, for example, owns R- Type III for her SuperNES, but has never managed to get past the second level. This isnt because she isnt a good player, but is simply because the one-hit scenario frustrates her, and the game doesnt hold her interest. If you have played an R-Type game (or and other horizontal scroller, really) and you enjoyed it, this is definatly a game worthy of your library. **************************************************************************** Score Gameplay: ***** Graphics: ***** Sound/Music: ***** Play Control/Game Design: **** (no new levels) Personal Opinion: ***** Total: 24 Final Score: 96% **************************************************************************** Other: Check out www.geocities.com/NapaValley/3477/rtypfrnt.jpg for a very cool piece of R-Type art I found. Nintendos preview of R-Type (screenshots) www.nintendo.com/gb/rtypedx/index.html A page dedicated to R-Type (for you R-Type freaks) www.nelsona.freeserve.co.uk/rtype/index.html **************************************************************************** Currently Known Codes: You can unlock a whole buncha cool stuff by finishing all 5 of the games without continuing.