I've always had a love/hate relationship with shoot-em-ups (otherwise known as shmups). I love them for the sci-fi settings, the wicked ship designs, creepy alien foes, and the pure simplicity of the concept of you vs. them, shooting frantically in order to stay alive. I hate them, though, for the outright fist-banging, screaming-tough difficulty that many shmups are famous for. R-Type is one of the oldest series of shooters, and it has everything I love (and hate) in spades.
The first R-Type game was released in arcades in 1987. The title of the game itself was a bit mysterious. R-Type? What did it mean? The Alien-esque monster on the marquee and the impressive art on the side of the arcade cabinet indicated a space based shmup. That setting was hardly original, but once you plunked in a quarter and tried it out, you knew this was no ordinary Space Invaders clone. Your first clue that this was this case? Probably the fact that that quarter lasted you about 17.5 seconds before the dreaded GAME OVER.
Even for those of us who lived through it, it's hard to keep in mind just how difficult video games were back in the 80s. Arcade games, especially, were designed so that the average player would have to keep putting in more and more quarters after just a few moments in order to keep playing. If the average arcade game like, say, Gauntlet, has the challenge level equivalent to a housecat with a mean disposition, R-Type would approximate a Sabre-toothed Tiger pumped full of steroids and raised on a diet of meth-laced chili peppers.
Somewhere around the middle of the first level, the easy to follow patterns of enemies changed, becoming far less predictable. The wide open outer space backdrop closed in to a narrow, claustrophobic area. This made dodging enemy shots, and enemy ships themselves, much harder. If you were off by even a pixel or two, your ship blew up and the game rolled you back to the last checkpoint. Shmups in general have a steep learning curve, but R-Type's curve was straight up from the start, as if the entire Bydo empire were collectively flipping you the bird. I wouldn't be surprised if R-Type cabinets recieved more dented kick panels than the standard arcade game due to player frustration.
Aside from the teeth-gnashing difficulty level, R-Type was memorable for the innovative Force orb. Again, a space game with an element called the Force wasn't particularly original, but the implementation of it certainly was. The Force orb was a sort of power up, and could be collected by attaching it to the front or back end of your ship. It acted as a shield when docked in this way, and could be used to slice through enemies it came into contact with. With a simple button press, the Force would shoot out in one direction, then slowly fall back, before orbiting near the ship, shooting randomly ahead.
But the Force was far more than just a shield or extra gun. Crafty players could position the Force orb in the weak point of bosses by releasing it at just the right moment. Once the Force orb was embedded within, even the toughest boss would drop in a few seconds, if not instantly. This task was easier said than done, and usually could only be accomplished after several playthroughs.
R-Type was a big success, and spawned all manner of sequels in arcade and for home consoles. The inaccurately named R-Type Final was released in 2003, yet the series went on, shifting genres into turn-based strategy, which is about as far removed from a shooter as you can get. R-Type Dimensions hit Xbox Live Arcade last year. It's a compilation of the first two R-Type arcade games, but allows the player to switch between the classic graphics and a smoother, semi-3D, more modern style on the fly. Besides the standard leaderboards and achievements, new gameplay styles are included. Infinite co-op allows two pilots to take on the Bydo at the same time, and instead of giving you a set amount of continues and counting down, you start with zero, and it adds them up as you run out of lives. I'm embarassed to tell you that on our first attempt, my son and I combined to use more than thirty continues ON THE FIRST LEVEL.
Shameful? Certainly. It was still a whole lot of fun, and really reminded me of how exciting a good old fashioned kick in the seat of the pants can be. The R-Type series is a demanding benchmark for shoot em up difficulty, and, even when tackled with a buddy, co-op style, is one of the most challenging gaming experiences you will find.