is a horizontally scrolling shooter

arcade video game An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an arca ...

developed and released by

Irem is a Japanese video game console developer and publisher, and formerly a developer and manufacturer of arcade games as well. The company has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The full name of the company that uses the brand is Irem Softwar ...

in 1987 and the first game in the ''R-Type'' series. The player controls a star ship, the R-9 "Arrowhead", in its efforts to destroy the Bydo, a powerful alien race bent on wiping out all of mankind. The R-9 can acquire a glowing orbicular device called a "Force", protecting it from enemy fire and providing additional firepower. The arcade version was distributed by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

in North America; it is the last arcade title Nintendo distributed. ''R-Type'' was the first game to run on Irem's 16-bit M72 arcade system. Initially a joke among staff, the Force was based on

dung beetle Dung beetles are beetles that feed on feces. Some species of dung beetles can bury dung 250 times their own mass in one night. Many dung beetles, known as ''rollers'', roll dung into round balls, which are used as a food source or breeding cha ...

s. The development team drew inspiration from ''

Gradius is a series of shooter video games, introduced in 1985, developed and published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms. In many games in the series, the player controls a ship known as the Vic Viper. Games *''Scr ...

'', ''

Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...

'' and works by

H.R. Giger Hans Ruedi Giger ( ; ; 5 February 1940 – 12 May 2014) was a Swiss artist best known for his airbrushed images that blended human physiques with machines, an art style known as " biomechanical". Giger later abandoned airbrush for pastels, mark ...

. The music was composed by Masato Ishizaki, while character designs were by "AKIO".
Translation
by Shmuplations. ). The game's title stems from the word "ray", as in a ray of light, in reference to the player's raylike weapons used throughout the game. ''R-Type'' was commercially successful and celebrated by critics for its graphics and addictive gameplay, but was criticized for its difficulty. It is commonly cited as one of the best shoot 'em up video games, and one of the greatest video games of all time. Its success inspired several sequel and spinoff games, and home ports and releases for digital distribution services. A remake of the game was released as ''R-Type DX'' for the Game Boy Color in 2000. A 3D remake, '' R-Type Dimensions'', was released for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

in 2009; for the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

in 2014; for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

, the

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

and the

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

in 2018; and for

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

in 2019.

Gameplay

The game has a generally slower pace than similar shooting games of the time and emphasizes enemy pattern memorization as much as player speed. It is composed of eight levels, with a boss enemy at the end of each. The player controls a small spacecraft and must navigate terrain and fight enemies using the various ship weapons. The player's spacecraft has, by default, a weak but rapid-firing main gun; and a more powerful gun called a ''wave cannon'', which requires the player to hold their fire to build up power for the cannon. During the game, the player can obtain an auxiliary device called a ''Force''. This resembles a glowing orange ball. The Force can be attached to the front or back of the player's spacecraft, or detached to fly freely. When attached, the Force provides one of three different powerful weapons, in addition to the main gun and the wave cannon. When detached, these weapons cannot be used, but the Force will instead resort to a secondary set of guns, which can be fired by the player even if the Force is at a distance from the spacecraft. The Force has a secondary use as a shield; it is completely indestructible and can block most things fired at it, as well as damage or destroy enemies on contact. The inspiration for the Force came partly from a joke, where AKIBO (the designer), was envisioning the behavior of a

.
Translation
by Shmuplations. ).
Translation
by Shmuplations. ). The R- in the series title stands for "ray", as in a ray of light, in reference to the many different types of rayed weapons that players use in the series. Another theory suggests that "R-Type" refers to Bydo as r-strategists in

r/K selection theory In ecology, ''r''/''K'' selection theory relates to the selection of combinations of traits in an organism that trade off between quantity and quality of offspring. The focus on either an increased quantity of offspring at the expense of individ ...

Development

Development on the Commodore 64 version began when

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

's Electric Dreams Software subsidiary obtained the rights. David Jolliff was planning on to program the game with James Smart assisting in program help. The original version was shelved, and as a result of the settlement between the creators of ''

Katakis ''Katakis'' is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed for the Commodore 64 by Rainbow Arts in 1987, and converted to the Amiga by Factor 5 in 1988. It was re-released as ''Denaris'' in 1989. The name Katakis has a Greek origin and was found in ...

'' and Activision, Manfred Trenz of Rainbow Arts had the right to do a port, which was made in six weeks.

Release

Hudson Soft was a Japanese video game company that released numerous games for video game consoles, home computers and mobile phones, mainly from the 1980s to the 2000s. It was headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo ...

developed a fairly accurate port of R-Type that was released for the

TurboGrafx-16 The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC, NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth genera ...

(a.k.a. PC Engine) console, although it suffered from a slightly lower resolution, reduced colour palette, sprite flickering and slowdown. Due to the slightly reduced resolution, the playfield also scrolls slightly in the vertical axis whenever the player's ship approaches the top or bottom of the screen. The Japanese release was split across two game cards (HuCards) titled and and the later North American release contained the entire game on a single card. The TurboGrafx-16 version of ''R-Type'' has a boss at the end of Stage 6, rather than a prolonged wave of enemies as in all other versions. The

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is a digital video game download service available through the Xbox Games Store, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360. It focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent ...

game ''R-Type Dimensions'' was released on February 4, 2009, by Tozai Games. It is a port of the original ''R-Type'' and the sequel ''R-Type II''. It can be played either with the original

2D graphics 2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models (such as 2D geometric models, text, and digital images) and by techniques specific to them. It may refer to the branch of computer s ...

or with new

3D graphics 3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for the ...

, and has added co-op gameplay functionality. An analogous version for PS3 has been released in May, 2014. The TurboGrafx-16 version of ''R-Type'' was one of the first games confirmed for

Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...

. The Japanese release for the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

is split between two downloads, mirroring the original format of the game. The Japanese releases for the

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...

and

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. The W ...

use the North American version instead of the Japanese one, presenting the game as a single download; however, the game was removed from the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U stores on July 30, 2020. The

Master System The is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 and ...

version became available as well on the Virtual Console for Japan on May 19, 2009, for North America on November 2, 2009, and for Europe on September 25, 2009; however, due to licensing issues, this version was delisted on September 30, 2011, in North America and Europe and October 18, 2011, in Japan. In 2010,

DotEmu Dotemu SAS (originally DotEmu SAS) is a French video game developer and publisher based in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, founded in 2007 by Xavier Liard and Romain Tisserand. History Dotemu was founded by Xavier Liard and Romain Tisseran ...

developed an

port of ''R-Type'', published by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

, released also for Android in September 2011. Tozai Games returned in 2018 and re-issued an updated digital-only release of "R-Type Dimensions", now carrying the title "R-Type Dimensions EX", now landing on

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

and

. Strictly Limited Games released physical copies of the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch versions in February 2019. These were limited to 2,000 and 3,000 copies respectively. Collector's Edition variants were also issued which contained a hardcover artbook, dog tags, stickers and cards, once again limited to 1,000 on the PlayStation 4 and 2,000 on the Nintendo Switch.

Reception

Arcade

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''R-Type'' on their August 1, 1987 issue as being the most-successful

table arcade cabinet An arcade cabinet, also known as an arcade machine or a coin-op cabinet or coin-op machine, is the housing within which an arcade game's electronic hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the Japanese Amusement ...

of the month. It went on to be Japan's highest-grossing table arcade game of 1987. Later in 1988, it was the year's third highest-grossing arcade conversion kit and sixth highest overall arcade game. The original ''R-Type'' was well received by most gaming critics. However, it was also infamous for its relentless difficulty. Clare Edgeley of ''

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...

'' selected ''R-Type'' as the "game of the month" in July 1987. The following month, ''

Commodore User ''Commodore User'', known to the readers as the abbreviated ''CU'', was one of the oldest British Commodore magazines. With a publishing history spanning over 15 years, it mixed content with technical and video game features. Incorporating ''Vic ...

'' magazine gave it a highly positive review and noted that it drew large crowds queuing up at arcades.

Consoles

According to ''Mega Guide'' in 1992, ''R-Type'' had sold "

squillions Many languages have words expressing indefinite and fictitious numbers—inexact terms of indefinite size, used for comic effect, for exaggeration, as placeholder names, or when precision is unnecessary or undesirable. One technical term for such ...

on hand-held". A successful 1988 port to the

was immediately recognized as one of the best games available in the

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

library. A ''

Mean Machines ''Mean Machines'' was a multi-format video game magazine published between 1990 and 1992 in the United Kingdom. Origins In the late 1980s '' Computer and Video Games'' (''CVG'') was largely covering the outgoing generation of 8-bit computers l ...

'' magazine review praised in particular the graphics and the high quality of the challenge offered by the game, awarding it an overall rating of 92%.Mean Machines, R-Type Review, Issue 7, April 1991, pp.88-90 In 1989, ''

ACE An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

'' listed it as one of the top five best games available for both the PC Engine and Master System. A 1995 article in '' Next Generation'' stated that the "PC Engine urboGrafx-16conversion of Irem's arcade smash ''R-Type'' is still regarded as the system's definitive contribution to the shoot 'em up genre." The following year they listed both it and the arcade original (but not any other ports of the game) at number 98 in their "Top 100 Games of All Time", praising its art direction, graphics, design innovations, and huge bosses. In a retrospective review,

Allgame RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went publ ...

editor Shawn Sackenheim described the TurboGrafx-16 version of R-Type as "(the) most accurate home conversion (of the arcade version) of the game", furthermore stating that "it's the shooter that started it all and it's still a thrill ride from beginning to end".

Computers

The

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

version of ''R-Type'' was awarded 9/10 in the January 1989 issue of ''

Your Sinclair ''Your Sinclair'', or ''YS'' as it was commonly abbreviated, was a commercially published and printed British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was in circulation between 1984 and 1993. History The ...

'' and was placed at number 6 in their official top 100. ''The Games Machine'' praised the "incredible use of colour" and that it "blows away almost every other shoot'em up on the Spectrum". ''Crash'' congratulated Electric Dreams for "retaining the frenetic arcade feel and producing such a brilliant game". ''Sinclair User'' praised the weapons system and difficulty curve. ''

C+VG C, or c, is the third letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''cee'' (pronounced ), plural ''cees''. History "C" ...

'' concluded their review by saying "an excellent shoot'em up that's both challenging and addictive. An absolute must for Spectrum blasting fanatics". The game was runner-up in the category of Best 8-Bit Coin-Op Conversion of the Year at the

Golden Joystick Awards The Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming Awards, is a video game award ceremony; it awards the best video games of the year, as voted for originally by the British general public, but is now a global event that can be voted ...

, behind ''

Operation Wolf is a light gun shooter arcade game developed by Taito and released in 1987. It was ported to many home systems. The game was critically and commercially successful, becoming one of the highest-grossing arcade games of 1988 and winning the Go ...

''. The implementation of the music in the C64 version was well received, however this port got average reviews due to performance issues and glitches.

Legacy

Irem has developed a number of

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

s and related games, including ''

R-Type II is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed and published by Irem. It was released in arcades in 1989. It is the sequel to ''R-Type'', and the second game in the ''R-Type'' series. Gameplay The player controls a ship called the R-9C, whic ...

'' and '' Armed Police Unit Gallop''. Their ''

XMultiply is a side-scrolling shooter published by Irem, and similar in style to their earlier ''R-Type''. In 1998, the game was released with ''Image Fight'' as a one-disc doublebill on PlayStation and Sega Saturn. In 2019, the game was released on the ...

'', although not part of the series, has similar themes and gameplay, and was released around the same time as ''R-Type II''. However, before any of these games was ''

'', a 1987 clone produced by

Factor 5 Factor 5 GmbH is an Independent business, independent software and video game developer. The company was co-founded by five former Rainbow Arts employees in 1987 in Cologne, Germany, which served as the inspiration behind the studio's name. In ...

for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

and the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

. In 1991,

Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...

released ''

Xexex , released as ''Orius'' in North America, is a 1991 side-scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game by Konami. It draws on Irem's ''R-Type'' and Konami's other shoot 'em up ''Gradius'', while adding the tentacle mechanics of Irem's other shoot 'em up ''XM ...

'', a game heavily influenced by ''R-Type'' and ''XMultiply''. The game used similar weapons and concepts, such as the "Flint" being a combination of ''R-Type'' Force and ''X Multiply'' tentacle equipment. Other games similar to ''R-Type'' are ''Rezon'', released by Allumer in 1991,

Aicom Aicom was a Japanese video game developer, founded in 1988, possibly by a group that left Jaleco . Despite evidence to support this, the Sammy corporate website lists 1990 as the first year and that it was a subsidiary. It was bought by Sammy I ...

's '' Pulstar'' and ''

Blazing Star ''Blazing Star'' is a shoot 'em up video game developed by Yumekobo and published by SNK in 1998 for the Neo Geo arcade and home systems. It is a follow-up to '' Pulstar'' (1995) and features side-scrolling action similar to its predecessor an ...

'' (the latter published under

Yumekobo Aicom was a Japanese video game developer, founded in 1988, possibly by a group that left Jaleco . Despite evidence to support this, the Sammy corporate website lists 1990 as the first year and that it was a subsidiary. It was bought by Sammy I ...

) for the

Neo Geo Neo Geo is a family of video game hardware developed by SNK. On the market from 1990 to 2004, the brand originated with the release of an arcade system, the Neo Geo MVS and its home console counterpart, the Neo Geo AES. The Neo Geo MVS was su ...

, and Technosoft's 1992 title ''

Thunder Force IV known in North America as ''Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar'', is a shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Technosoft for the Mega Drive in 1992. It is the fourth installment in Technosoft's '' Thunder Force'' series, and ...

'' for the

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

. On April 1, 2019,

Granzella Granzella Inc. is a Japanese video game developer based in Ishikawa, Japan. The company is formed from former Irem staff and engaged in planning, production and sales of console games. The company is known for developing the latest entry in t ...

announced the development of

R-Type Final 2 is a horizontal-scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Granzella. Part of Irem's long-running '' R-Type'' series, it is a sequel to '' R-Type Final'' released in 2004, and the first ''R-Type'' game in over a decade, after the re ...

, a sequel to R-Type Final. A remake of the game has been announced for release exclusively for the

Intellivision Amico The Intellivision Amico is an upcoming home video game console that is being developed and marketed by Intellivision Entertainment. It was originally slated to be released in October 2020, but repeated delays followed, leaving the console with ...

Chris Huelsbeck Christopher Hülsbeck (born 2 March 1968), known internationally as Chris Huelsbeck, is a German video game music composer. He gained popularity for his work on game soundtracks for ''The Great Giana Sisters'' and the ''Turrican'' series. Career ...

composed new title songs for Amiga and Commodore 64 versions which have remained as popular targets for game music remixers. Anthem-like Amiga theme is composed by Huelsbeck alone while C64's faster theme is composed by Huelsbeck with Ramiro Vaca.

Adaptations

* R-9A Arrowhead, Scant, and Dobkeratops appears in the Chapter 30 on the manga ''Warera Hobby's Famicom Seminar''. * ''R-Type'' is one of the video games featured in the manga ''Rock'n Game Boy'', by Shigeto Ikehara, which was published by Comic BomBom from October 1989 to December 1991.

Notes

References

External links

''R-Type''
at

GameFAQs GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by Fandom, Inc. since October 2022. The site has a databa ...

''R-Type''
at

Giant Bomb ''Giant Bomb'' is an American video game website and wiki that includes personality-driven gaming videos, commentary, news, and reviews, created by former ''GameSpot'' editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis. The website was voted by ''Time'' mag ...

''R-Type''
at

Killer List of Videogames Killer List of Videogames (KLOV) is a website featuring an online encyclopedia devoted to cataloging arcade games past and present. It is the video game department of the International Arcade Museum, and has been referred to as "the IMDb for pla ...

''R-Type''
at

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...

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