R-Type Final

"Fear the R-9AX DELICATESSEN!"

At first, my only experience with a shooter was Gradius III on the SNES. Then one day, I see this on the shelf of my video store, so I give it a try. WOW! This game is amazing, and beautiful in every single way.

GAMEPLAY: The controls here are solid. If this is your first time, there is a tutorial showing short clips of what button to push to do what action. It is short, sweet, and to the point. With the press on L1 and L2, you can change your speeds to 4 different settings, which is better than in Gradius 3, which you have to get power ups to speed up or slow down. You use either the left analog stick or the D-Pad to move around the screen, as you scroll through the levels in typical shooter fashion.

There are only 7 levels or so, but don’t think that it is short. These levels are freakin difficult. Then you got 5 different difficulties: Baby, Kids, Human, Bydo, and R-Typer. Then you have 101 different ships to unlock, which adds to the replayablilty. And then you can change your ships color, your missile types, and your bit types (bits are these little spheres the help you), different combos of power ups and bites, and use special attacks when you charge up your dose gauge to 100. There is also a vs. mode which really doesn’t need to be there, but oh well. There also is a Score attack mode that you can play just one level you played already.

STORY: “The Bydo… … is the living embodiment of evil”. The story revolves around the human race fighting a race called the Bydo during the 26th century. The Bydo are strange creatures that take up mass, but yet have wave-like properties, creepy huh? Yeah, I thought so.

GRAPHICS: OH MY GOD! These graphics are BEAUTIFUL!!! I cannot say enough good things here. When you see the intro movie, you are hit with a bombardment of ships and whatnot. AWESOME! When I got into the first level, I was amazed by how good the backgrounds were. Then when I got to the mini boss, I was flabbergasted. Then you got the special attack animations, which are also great. When I got to a jungle level, it was one of the most beautiful backgrounds in the game. The monsters, enemy ships, your ships, and bosses here are creative and well put together. The lasers are well done too. However, there is some slowdown in some of the levels which can be a tad annoying. What else can I say about the graphics? It’s sure to make your eyes have an orgasm.

SOUND: Another high point in this game. The music is well written and does not get annoying. In some places, it has a solid techno beat, or a heroic fanfare, or a mysterious eerie noise. Even the loading times have good music. It really adds atmosphere to this game, no matter which level. During the final boss, the music starts out with chanting which is simply amazing. This is one of my favorite parts of the game.

BUY OR RENT?: I rented this, and now will probably buy it. It is well worth the money. If you’re the hardcore shooter fan, you’ll want to buy it right away. If you like shooters, but aren’t sure, like me, you might want to rent it over the weekend and try it out. Either way, it is a great game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/16/04, Updated 03/16/04