Probably the worst job in the whole galaxy is being one of
the “bad guys”. They really don’t have a chance. Ever count how many
ships you had to blow up to beat a level? Well inside each one is a tiny
pilot. And you blew him up too. You would think after years and years of
getting blown up by the likes of you, the boss of the bad guys would get
some training for them. A few things they could be taught right off the
bat: don’t fly in predictable patterns, mix it up… and for God’s
sake stop lining up behind one another! Don’t let the “good guy” get
all the power ups… grab some for yourself! Another thing the boss of bad
guys should consider are some better ships. Usually the good guys take
them out with one tiny bullet. You can’t win the galaxy wars with ships
like that.
Let’s talk about those “bosses” for a minute. Not very bossy, are
they? They are presumably in charge of the whole level and what do they
do? Wait until all of their support is destroyed and then hang out at the
end for a final battle against an enemy that has had a lot of time to
collect extra power. Bosses should show up at the BEGINNING of a level,
before any power-ups can be nabbed. Then let the little bad guys clean up.
Another thing: never, never FLASH your weak point. And if you’re a giant
robot with one huge eye in the middle of your chest that blinks and
flashes and hurts a lot when it gets hit… cover it up. With metal,
preferably.
How do “power-ups” work, anyway? In my wildest imagination I can only
assume that they are intelligent organic machines that can integrate
themselves with the good guy’s ship. OK, maybe. If that’s true, then
why do these intelligent machines just float around (or remain motionless)
waiting for the ship to pass over it? If the thing is smart enough to be
able to change a ship’s weaponry from burst-firing bullets to
energy-streamed lasers, it ought to know enough to move itself a little
toward the good guy so he doesn’t have to kill himself just trying to
reach it.
Alright then. R-Type is just one of these games featuring
all of the things listed above. Hordes of little ships just flying
directly into your line of fire, bosses that tip their hand as to their
particular weakness, and power-ups that can drastically affect the type of
hurtin’ you deal. And yet, I can’t help but enjoy playing it!
Hudson’s classic space shooter is a side-scrolling visual masterpiece,
with levels that mix high technology with organic matter. If you’ve seen
the movie Ghost in the Shell, you should have a good idea what I’m
talking about. The levels are long, difficult, and rewarding. There are
six different power-up weapons plus a variable-strength beam weapon (the
longer you hold the fire button down, the more powerful the shot). Did I
mention the game was difficult? Maybe that was an understatement.
Everything is perfect here except that even at the easiest skill level,
this game is insanely difficult. It’s not so much that enemy ships and
fire are coming at you from 360 degrees, it’s that once you’re hit
(and only once) you have to start the level over with the lowest level of
firepower. This is one of those games that you either get through on one
ship or you die so many times you’ll want to crack the durable little
card in half. Fortunately, the card is very durable or mine would, in
fact, be cracked in half.
If you like tough ones, this is the game to tackle. I can tell you that it’s
worth the effort – I’ve gotten nearly to the end of the game and some
of the visuals are spectacular, especially the bosses. TG-16 owners were
lucky enough to get 8 levels in their game. PC Engine gamers only got 4!
