R-Type III

"One of the best (and hardest) side-scrolling shooters ever made."

The R-Type shooter series made its debut on the SNES in the form of Super R-Type which was a solid game (with some huge flaws thought) IMO, but was met with mixed results by a lot of shooter fans due to the constant extreme slowdown and the fact that it was basically just levels from the 1st 2 R-Type games slapped together.

Irem apparently learned from this experience as their next entry, R-Type 3, stands as one of the crowning achievments of the side-scrolling shooter genre. While it's still extremely difficult in the tradition of the series, it's not impossible with a little practice and memorization of the level design.

Graphics: 10
The graphics in R-Type 3 are a huge improvement over the graphics in Super R-Type. Everything is much brighter & more colorful, there is almost no slowdown and a lot of the levels feature some pretty ingenious use of Mode-7 scaling and rotation effects. Basically, these are some of the best graphics to be seen in a SNES game. The bosses are huge and appropriately menacing as well as boasting a great deal of detail. Actually, every since level in the game boasts a ton of eye-catching detail the fills the screen without making things too confusing or cluttered.

Sound: 9
The sound is also a marked improvement as well. While the levels feature some pretty generic shooter music stylistically, it is all still done very well and really helps to add an additioanl sense of urgency to the individual levels. The sound effects mainly consist of explosions and the such but these are also done very well.

Gameplay/Control: 9
The control is pretty much about as close to perfect as you could want in a shooter. The force-units from the prior games are back as well as the usual selection of R-Type power ups. One of the big differences in this game though is that you have a choice of 2 different types of ''super-shots''. You can choose from the traditional choice where you hold down the fire button and charge up your shot until a meter on the bottom completely fills up, then letting you release a huge and powerful blast to take down larger foes. The 2nd choice is what is called a ''Hyper-Blast'', when you charge completely up, you can then for a short time fire shots from your ship that are a lot more powerful than your normal shots.
The reason why I didn't give a 10 for this area, is that the game is still fiendishly difficult for most of the game. While hardcore shooter fans will relish the fact that you can't blast through this game upon the 1st try (and probably the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and so on for a lot of people), a lot of more casual players will find the game so difficult that they will be throwing their controllers at the screen. I have actually beaten the game, so it's not impossible. Like all of the prior R-Type games, you'll find that the levels themselves, not the enemies, will usually cause you to crash and burn. A lot of the levels have a particular way that you're supposed to travel, and memorization is as much a key to getting through this game as are quick reflexes. This is something that I've always found refreshing about the R-Type series versus other shooters in that it's more about learning the levels, then just blasting through a flood of enemies at all times.

Replay Value: 9
Once you beat the game, there really isn't that much else to do in terms of unlocking any great amount of extra options configurations or anything of that nature. But I've found that this game holds up extremely well with repeated play. Some people might be so frustrated with the game that when they ever do beat it (and that's a big if) they might not want to ever play it again. But for hardcore shooter fans who love an extreme challenge, this game is easily one of the best.

<bOverall: 10
R-Type 3 stands up just as well today as it did back during the time of its original release and is a fantastic shooter in every respect. Since there are hardly any new shooter being made today for the much more advance systems, people looking for some hardcore shooter action would do themselves a huge favor by picking up this game for the SNES.

Irem's finest hour!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/11/02, Updated 12/11/02