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Ranking the ENTIRE R-Type Series! From Worst To Best! Shoot Em' Up Series Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ส.ค. 2024
- Ranking the ENTIRE R-Type Series! From Worst To Best! Shoot Em' Up Series Review. The R-Type series is one of the most famous old school shmup series around, along with games like Darius and Gradius. Up until this point, there has been a fair amount of discussion reviewing the games individually, but for the first time I would like to evaluate the series as a whole and see how the entries compare to one another and stack up, tier list or top ten style! Included are, R-Type 1, R-Type 2, R-Type 3, Super R-Type, R-Type Delta, R-Type Leo, R-Type Final, and R-Type Final 2. I also discuss how the series has more of a console style of design, as opposed to arcade and why its fan base are as vocal and devoted as they are to the series. I also tackle the subject of checkpoints and see how that design choice stacks up to Treasure and Gradius 5. R-Type as a series has appeared on pretty much every console generation in history. From the NES, SNES, Playstation, PS2, PS3, PSP, PS Vita, Nintendo Switch, to PC, PS4, Xbox, and PS5.
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Too many TH-camrs pretend that emulation doesn't exist but you openly recommend it. I like that.
I m glad you appreciate it! Yes breaking the code of silence. Not a route for corporate sponsorship, but it s pretty weird to pretend like emulation isn t a real and powerful tool to play these games
I'm 42, my first experience with R type was when i was about 10-11 Y.o. with R type 1 on the Sega Master System, so, that version stayed in my heart...
The reason why I like Delta so much is because ALL the stages are fun.
Every R-Type there's always that one stage that I hate to replay (like that infamous stage that makes you go backwards in 3). Delta's stages just feel balanced in challenge and are well paced. Also Delta rewards you with the most trippy ass final stage 😆
The ending of delta is epic! I love it, it's a really bold move forward for the series
I totally agree, Delta on the 64 has far nicer music than SNES R-Type and it also runs at a rock solid 60 fps with zero frame drops even when the screen is full of bullets and enemies.
I disagree, I found the 2nd half of Delta's stages annoying and frustrating, but they're definitely not boring compared to a good chunk of stages in Final 1 and 2.
Fire Cask Factory from 3 is literally one of the worst R-type levels in the whole series LOL, the things that dump the lava are absolutely brutal
@@DCutsman Going forward was already enough, but devs just HAD to be SADISTIC
Popular indeed, my RType history video is still my most viewed of anything I've ever made and will be first to 100K views. It's absolutely huge globally, as popular as Gradius worldwide and much moreso than Darius. So I guess I'll throw down my top 5 personally. 1. RType Original because nostalgia is a hell of a drug and I played it as a kid in arcades and at home. But also because it's the most pure in my mind, I find it as fun today as I did then, moreso than the other games. And I still love it's art design and music over the others. 2. Delta, totally epic like you said. Amazing finale and end stage thematically. 3. RType III 4. Leo (I hate to put it here because it wasn't made as an RType, just renamed for marketing) but it is a great game, just not really an RType. But I don't want to neglect it. 5. RType II (it's simply too masochistic for my taste) It's got all the goods of the original, but I can't have as much fun with it likely because I'm not good enough at it yet. I also don't like it's art design or music as much as the original. Anyway, check out Armed Police Unit Gallop. If you are counting LEO, that's also part of the franchise officially and I think you'd like it! It's very unique.
Yes I think it s funny how I gravitate towards 2's art design more than you. 1 is more on the 8 bit side of things and 2 is more 16 bit. My fav ost by far is delta, I love it s moody PS1 tunes. PS1 style ost are really under rated ha. If I can start squeezing in sort of unofficial r type games I d put blazing Star near the top of the list! Also every time i see the view count on that r type vid I get jealous ha, massive video!!!
@@TheElectricUnderground At least Leo and Gallop are official RType canon so it’s fair to count them yeah. I think I gravitate to the more organic alien style of the original. Versus II which is much more brown, monochrome, and metallic. But they both have great art I’ll give it that. Delta is definitely number two on my music list if for that final stage alone. It’s bone chillingly good and perfect for all the symbolism it’s throwing at you in the process.
@@ShmupJunkie I really like how surreal and funky delta gets at the end, I miss this style of design from that era. Like the evil baby at the end of blazing Star ha 🐥
@TheElectricUnderground - G-Darius, also on PS1 gets very existential as well. The last stages are superbly, alien.
Geez, im surprised you like rttpe delta mostly because of the last stage! When i had it, i loved it until i got to the last stage, then i was devistated by how cheap that last stage felt. I was so dissapointed about it, that i got rid of the game. To this day i still hate that last stage
I love R-Type 3. It's such a beautyful looking game, and it shows the graphical modes and capabilites of the SNES very well.
It's so refreshing to see retro gaming reviews from an emulator chad. Letting people know that these dope old head games can be enjoyed by anyone without being subjected to the whims of subhuman resellers. Kudos for that, Mark.
Yeah I think it s important to spread the word that there is a way to beef up the games and play them without the slowdown, really brings them to life
Subhuman resellers? Fuck off, what are they supposed to do? Sell it for a fiver so it can be snapped up by someone who wants to make a profit anyway? The buyers set the value.
"X-Multiply" is another awesome R-Type adjacent game by Irem. Also, aside from being my favorite installment, "R-Type III" is a great example of why I prefer checkpoints when they're done right. I like how it offers a wide range of challenges to shoot for. Simply clearing the 1st loop with infinite credits is an attainable goal, but it's also a feat you can be proud of. After that, skilled players can try the other two ships, the second loop, 1CC, No Miss, 2-ALL, etc.
Compare that to (say) "Ikaruga", which basically forces you to either be a casual content tourist or an E-Sport level gaming god. Every time I've played that game, it initially fascinated me, but I quickly got bored because I'd already won by spamming credits, and I couldn't find any challenges fit to my skill level worth trying for.
Yes I need to check out x-mulitply!
Glad to see Leo, III, and Delta getting some love. It's frustrating how many times 1 & 2 have been re-released and ported while those three seem mostly forgotten...
I personally like checkpoint systems more than respawning because they force you to actually learn the section you're playing if you want to beat it. This makes it so you have to play well even if you're not going for that elusive 1cc.
To use R-Type Final 2 as an example though: there's one checkpoint where you basically need a strong vertical beam to get past a section (ideally yellow, blue is doable). There is a checkpoint *right before that section* leaving you with only a single-strength beam if you die (and especially on first playthroughs, you're likely going to die). That section then becomes unbelievably irritating, to the point that a long time fan like myself eventually put the game down never to pick it back up.
@@leerobbo92
Vertical sections of the game are far more doable with the Andromalius ship, particularly if equipped with the Shadow Bit. Not to say that those parts arent anoying to loop into, but sometimes it is best to switch up ships depending on situation.
@@leerobbo92 That sounds more like a level design problem than a checkpoint system problem.
R-type is one of the greatest but tough shooters in the gaming industry. The checkpoint restart works the same like Gradius.
I have a whole section in the vid that shares my thoughts on checkpoints, and you can bet I'll give gradius a hard time about them as well. Except grad 5 which FINALLY removes them!
Was kinda hoping Pulstar would be thrown in there somewhere even if not a legitimate R-Type game lol. Great list (in that I almost entirely agree with it), Final 2's insane amount of quality dlc should have it leapfrog Final 1 imo and maybe even R-Type 2. R-Type 1 is better than R-Type 2 imo, otherwise I agree with the remainder of the list. Delta is a masterpiece.
I m making a vid about dlc in game reviews but I reject the idea of dlc making the game better review wise. Quantity doesn t fix bad fundamental design. Part of that I go over in my artistic laundering vid but I also have another vid called arcade design is infinite which explains my perspective on how mistakes compound in arcade design th-cam.com/video/_nAVbHYaEN8/w-d-xo.html
Also one thing that Delta does exceptionally right is the soundtrack which perfectly enhanced the specific mood of each levels. And it adds a significant little plus to the overall experience.
I'm delighted to meet another Super R-Type enthusiast, it is the very first shmup I remember playing as a kid and I still love it.
Just to clarify your point about slowdowns, there is actually a hack of the game that makes it use the SA-1 chip (not the Super FX chip that you mention), so just like Gradius 3 (or Super Ghouls'n Ghost for which this hack is a game changer) you can have a perfectly fluid game without having to play with overclock options and can have it play on the original console.
That s hella awesome! I need to run that on my mister
I think this list is absolutely spot on. Great to see some love for R-Type Leo, it's a gorgeous game that's very underappreciated. I completely agree with your thoughts on R-Type Final 2; as a backer I tried to convince myself that it was a great game, but as time has passed I've really noted its failings. My main gripe is how much unimaginative it is - the levels feel so uninteresting and it's completely devoid of personality. I had really hoped for a little scrap of story like with the haikus in Final - but instead we just get a bad retread of Final's Bydo transformation level. Where would you put Police Force Gallop on the list?
Yeah it really is a shame how final 2 turned out. I haven't played that game yet, I wasn't aware of it ha
I don't hear people defend checkpoint systems by just appealing to tradition and nothing else. Mark's making a nice straw-man as usual when talking about classic stg. Rather checkpoints get defended because they add extra challenge to games and instead of ''slowing down the pace" they add variety to the pace, rather than mowing down everything powered up with a wide-shot and max speed you get to experience a level with a pea-shooter requiring precise aiming, which feels quite different and creates interesting routing alternatives.
It s not a strawman, many people justify checkpoints because they are traditions of these older series. From a game design perspective they are flawed in the way I described. For example you mention that the point of them is to train the player to play under powered for extra challenge, but you have to recognize that means that the game needs to be balanced around an underpowered ship to some degree. Either the level design needs to be nerfed or the check points become death traps. There s no way around this issue other then removing the power up system (which r type does not) or having less punishing respawn. The simple solution for the player realistically is to just reset the run and try again (gradius syndrome). I see no straw man here
@@TheElectricUnderground The strawman is you didn't explain the reasons why people see value in the checkpoint ''tradition'' itself. As if they only value and enjoy it because it's old? Come on give me a break. If you're doing an honest analysis of a huge game mechanic you have to do better than ''I heard they like it cause its an old tradition...''
Shmups that incorporate checkpoint systems may also incorporate variable rank, so the balance concern is often taken care of. Checkpoints are skill based and take practice, they can be done well or poorly, like everything else in shmups. And if a checkpoint is nearly impossible then that's a problem with that particular area in that particular game, it doesn't invalidate checkpoint systems in general. Just like Inbachi doesn't invalidate danmaku bosses in general. You have to be specific.
The gradius syndrome meme is like players complaining about DDP bosses being too hard without bomb spamming all the patterns, they feel entitled to get through the game how they want and instantly restart when things don't go their way. You might die and find yourself powered down at a checkpoint, just like you might face a danmaku boss with low resources, etc.
Leo is definitely a good game, but when I’m playing it I don’t feel like I’m playing R-Type. That’s why I personally don’t count it, but I’ll accept that you do.
Fair enough! :-)
I’m not defending checkpoint but I take the value to be one more of immersion than simply tradition. It’s more similar to real life, and also also it allows levels to be constructed so that the difficulty rhythmically spikes, maximizing just prior to each check point so low-powered resurrected ships have a chance to get armed before these planned difficulty spikes. Games like Ikaruga and Contra resurrect you where you die because your starting arsenal is so powerful or you only need one powerup. If R-type did this the designers would be unable to offer these pre-checkpoint difficulty spikes without truncating the multi-pickup powerup mechanic. I guess I am defending checkpoints, but they frustrate me because of my low skill level. In a way, though, they allow noobs to experience the tension of score-chasing experts, as for both types of player, a single mistake requires replaying the level, or part of it.
I can't tell you how many times in real life I've been walking to the grocery store and got shot down and had to start over from a block back.
Since your last review about r-type i didn’t believed you could do this video, thumbs up. R-type deserve more attention.
:-) it was a hell of a lot of r type time ha, played the series for 2 weeks straight basically
Super R-Type was my introduction to the series and was actually the game that got me into the Shmup genre as a kid. It's flawed, but I still adore it to this day. I actually love the level design and Jazzy soundtrack. 🎷
The soundtrack is really slept on! I love the SNES sound chip ha, better tunes then the arcade version
That first level music hypes you up for the rest of the game, and holy is that battle ship music the best out of all the rtypes.
Super R Type was also my first shmup on the snes! I absolutely loved it even with the slow down! I bought it for 10 bucks at a video store!
I think overtime people will come around and start criticizing r-type final 2. I think in the long run you’re point of view will come to be the popular one. I personally agree overall and haven’t liked rtype final 2 but I still own it 😂
I'll tell you the moment that shift will occur, when final 3 comes out. If final 3 is even a remote improvement (and it would be shocking if it wasn't) fans will then be free to look at final 2 more objectively ha.
@@TheElectricUnderground agreed.
Nice to see Leo and Delta up top. Both are cracking titles.
I was stoked to find a local retro arcade have an R-Type Leo cabinet, a title that I'd not played back when arcades were everywhere in the 90s.
I pay the entry fee (three hours for fifteen quid) just so I can play Leo.
That s really cool! I would love to play Leo on PCB!
Delta and Final are real close in my absolute favorite in the series.
Delta is an absolute blast to play, the visuals are great, the gameplay and mechanics are highly responsive, quick, and all around really fun. The speed and power the craft in Delta hold is amazing. The crazy camera angles and bosses (especially the boss rush ones) are very fun, if a bit weak compared to the levels itself. And the there's the music, oh, the music! It's amazing (the third level is a bit weak though, for me), and my goodness, Fate, the final area theme, is BEAUTIFUL. It's so out of left field and bold, and just an amazing experience. Fate is one of the few music pieces that gets me heavily emotional. The final boss theme, along with the Cerberus ending themes, are great, too. All around amazing. The Delta OST CD has some good additions, too.
Final, though, holds a special place in my heart, being the first R-Type game I've played, and a very close part of my childhood. I love the massive amount of ships to play around with (LEO, Ragnarok, the Pile Bunker ones, the Bydo craft), the variety is bold, and rather interesting. Most ships seem balanced, and when learned, can tear through levels like nothing else. The levels may not be the best, but they are relatively fun and unique, such as the Bydo Forest, or the spinning room Nomemayer level. However, the music here also gets me good, on top of the nostaliga, some of it is downright amazing, such as Accident and Oblivion, Through Thick and Thin, the Museum theme, Hangar, but, most of all, the final boss theme. R-Type Final's final boss theme is genuinely beautiful, hell, even a masterpiece. It's such a calm finale, a beautiful ending on a summer twilight, it's... well, a masterpiece. That theme never fails to stir me up and moisten my eyes, it's ine of my most absolute favorite pieces of music, ever.
I could go on and on, but I think I'll end my massive text wall here for now.
Yes the ending of delta is amazing, a really epic last stage. I think final 1 has a lot of cool ideas, I just think it needed a bit more polish on the basics of the level design. An interesting and fun game though!
R-TYPE TACTICS II "Operation Bitter Chocolate" wins the race for best name
Absolutely 100 ha
Thanks for this awesome video! Did you know of the existence of Super R type SA1 chip patch release? I think you would enjoy the game even more! I'm looking forward to play R-type Delta and Leo soon! I agree with you about the level design, is a really important aspect and that's why I don't think a procedurally generated game can't beat a level design crafted with cure and attention!
I actually didn't know about that version of super r type, but I m excited to try it! Also yes 💯 agree about carefully crafted level design being much better than randomly generated
My first R-Type experience was with Delta-which is still my favorite of the bunch. I also really enjoyed Super R-Type with the patch that sped it up. Two of my favorite shmups, easily.
Good list.
Cool video !
R-Type Delta is largely my favorite ! Final have greats ideas but serious rythme issues on somme levels.
And i haven't try Final 2 yet, because of it's very mixed review.
Another great video Mark. You bring up some interesting points about the R Type series. Nice work.
Thanks so much my dude!!! Took a long time to put this one together ha
R type is kinda like dragon quest but for shmups. It’s somewhat “traditional” in terms of gameplay and the series doesn’t do anything extremely new each. It sort of just hoots and haulers almost every game. I don’t love r type but I don’t hate it either, it’s sort of like oh I’m bored I’ll play an r type game, can’t go wrong with that.
When you were railing on r type final 2 again. Idk if your brain has ascended or what but I’m like “yeah this is a very pretty game if you have sleepy/watery eyes only, and you get stuff every time you play so you don’t have to go by the invisible “experience” bar so to speak when playing shmups. I’ve been shmup wed out a bit because I’m still waiting for these hecking limited game companies to ship me my games I ordered a year ago. So I haven’t had much shmups but idk r type final 2 looks like a nice snack when I’m playing on the train and I don’t have the mental fortitude to be a try hard at that time. I haven’t bought it yet though because I’m waiting for it to be under $15 and I hear there’s going to be a major update that will change the name of the game to R type final 3. Which is a stupid thing to do for an update but whatever
Yes I'll never let go how r-type final 2 gets away with praise merely for existing ha. Someone needs to critique the game though, we can't have a genre of yes men who accept games based off of a bland reboot of an IP ha. Just wait, if final 3 is any good everyone will change their tunes towards final 2 and look at it more objectively
One thing about Delta (which I don't think prior games did, correct me if I'm wrong) that doesn't get talked about enough: walls, floors and ceilings do not damage you, let alone kill you. Even on hard mode! This goes a long way towards making an undoubtedly challenging game way more approachable to casual shmup players (of which I am). That and having a good difficulty curve, not gimping the easy difficulty mode (unlike so many shmups from those days that would gatekeep some levels behind harder difficulties), and making the first level surprisingly manageable. The demo of the game from PlayStation Magazine essentially made me buy the full game because of how fun and "doable" that first level was for a crappy shmup player like myself. And I love how differently the ships play from one another.
About Final 2: haven't played it myself, but from everything I've read and seen (including this vid and Shmup Junkie's review), its fatal flaw was, well, being a sequel to Final 1. Even back then, I was very skeptical of Final 1 because its premise sounded like an idea a kid would come up with: "what if you had a gazillion different ships!!!" It's the kind of idea that sounds cool on paper but can only fail in practice because balance and tight design inevitably go out the window. And every bit of budget spent on making new ships doesn't go towards level design or music. This was already a problem with Final 1, but at least it was understandable in context. The devs probably wanted to go out with a bang. But with Final 2, it's especially a problem because this is a crowdfunded game we're talking about, i.e. a big indie game. So you end up with a ton of DLC levels for an exorbitant amount of money that try to make up for the uninspired, unfinished levels from the base games, and a quantity of ships that's honestly unreasonable IMO. I might play it eventually if that "Final 3" upgrade ends up righting enough of the wrongs, but I'm not too optimistic. Fingers crossed.
I guess what I'm trying to say is: both in terms of what Granzella should have taken their cues from and in terms of realistic budgeting, they should have made R-Type Gamma instead. Delta is just 3 (4) ships and 7 stages, but everything about it is polished to a shine as a result. Nothing's superfluous, underdesigned or overdesigned. God I want R-Type Gamma.
I grew up on the older style of shmups (non-bullet hell), and I remember dismissing the PS1 shmups as I never owned the console. At one point a friend mentioned that Square had made a shmup called Einhander, which was pretty surprising to me, so I decided to give it a try. I quite enjoyed it and used that opportunity to try out what else was on the PS1, which included R-Type Delta. That game was so fantastic I went back to play the entire series, which is now one of my favorites. Delta is still the pinnacle for me, and I actually liked the refreshing change of pace that Leo brought.
I know numerous indie games are focused on danmaku-style games these days, but it would be nice to see the more deliberate style of shmup make a comeback.
Yeah I think an r type style shmup made by an indie dev would be really cool. With more weapons and power ups, I could see that catching on :-)
100 percent my man
In the case of R-Type Leo: Different is good, a refreshment.
Absolutely!! Agree 💯
You can use the international romset for leo - that will disable the checkpoints and map the search pods for button 2 allowing you to fire your main shot while the bits do their bidding
I love R-Type but will back you up on your Final 2 review. Honest and for me, correct. Don’t understand the negativity you got. I agree entirely with what you said.
It s that Zelda thing I think, where if you cross one Zelda with a negative review, you ll have hell to pay ha
@@TheElectricUnderground That to me is a gaming issue where fanboys get weird (kinda like football fans) and protective, rather than just admit that the game is not great. I love Zelda but BOTW to me was boring. Elden Ring is the Zelda I wanted and I loved it. Sometimes people get wrapped up in what they should like rather than what they do like.
Leo to me is a great game but is a more colourful X-Multiply but is an rtype game. Nailed the top spot with Delta.
Never thought about it that way but pretty good point about R-Type being especially popular thanks to its high quality home ports (both on consoles and pre-Windows computers) and its console-exclusive sequels. My favorite entry is also R-TYPE△.
I think it would be interesting for you to (re?)play Last Resort, Pulstar and Blazing Star on the Neo Geo now that you have a better understanding of R-Type’s legacy and evolution. All three games have been developed by former Irem staff.
Funny enough I have played those games a lot more than the og r type series. Blazing Star I am especially fond of. I ll def make a vid about it this year
I would think that the theory of checkpoints is that it prevents chain-deaths. You'd restart in a place that's relatively harmless and has a fighting chance to recover power-ups. That's if they're well-placed and well-designed of course.
Yes but the issue is that in order for this to work you would then need to nerf the potential level design overall. that's the issue where you are in this lose lose situation design wise. You either need to make the checkpoints safe by nerfing the level design, or you need to create nightmare death trap checkpoints to keep the level design properly intense.
I agree with you completely about the checkpoint system. I've never liked it, it completely kills the pace and in almost every game that uses it you also completely bottom out with your ships power, speed etc and lose any extras you've collected. I would much rather have x number of attempts at a stage with instant respawns, then when i've used them up restart from the beginning, like with Thunder Force.
Yes exactly! All the other game series figured this out but for some reason R type will not budge and I think it s because the devs are not thinking critically about the design anymore, they just copy tradition and assume that's the best path
I recently bought R-Type Leo pcb after wanting it for years and years. In the process of learning it in the comfort of my own home and it’s such a beautifully made and structured game. Delta is my personal favourite though, I hammered it back in the day to 1CC.
Oh congratulations on the PCB, that s really cool!
As a fan of this series for many years, the very idea of dismissing Leo is... well, it's the height of stupidity.
Thanks for the video, I came for a "top ten" style list and was surprised to find a pretty good discussion of the mechanics of the various games.
So, the thing about the checkpoint system is it was implemented in the arcade to keep people from just inserting quarters, mashing bomb attack, and completing the game $5 later without really learning how to play the game. Because the checkpoints sent you back if your ship was destroyed, you had to learn how to play the game well enough to get to the next checkpoint, or you would get stuck and be unable to proceed.
I agree that it doesn't need to be there on home console ports because limited continues ultimately accomplishes the very same thing (for example, when playing the home ports of Darius games). However, one good thing about the checkpoint system is you can give a large number of continues or even unlimited continues because the checkpoint system will always stop the progress until you learn how to solve the stage you are working on. It also allows them to strategically place power ups after a checkpoint, you don't have the problem of getting multiple deaths following one death like you do in games like Darius because the powerups are too far away. But at the same time you are right, the checkpoint system slows down the flow of the game (in both Rtype and the old Gradius games).
Glad you found the video engaging! I try my best to add an in depth discussion of the games and such ha. On the checkpoint topic. You are right on the 💰 that checkpoints are an arcade invention to make more money ha. So I actually like checkpoints (will full power up) between credits. It s when they appear between ship lives that they become an issue.
I really love how you snuck Blazing Star footage into this review.
So glad you used the SA-1 hack on Super R-Type. Turns a stinker into one of the very best 16 bit shooters.
The checkpoints are brutal in Final, especially at certain points you have to watch a whole slow cinematic part again.. That game would actually massively improve without them.
Absolutely!!!! And it was made in an era where other devs were dropping the checkpoint system
3 and Delta are my favorite games in the series. I love 3 for it's creativity, action and amazing music. Delta was the perfect transition into 3D. The entire game is wonderfully designed and actually achieves a Dark and Foreboding Sci-Fi atmosphere. The music is incredible and I loved how it progressed and was in sync to each stage. And both the Underwater and Battleship(BattleBot) stages are some of the most beautiful moments in the series. It was honestly the best R-Type ever was for me.
Delta's ost is one of my favs that I've come across recently. I love the spaced out moody vibe of the ps1 era music
@@TheElectricUnderground PS1 music was the greatest.🤟
In Europe this series was mostly popular due to the high quality of ports for home computers, specially the ZX Spectrum and Commodore Amiga. R-Type was always the most famous shmups series because of this. I never heard of gradius and Darius until decades later.
Best review ever for r-type games, I will follow the order you gave. I had Super R-Type in snes, one of my first games on that console, love it.
I think that R-Type Leo looks the prettiest and 3D graphics from twenty years ago hasn't aged well.
It s so vibrant and beautifully drawn, no doubt about it!
@@TheElectricUnderground Do you think that R-Type Leo will ever turn up as a physical game for the Nintendo Switch?
I totally agree that Leo is the best R-type, even if they changed the game mechanics.
I mean, that game is so gorgeous, organic, the music is great, interesting to play... Really my favorite by far.
Yes Leo is my fav too! So much fun shame it didn't get a sequel
@@TheElectricUnderground You are now a heretic. Welcome to the Gradius IV secret cult.
@@nobodytonobodysbusinessWwwwwwhhhhhaaaaatttt??? Gradius IV and Gaiden were my favorite pre 5. Glad to see someone else enjoys 4.
I pretty much agree with ur ranking...R-Type I and II...? Im mostly playing them in the R-Type Dimensions on Switch remaster with infinite credits and respawning ahah I almost own every game in ur R-Type collection plus the PCE port of R-type (both the hu-cards)
Yeah it would be fun to look at the various console ports! Might have to do that in a future vid :-)
Great intelligent review, straight to the point. Only Thing you should really look into the camera. I just learned the importance of that myself. ☺️
As a 'series' I'd personally give R-type the edge over either Gradius or Darius. I think it's got a greater fanbase outside of the US (particularly UK) due to its lack of release on the NES at the time. Finding its way onto the popular Master System and micros over here instead.
My fav series is gradius, but it s a real toss up for me between Darius and r type. I think the early r type games are better but the later Darius games are ha. Hard to say!
If you could play as a pirate ship...it would be called Arrrrrrrrr Type.
XD
R-Type Final remains one of my favorite shmups ever. I still own my PS2 copy and play it through PCSX2.
R-Type FInal 2 may be more of the same, but that's not a bad thing. The included homage stages from past R-Type games (and even other Irem shooters) were a big plus.
I'm a huge R-Type fan. 1CC'd every game in the franchise. I think what I like about these games so much is that it rewards repetition and practice while also feeling fair. There are very few cheap shots, almost everything is telegraphed, and the slow pace gives you time to think and plan.
The first game is real trailblazer, I think it's the best shmup of the 80's by a pretty wide margin. Possibly the best game of the entire 1980's. There's only a few games from that decade that I think are at that level: Outrun, Super Hang On, Super Mario 3, Contra (NES version), maybe a few others. It's a really great game in any era.
R-Type Final 2 has some problems (namely a lot of the assets look like they were taken from various asset stores, and the music isn't great), but at the end of the day I still had a lot of fun playing it. It's something of a miracle that the series was revived 20 years later, and I like it better than the empty space level design of R-Type Final 1. Super R-Type just blows though. Bad port of R-Type 2, and also your diagonal movement is twice as fast as your cardinal directions, almost certainly due to a programming error. That combined with the inconsistent slowdown and the game just feels awful to control and play. At least it does have a good soundtrack going for it.
I'd probably rank them as such:
1. R-Type 1
2. R-Type Delta
3. R-Type Leo
4. R-Type 2
5. R-Type 3
6. R-Type Final 2
7. R-Type Final 1
8. Super R-Type
yes r-type as a series has a very distinct feel the pacing and armor system. I think that's why its so popular on consoles especially :-)
Super R-Type has more stages than R-Type II arcade + has an excellent SNES soundtrack! The slowdown stinks, but we got SH-1 for that now 👍. Maybe someone has or can fix the diagonal movement bug. I've never been able to get into R-Type III on SNES, oddly enough 🤷♂️
Good rankings. Super rtpe is definitely the worst.
My first shmup was Strike Gunner S.T.G. on Snes most say it's bad or mediocre but you know, to me it's simplicity in a finer form. For me, yeah there might be a few repeat stages but it's relatively short, entry level and good for beginners, but it also has a very unique special weapon system that for me I always loved about it. You could pick a plethora of different weapons and as you learned the stages you could pick different weapons to make them easier. There were also certain weapons that demolished certain bosses so a "speedrun" type deal there was a good amount of things you could try. It's not a blockbuster shmup but for me it's still my most nostalgic.
I have minor disagreements on a few points here and there but accept the reasoning for the rankings. R-Type Final 2 is right where it deserves to be, compare and contrast how poorly Final 2 handles the 'battleship' theme. In the original R-Type, a large enemy that we navigate around whilst surviving fire from turrets, boosters? And crushing, all to reach a vulnerable core and get the opportunity to one shot this behemoth. Delta makes it a walking fortress and provides the same hazards and additions like falling shells and laser grids and is considerably more interesting. R-Type Final goes back to a dreadnought ominously cruising over a city, like Delta we are seeing 3D being taken advantage of to communicate size and scale, camera shifts allow us to see the dreadnought stretching off into the far distance, we get a real sense that we're slowly wearing down a massive opponent. Final 2 totally botches this, unless you'd played the original R-Type you'd have no idea that you're fighting against a large battleship at all, parts might be on screen now and then but there is no sense that they are part of a whole. I suspect that the whole project is so poorly optimised that they simply couldn't let the camera reveal much for fear of drops to single digit frame rates. I agree that Final 2 must be largely constructed from farmed out odds and ends thrown together which isn't doing Final 2 any favours, you won't have cohesive levels built around themes making a game that way.
Yes final 2 feel like they are throwing ideas at the wall and hoping they stick. And when they don't they just keep throwing content at the problem ha. Game design in the year 2022
Theres guys at Platinum Games that worked on Leo...most notably Atsushi Inaba (Viewtiful Joe, God Hand)
That is very cool!!!!!!
It's nice to see R-Type Leo getting some love, I played it not long ago and loved it.
I can tell there's alot of time, thought and effort that goes into these videos.Opinions are ways going to differ but I appreciate the ways you ground your perspective in your , almost thesis like(!) analysis of gameplay issues, such as sequelisation etc I It's evident that you are not just attacking nostalgia for the sake of it, but saying IMHO that things have and can improve through refinenments and modernisation. Historicity is great. I really like darius 1+2 and the checkpoint system for me has a strong nostalgia but, at the same time, I am glad they didn't stick with it for gaiden! Andro Dunos 2 for me is the best attempt for a long time to blend the great aspects of older shooters with modern innovations thus hopefully appealing to oldies like me whilst being accessible to the younger crowd.
I m glad you recognize that there is a genuine respect and love for the genre that directs my criticism. Tough but fair ha. Also yet another reason why Darius gaiden is amazing. A very forward looking shmup that game! No checkpoints and bomb invul! That s what I m talking about!
the Howard Dean YEAAAH at 9:30 really needs to make a comeback. Thank you for realizing this.
Ha yeah I agree!! I came across it randomly looking for funny sound bites and couldn't resist using it
@@TheElectricUnderground YEEEAAHHH!
I have a big issue with checkpoints where you re-start butt naked with zero power ups . This is a weird idea.
23:52 Mentlegen, we can rebuild him, we have the technology !
I can agree with delta being ranked #1 great level design and the music is incredible, I really loved learning that game and wish the final series was more like it
Love me some R-Type, like it's a very awesome H.P. Lovecraft sci-fi storytelling ala Eva, and it's awesome too.
As for my favorite R-Type games, those would be R-Type Leo, R-Type III: Third Lightning, R-Type Delta, and R-Type Final.
Yeah r-type has a really cool vibe and style to it. Visually it's my fav between gradius, darius, and r-type
@@TheElectricUnderground I especially LUUUURVE Darius, especially G Darius which I got one Christmas in 1998 alongside Evangelion on VHS.
I haven't played R-Type outside of an arcade before, but dude now you got me wanting to play them again!! Gonna pick up Dimensions EX on my Switch for the classic goodness. And I never played LEO or Delta, so maybe they were released in a collection somewhere? Gonna have to do some digging
Sadly I don't think either Leo or delta are in a collection. I played Leo via shmuparch and delta on a PS1 core in RetroArch :-)
Ironically, I always thought it felt like a shmup was pulling its punches when it dropped the checkpoint system because you don't have to actually get through every singular moment of a game without checkpoints since you can die and abuse i-frames, and if you have enough extends at the end of the game, you don't even have to try anymore. I get that it's an illusion, but that's personally what I like about checkpoints.
Also, there is a SA1 chip version of Super R-Type that gets rid of the slowdown!
Delta is a great choice for number 1
Yeah the idea is that when the checkpoints are removed, the level design is free to be ramped up in difficulty without worrying about death traps. Gradius 5 is a perfect example of this shift working well :-)
@@TheElectricUnderground I totally get that idea. Something interesting I recently thought of is how you mentioned the divide between console and arcade shmup players. I think this is most apparent with games the Compile shmups. I notice some contention there where people see games like Blazing Lazers as "diet" shmups in comparison to the arcade classics.
Just some pointers about R-Type Final 2.... You actually can kill the bosses pretty quickly if you use the charge shot and/or attack with fully upgraded Force (particularly the red ones).
Also, there is a pair of buttons that specifically can be used to accelerate or de-accelerate your ship (LB and LT going by Steam controls), so it's not strictly a slow moving ship like you criticized.
And finally, while this might have not been the case back when this video was made... But I gotta say the graphic looks pretty great nowdays, with there also being a bunch of cool ships (which got alternative weapons such as a the Shadow Ball) and DLC levels. So maybe it'd be worth another chance.
But other than that, it was a pretty fair critics.
Great, great work on this one Mark! Thank you! Delta is the one in the series I’ve enjoyed the most. Followed by II. Never tried Leo - after this I’ll definately give it a go.
Thanks so much my dude! This vid took a lot of time ha. Yes gotta try leo
Leo is pretty hard and much better than everyone told me it would be. Lol @12:25. Please do that voice more often.
Ha yeah a little voice acting is fun 😹
R-Type Leo is a real gem. It’s tied as my favorite along with Delta. Very different shmups, both top tier though.
Absolutely!!
Shmup Junkie defined R-Type as a Puzzle game, and he is on point. I love the series (and I have a special connection with Leo, I don't know how, but it's one of my preferred ones)
Offtopic: You can now play all Cave in FBNeo (Ibara, Muchi Muchi Pork... even SDOJ)
I Heard!! I m gonna try that out tonight!!!!!?
When a guy sucks at R-type so bad he plays Rtf2 on kids difficulty where like half the enemies are removed then complains that there's a bunch of empty space you should probably disregard his opinion on anything related to the series.
Ha nice try but you can t use my skill as a player as an excuse. I m sure you're knocking out world records on the daily. Also the fact that the default difficulty is so barren is another example of poor design
The original R-Type is by far the best one. It's got the best theme, best music, and its horror movie vibe distinguishes it from other shooters. It got too bland/watered down/actiony.
It's not all about someone's arbitrary armchair game design philosophies. The original is simply the best work of art.
Historically, there is no doubt that gradius 1 is the most important
An immensely satisfying list. Personally would swap 3 and 2, but console bias.
Yeah 3 is a real high point if you are a console player, no doubt about it.
Outstanding show! R-Type Delta is a GOAT and for good (goat?) reason. I’ll never sell mine.
Sorry, but if you're going to wrag on R-Type Final 2 , at least get your facts right.
1: The much criticized battleship stage is level 3 not 2. Most fans dislike this stage for the reasons you mentioned, but it's hardly representative of the game as a whole.
2: "Ship isn't so nimble '
You're aware you can adjust ship speed on the fly?
This is the whole point of the checkpoint system! R-Type is a puzzle shooter, you retry to figure out how to make it past certain sections.
3: What R-Type 2 bosses can you 'one shot kill' outside level 1?!
4: the game was only released last year, how could you have reviewed it 'years ago'?!
5: you've reviewed the Switch version, which is known to be inferior.
You're entitled to your opinion, but at least make well resoned and properly researched argument to back it up.
My personal order, of the ones I've played;
Delta
3
Leo
Original
Final 2
Final
2
For me Delta it's without a doubt, the peak of the series. Retains all the fun and difficulty of previous entries, but introduce new mechanics (now you control the speed, nice, the Dose attack, you can touch walls...) and takes some risks being the first 3D entry of the series, but it does without flaws. The level design is top notch in every sense. The music is gorgeous, the freaking first level rocks so hard, and goes so synchronized with the action that grabs you and don't let you go, it's so amazing...
But about the level design, something I really like, and was a major reason to play it as a new player, was that it's so surprising and unpredictable about what it's going to happen, what the game is going to throw you at the screen... The first level for example, the city, the environement is stellar, but the game doesn't fuck around, it throws you a "mini-boss" soon, then a big ass spaceship came and you have to destroy it piece by piece, then a big mechanical-worm from the background destroying and filling the screen while other enemies comes from the right, and you have to dodge that flying worm and try to kill it (which is not necessary but you want to)... and you didn't even reach yet the final boss of the level, which presents himself with two big ass propulsors and a big as fuck laser. That's how you start a game, that's how you engage people. With something crazy, epic, unpredictable... and then it comes more. The underwater moments of level 2, the "AT-AT" of level 3, all the level 4 scrolling upwards changing the whole development, the ethereal 5th level with those 3 bosses that are a mind-blowing wink to the OG R-Type, the that muthafucka level 6 which is my favourite and transforms R-Type into a horror game with that bloody environement and those enemies, so visceral, that haunting terrifying music, and that moment of the tunnel with that "thing" pursuing you and then the game upscaling the difficult reaching his peak... I mean, that's mastery in design, and then discovering that the place is your base from were you start... crazy with a crazy boss. I can't add anything more to the final level, so good, so eerie and different. Top notch.
But also there's something that Delta stands from the rest of the series, and that's his narrative because... yes, Delta tells a story without words. It's in the details but it's a full journey, and it's crazy. The ship you rescue in level 4 being determinant in level 6, the context of the bydo in level 7... I think that it's something really special. It's the peak of the series and I doubt it's going to be reached ever, not with the team that designed Final 2, which is dull in comparison...
Are you going to play Final 3? I don't have a lot of faith but who knows...
R-Type never made it onto the 68000 based Megadrive, it was horribly coded for Amiga computers and on the SNES Super R-Type had more slow down than R-Type II on the sloppy coding of Amiga! In fact unless you had a PC Engine or a Supergun Jamma board console you were stuffed. The instruments in music on SNES games like sounded like cheap mail order synthesizers for kids or general midi music files for Windows 95 too so there's that. Gradius/Salamander didn't fare much better on home systems, if you didn't have a PC Engine or Japanese Sega Saturn.................
There is a Super R-Type hack with SA-1 Support (like there are such hacks for Gradius 3 and Contra). So you could play this on original Hardware with an SD2SNES/FXPak.
With R-Type Final 2 I can understand your point. I do like it, but all flaws you addressed are there. I play it once a while and get some fun out of it.
Yeah I gotta try this romhack out!! My flash cart needs to be updated too ha
@@TheElectricUnderground I really recommend doing this. I think this also works with emulator, as long as it supports the SA-1 mapper file (Gradius 3 as well). I didn't take a further Look into overclocking RetroArch. There may be differences.
If only, and I mean only Limited Run Games would give us the re-release treatment of R-Type Delta for the PS4/PS5.
that would be cool!
I'd rate Delta higher if not for the stage 6 checkpoint, memorizing that 2nd half of the level and both boss fights was 4 frustrating hours worth of grinding on hard mode until I finally perfected it.
It's _almost_ acceptable on default difficulty.
Leo and Super/II are my favorites.
I see others recommending R-type inspired games, you might want to look into Last resort and Ironclad on Neo Geo, I think that system has like 10 R-type inspired games on it.
Yeah damn checkpoints. They are hell. The whole series has the issue sadly. Oh I really like the neo geo games last resort and blazing Star, gonna do a vid on them :-)
I agree with you on rtf2, but at least they are showing intentions on updating the game (which is a huge advantage compared to a one-release game we had ~20 years ago) so yeah, rtf2 is not over and will continue to evolve hopefully for better and uniqueness. I love the other games in the series, but I dont think there is a point on making another rtype delta, final 1, or Leo (I mean, we have already those games), maybe just adding some lore. Anyway, I'm just happy rft2 revived the rtype community (and hopefully making it bigger) and awesome video! hopefully rtf2 will go to a better direction on the upcoming updates!
Thanks so much for tuning in! Personally, I would much prefer to see a fresh r type final 3 then have them try and slowly morph final 2 over the years. This games as service stuff is hell as a reviewer ha.
as Noam Chomsky said to an interviewer when asked about the topic of mainstream media hivemind, "If you thought any differently you wouldn't be sitting there."
exactly ha!
Agree with Delta but not Leo, the fact is as I emulate on my tablet at my desk watching you.. the first R Type on retroarch is the one that takes me back, it's calming to watch the demo, no idea why !! but I feel it more than any other..a full arcade machine playing on my tablet WoW (do we still say wow these day's) I love emulation .. well done on the video!
It does feel like R-Type peaked with Delta
yes I'm afraid so. Past the ps1 era a lot of shmup franchises started to struggle, they were tough times for arcade games.
Gradius - Pronounced Grah-dee-us
Darius - Pronounced Duh-rye-us
Raiden - Pronounced Rye-den
I enjoy the R-Type series as a whole TBH.
I shall never budge from my americanized pronunciation ha. I hate saying Grah dee us and duh ry us :-)
I agree about Gradius and Raiden but why should be Darius pronounced that way?
R-Type Delta was the only R-Type that I was ever really able to sit down and grind through. I think that says something. It's a really great game and plays great on PSP via the PS1 emulator.
8:05 Great take on "carrying flaws across sequels" overall!
My biggest complaint with R-Type Final 2 is the price. About £30 for the base game then £7 for every DLC pack, it all adds up and it costs a fortune to buy it all.
How would you rank the R-Type Dimensions compilation of games? Do you think they improve at all on the original versions, are they worse? Thanks, great vid.
I ve actually never tried the port, it s probably decent but not ideal but I m not totally sure
Really nice R-Type list! R-Type Delta is still my favorite R-Type game of all time followed by R-Type Leo.
R-Type Delta has its action-packed level design and superb soundtrack. Not to mention the four ships
are all well-balanced. I used to like R-Type Final 2, but after playing it for awhile, I've gotten bored of it
much quicker than other games. The bosses are a such joke, and the graphics are so bad for the PS4.
The checkpoints should remain, but you shouldn’t lose your power ups on death. Losing your power ups is what makes me want to just restart the whole stage as you can get trapped in a place where you can’t continue making the checkpoint moot.
I don't know why, but Final 1 is my favorite game of all time. It just makes me so happy to play, and has FANTASTIC visual design
I'll have to try Delta again for a third time. I personally hated it first time I played it. I dont like most PS1 shooters with the 3D chunky bits. It just looks cheap to me and just had me wanting to load up the 2D version of the previous games. Much prefered pixel graphics any day.
The second try I thought it was alot better than my first impression. Especially if I looked past the graphic style. I ended up selling it shortly after for good money and buying stuff I'd rather have. R-Type 3 to me was the pinnacle, but I haven't played R-Type 2 yet, and after watching your game play, I definitely need to fix that! Leo looks like a good spin off and is now on my list to try out.
Lets see if "third time's the charm" holds up in this situation. Thanks for sharing.
I 100% agree check-points need to go outta that series. It's basically, an otherwise wonderful game, holding you hostage so you end up hating it - or beating it once - instead of playing it again and again. On another side-note, the music in R-type Delta/3rd Lightning is some of the best - I wish the rest of the entries carried the note through (pun intended).
Oh yeah delta's ost is my fav! I love that funky spaced out vibe of ps1 era games especially. Wish that style was more common these days.
Honestly think it's nice to have checkpoints for better opportunities at clearing a level. Just wished the checkpoints were restricted to the beginning of a level as you are then given more opportunities to catch all necessary upgrades, instead of being forced to git gut with default weapon every time.
Rtype has always seemed to me like Japan's take on Euro shmups. I have such strong memories of playing it on my Amiga alongside classics of the era like Xenon and Blood Money.
Really enjoyed the vid, I just learned II and Leo, so it was fun to hear about all the others.
Dude, SO many good takes in this video. R Type Leo is my favorite as well. It's the black sheep of the series but holy shit. Banging music, gorgeous sprites, comfier difficulty, and great mechanics.
Also, excellent points about overclocking the snes games! I didn't even think to do that and have just written them off. Like another guy said, you are an emulation CHAD. I can't stand gatekeeping purists who insist/shill for original, clunky, expensive old ass hardware. The quality of life offered by emulation with features like overclocking, shaders, save states, button remapping, and ESPECIALLY Run Ahead is undeniable.
Another phenomena I've come across on certain (toxic) retro gaming forums is people who troll you with you "didn't beat the game" if you use Run Ahead or if you PRACTICE with save states--not save scumming mind you, save state PRACTICE. It's so stupid because the same people bitching about Run Ahead reducing input lag A) don't realize you can adjust the amount of reduction so it's not an either/or thing and B) They always claim original hardware is superior because it has less lag than emulating....like bruh am I a cheater for reducing input lag or a cuck for emulating without Run Ahead and suffering input lag lmao. Such a silly contradiction.
And the save state practice thing is blatantly retarded. Like, what difference does it make? Credit feeding vs more focused practice...either way it's all about repetition. We're all working adults here. We need our practice to be effective!
You should do a video on hardware vs emulation!!! It's a hot topic in the shmup world and you're well suited for it having put together shmuparch and gone deep into QoL features that RetroArch offers.
Anyway, rants aside, great content as usual, Mark.
Great review and I'm pleased that you give more love to Super R-Type. I'm not an avid shooter fan but I loved Super R-Type even with its slowdown. It makes the game more doable for me, even though I can tolerate Gradius III slowdown more because Super R-Type level design is more claustrophobic thus you're more prone to run into walls.
I also agree with you regarding its checkpoint system because it seems the game is deliberately designed that way. I mean look at R-Type III, on the top of fair checkpoint, the way the bosses behaves and the power-ups placement make it possible for you to recover. If someone wanted to add midway checkpoint in Super R-Type, they have to place more POW armors too, as Super -Type is rather stingy with power-ups. The stage is rather short too, albeit more brutal.
I know right! I can be sweet and sour at times :-)
Thank You for putting up satisfying quality content all the time. You really have the ability to analyze the pros and cons; personal preference might matter but Im totally on your boat about a lot of games.
I definitely wont get Final 2. Personally I own 2 Sega Astro City (the real ones; TATE and Horizontal). There are also patched roms of Super R-Type and also Gradius 3 for the SNES (may be R-Type 3, too). Still have to get more into them. Also R-Type Delta which I own as the Japanese Version. Needless to say I love Gradius and R-Type.
Thank you my dude!! I am happy to hear people are enjoying the vids, they take quite a while to put together these days ha. Also I m very jealous of your sega Astro city! I want to get one someday!
R type is about punishment and pattern recognition. Final 2 after the later levels is interesting. The first was an instant classic.