R-Type Delta

"Classic R-Type Gameplay in 3-D, reluctant challenge"

It's time to finish up my midnight snack of April 3rd, 2000 with the 3-D Followup to one of Irem's most respective shooting games of all time: R-Type Delta.

R-Type Delta is supposed to be a game where classic R-Type gameplay gets harnished by a stunning 3-D Environment. Within my experience of my ownership, R-Type Delta is a much better R-Type game to own for your PlayStation than R-Types. Not because of the graphics, but I'll let you know later on.

The polygons are smoothly detailed and the animation is acceptably crisp. The only complaint I had with this installment is that there's a lot of slowdown in most areas but much of the eye-candy detail is pretty stunning. It's impressive to know that great polygonial detail can confiscate much of the slowdown plaguing a game. The special effects are faithfully rendered and truthfully animated for this polygonial shooter in 3-D. Impressive thus far.

The gameplay is pretty much classic formula. You will still be able to charge up your shots to make your attacks more powerful and you will still be able to utilize your assist pod like you would with R-Type and R-Type II. The key difference is that now you will be able to control how fast and/or slow you want to go and you are given 2 more ships in your 7-stage quest against the frantic Bydo.

The key reason why R-Type Delta receives a praise is because the challenge will NEVER quit, no matter how good you are. The enemies now attack in full-force, requiring you to utilize your weapons at the fullest strength at all times. There are also a lot of tricky corridors that you have to go through, and they are a lot trickier than in the earlier R-Types!!!!! Also, the enemies have improved their fighting patterns ever since you've pummeled them to a crisp back in the older R-Type Games so now it's really important to use your brain, thought, and dexterity to get out of those jams. This game even beats SNK's Alpha Mission in the ''Brain-Thinking'' category because most of the toughest corridors require quick reflexes, split decisions, and pre-emptive strategies to make your way through. To top it all off, you can select from 3 difficulty levels to suit your playing experience.

To conclude this review, if you ever wanted an R-Type game REALLY BAD (meaning you can't live without your R-Type) and if it has to be for the PlayStation, bottom line is that with its 3-D Graphics, slightly improved R-Type gameplay, reluctant challenge, and smooth polygon animation, I highly recommend that you choose this as your first R-Type game for the PlayStation, even though it's only one game. But hey, R-Type Gameplay in 3-D is much better than a poorly-made bundle, OK?

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/04/00, Updated 04/07/02