R-Type Dimensions
I never got into the R-Type franchise. First I never had any consoles that the original R-Type 1 and 2 were released for. I still don’t have a Turbo Graphix or Master System. I did have a Super Nintendo which had R-Type 3 and Super R-Type, and I always heard one was an amazing and the other was terrible, and since I could never remember which I’d been putting off getting it for quite a while.
My first R-Type experience was R-Types for PSX which was a compilation of R-Type 1 and 2. Both kicked my ass harder than I want to remember. I usually feel like a decent shump player.
Most shumps I can complete the first couple levels without even losing a life. Yet despite my love for vertical scrolling shumps, I’ve always sucked at these horizontal shumps for some reason (except Einhander, I rocked at that game).
The R-Type games are horizontal scrolling shumps, and they are also checkpoint based. Meaning when you get hit, you go back to the last checkpoint. No instant re-spawn or instant continues. If you die on a boss, you start the fight all over.
This is a huge pain as shumps in general expect you to die every 10 seconds. You’d think with this checkpoint system R-Type would back down on the difficulty, but it’s every bit as hard, if not harder, than a standard shump.
R-Type Dimensions is a great re-working of R-Types; it combines both games, and adds some VERY nice additional features, making the games accessible for players of all skill levels.
First off are the visual improvements. You can choose to play the game with updated graphics, and if you want you can choose between two camera angles. You can have the classic angle, or the “EXTREME” 3D angle, which just tilts everything. It doesn’t do anything for gameplay, but is a neat effect to check out.
Also you can play with the old school graphics. The coolest thing about the visuals is a feature that lets you swap between the old and updated graphics at any time. It’s really neat to see the new shiny graphics fade into the older ones or back with just a push of a button.
Another great addition is that you can play the game through the standard checkpoint mode, or an infinite lives mode where you respawn right where you die. This means I can actually see what stage 3 looks like! The idea behind this mode is to try and complete the game using as few lives as possible.
Finally there’s a stage select mode so you don’t always have to start back from the beginning.
It’s a neat feature and works better for time/score attacks if you just want to improve on a specific stage.
The only con is the price point is set at 1200 MS points ($15) which is a little high. Honestly though, I really recommend this game. R-Type 1 and 2 are considered some of the greatest shumps, and they’ve never been more accessible than now.
Like this game? Order it online
