That naughty Bydo Empire! You would have thought they would have learnt their lesson last time when a solitary R-9 craft kicked their butt so badly. Alas, they are back and wreaking havoc wherever they go. Time for you to save the universe, again!
Super R-Type was one of the earlier games released on the Super Nintendo. It is actually based on the rather spiffy R-Type 2 arcade game albeit with a few changes here and there. As with the arcade version, the SNES version looks great. The rusted machinery combined with an organic vibe does the job beautifully, though you’ll have to forgive some occasional slowdown and sprite flicker:, as with Gradius III, Super-R-Type’s developers didn’t seem to find the SNES hardware easy to manage when lots of action was being portrayed on screen.
There is a lot of variety throughout the levels; you’ll find yourself blasting through star bases overrun with Bydo, darkest outer space and caves with jets of water. The end of level bosses are satisfying too; gigantic fiends always guard the way to the next level.
To aid you, different power ups can be picked up along the way as can a strange orb called ‘the force’ which can lock to your ship or be detached to cause great damage to your foes. You can hold down the action button and charge up for a powerful blast as with the original R-Type, or hold it down even longer and do a super-blast for even more devastation!
The R-Type series has always been renowned for its punishing difficulty level, and this game is no exception. Unlike R-Type 2 in the arcade, however, this game is made frustrating to the point where you will want to smash your Classic Controller due to a total lack of checkpoints within levels. So, if you die on the boss, you have to restart the WHOLE level again!
Some of the levels are quite long so this really is a game-breaking flaw in an otherwise excellent game, in my opinion. Unlimited continues are available, though, so once you do crack a level at least you can keep pressing on no matter how many times you get wiped out.
Conclusion
So the question remains: is this worth buying on the Virtual Console? Well, yes and no. If you can deal with the crippling difficulty level due to the removal of restart points, you will be pleasantly surprised by a wonderful looking shoot-em-up with some imaginative level design and fiendish bosses.
For most, however, this is one to avoid as the repetition will prove unbearable for those not skilled in the genre. R-Type III on the SNES is already on the VC and will prove to be a better purchase for most.
Comments 4
This is an ok game, but it's not one I would bother downloading It's just not unique enough to really be any different from any other side-scrolling shooter, although the difficulty and R-Type add-on might make it worthwhile for some
There are 4 difficulty settings: Novice, Easy, Normal and Hard (and Pro but you must beat Hard first). There are unlimited continues.
On novice mode the game is easy as pie and everybody can beat it. If you die you keep all your upgrades even after continuing. And the bosses have few attacks and can be killed with one good aimed beam shot.
But on easy mode it gets hard as nails due to the lack of checkpoints and siginificantly increased difficulty. If you die in a boss fight you have to start the whole level again with no upgrades. And in the last two stages you probably die before getting the first upgrade.
I would say the difficulty on my scale is:
Novice: 3/10
Easy: 10/10
Normal, Hard, Pro: ...AAAAUUUGGGGHHHHH!!
7/10 for me, though I've only played Star Parodier, Lords of Thunder, Soldier Blade.
no checkpoints= no sale
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