Irem’s R-Type is perhaps one of the most well-known side-scrolling shoot ‘em ups, lighting up arcades and living rooms throughout the 80s and 90s with entries on Atari ST, Amiga, PC Engine and Super NES. Even Game Boy adaptations were produced that brought the R-9 Arrowhead starship to the small screen in an attempt to destroy the man-made Bydo alien empire threatening humanity. PlayStation saw the release of the series’ first 3D title in 1998, and is now brought back in remastered format as R-Type Delta: HD Boosted.
Hoo boy, this is a tough game! That is pretty well established for any R-Type entry, but it is certainly apparent once more after having not played the series for many a year. R-Type Delta was initially designed with an upping of difficulty over previous iterations, pushing players to replay stages and master the sequences of enemies that charge down the starship. Indeed, the fact that stages already reached can be replayed individually in a practice mode with a variety of settings including invincibility emphasises the developer’s intent.
It will take time to be able to blast through all seven stages in one sitting, but like any good shoot ‘em up, the mastery pays off by the end. Three difficulty settings provide some leeway, although for ageing hands, even the shamefully named “Kids” mode puts up a tough challenge! R-Type Delta isn’t as overwhelming as some of those other bullet hell shmups, so this one is certainly more appealing for a genre fan, but its unique gameplay elements must be taken advantage of in order to succeed.
Series familiars will recall the “Force”, an orange orb that can attach to the front or back of the controllable ship. Providing protection front and rear is one purpose of this device, but it can also be detached at will, allowing it to act on its own. Different power upgrades obtained by defeating certain enemies will enhance the power of both the ship and Force, and various distinct attacks will be performed based on what has been picked up.
Unusual for the series, three individual starships can be chosen at the beginning of the game, and these influence how the Force acts. The RX craft is a personal favourite. When the Force is attached to the front of this ship, its “Tentacle” power can unleash beams that cover a wide area of the screen, as well provide a bigger range of protection from incoming attacks. Shifting backwards, the tentacles close together, firing a thinner, more focused stream of firepower that can destroy fiends quicker.
When detached from the R13, the Anchor Force is tethered to the craft in an incredibly amusing way, where the chain can be waved around the screen, damaging any enemies that come into contact with it. The R9’s Standard Force will be recognisable to anyone that has played an R-Type game before, shooting out familiar patterns of lasers and automatically firing when detached.
Each ship is specialised enough that players will find their favourites but change the way the game is played despite stages being the same each time. This approach adds to the desire to replay stages more often than would normally be expected, and ending scenes specific to the crafts, as well as unlockables, encourage further playthroughs. Admittedly, it isn’t quite clear what the unlock conditions are for the in-game achievements or other content such as gallery images, so it would have been nice for improvements there.
Although it sticks to a side-scrolling format, the switch to 3D graphics was a risk for Irem at the time of R-Type Delta’s development, but it is one that mostly paid off. While sprites always have a long-time appeal, the blocky nature of the ships and aliens on display have their own charm, and the revamped visuals in HD Boosted look brilliant on the Switch screen. Although flicking back to the lower quality textures doesn’t deliver a like-for-like representation of the original PlayStation version, there is an equally strong allure to the more pixellated design.
The option to extend to a widescreen view is great, despite the shadows on both sides of the screen, but the one big thing missing is a lack of filters. CRT scanlines could have gone a long way to enhancing the presentation and bringing out the best of that 32-bit time period.
However, the move to 3D does have some issues with making it tough to work out what can be collided with at times. It isn’t always clear which parts of the geometry can be glided along or slipped past, so frustrating deaths will be common. Once again it is a case of needing to do stages over and over to learn their individual trappings, but it does layer on an extra problem that makes an already hard game harder.
R-Type Delta: HD Boosted feels like it needed more to really bring the best out of it when it comes to remastering this classic. It has the choice of the original music and a cracking arranged soundtrack that elevates every stage to another level with its dynamic changes, but bonus content is lacking outside of that. Although web searches will give the answers looked for, it seems unnecessary to make the achievement requirements so obtuse, as well. There is no reason not to show what players need to do, but better rewards like concept art and more would have made these more appealing to accomplish.
