R-Type Delta

"*Sigh* It's like reliving my days as a wee little lad..."

I remember when I was a but a wee lad. I'd have to walk 15 miles through the snow (uphill both ways) just to get to my friend's house to play the classic R-Type on the old Sega Master System. Actually, it was more like 15 yards, but anyway, one of the greatest 2-D shooters ever has been revived with R-Type Delta.

GAMEPLAY: 9/10
2-D shooting at its best! As with most games in the genre, the action is fast and you can die in a blink. Irem took the old R-Type formula and gave it 3 different ships to spice things up. Each ship has its own force (ball that shoots) and strategies, so you can pick the one that you like the best. The R9 is the original ship, whose force only shoots forward. The R13 has a force that anchors onto enemies with a chain that can damage enemies. The RX has a force that targets and seeks out enemies. There are also hidden secrets and interesting little bonuses like galleries and war records, which actually aren't that special, but it's better than nothing. Those that are familiar with R-Type will notice similarities with older R-Types. The biggest problem I have with the play control is the fact that you still can’t turn the ship around and shoot backwards. Now I know that they wanted to keep R-Type Delta like it’s predecessors, but the ability to turn around would have made the game a lot more realistic and easier. If you're a new gamer and you've never played a shooter, you must try this one. But be warned, because it's hard! R-Type Delta isn't one of those shooters where you can just dodge bullets as they're coming for you. Reflexes aren't enough. More likely than not, you'll spend many continues trying to memorize enemy attack patterns and trying different strategies for beating certain areas. Fortunately though, the more times you play (and die) the more continues you get, so eventually you'll beat it.

GRAPHICS: 9/10
Oooohh... pretty colors. Anyway, the graphics are great, which might be a bad thing because sometimes you lose yourself admiring the background and *poof* you die. The polygons are sharp and the animation is smooth. Little details like energy fragments bouncing off walls as you shoot them and smoke coming from blasted mechs in the background really add nice touches. Plus, the enemies are even better. From standard planes to giant worms, and even alien sperm (yes, you read that correctly), the enemies will amaze you! That is until you blow them to bits.

SOUND: 8/10
The background music is good. It's a bit slower than you'd expect from a shooter, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. At times it's mysterious, and during the boss battles is picks up the tempo. The various sound effects, like shooting lasers and blowing up stuff, come out clean and clear. Plus, there are interesting little details, such as on the second stage, when you go underwater, the music changes to sound like you're in a submarine or something.

REPLAY: 6/10
Gone are the days when I used to play this game 5 times straight, day after day. Unfortunately, my attention span isn't what it used to be. The new ships provide some diversity, but there isn't much else to inspire you to beat it more than a few times. Besides, by the time you do beat it, you will have already died and restarted so many times that you'll have memorized most of it!

OVERALL: 8/10
I liked it. It reminded me of my days on 8-bit (or worse) systems. But due to its not so great replay value, you might just want to rent this one. If you've ever liked a 2-D shooter, you'll like this one. If you've never played one, this makes a great introduction to the genre.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/14/00, Updated 06/14/00