R-Type DX (1999)

Finally back to playing "real" games...

History:

I've played plenty of R-Type. In high school, there was a small laundromat next to the single convenience store store we had in town, and in that laundromat was a single arcade cabinet: R-Type. I can't remember how many quarters I sunk into that thing. That said, it's been a long time since I've enjoyed this particular schmup... Never played the GBC version.

Expectations:

Like I said, haven't played R-Type in a long time. I don't expect to be able to beat it, but I imagine I'll have a good time trying!

Day 1:

Imagine my surprise when I started up this game to find that it was actually a compilation of the first two R-Type games both optimized for teh Gameboy Color, as well as their original Gameboy versions! That alone adds a ton of value to this little cart for me.

Also... SWEET MOTHER OF CRAP THIS GAME IS HARD! Seriously, I wasn't able to last more than a couple minutes in any one game, at best! After playing both versions of R=Type and R-Type II, as well as the DX version of R-Type, I think I definitely prefer R-Type II, and will probably stick to that one in terms of progression.

After some trial and error and error I was eventually able to take down Stage 1's boss, but not before dying to the closing wall behind me. Actually, I'd say that about 4 out of every 5 deaths in this game are a result of backing up into something. With the option stuck to the front of your ship, it actually becomes a little difficult to judge the actual size of your ship, leading to some stupid deaths...

Stage 2 was the underground lake area which looked really cool, though getting used to the enemy patterns here took a while. The boss was fairly easy and it was off to Stage 3, which I'm currently working my way through.

Day 2:

We had a brief power outage and a not-so-brief cable/internet outage today, so what better day for some handhelf couch gaming? I spent chunks of the day playing various R-Type games, focusing primarily on the sequel, and have come to a single, inarguable conclusion:

The game absolutely wrecks me.

Like its cousin Gradius this game doesn't really lend itself well to long term gaming, at least not for me. Now that this 1.5" x 1.5" tiny plastic cartridge has run my self esteem into the ground, I think I'm ready to call it quits.

Conclusion:

R-Type is a fun game. Pretty much no matter what version you play, it's a fun game, and this version is no exception! The fact that it includes (effectively) five different R-Type games is really awesome, and all of them are equally as challenging.

There's not much to be said about R-Type itself, but I do have some thoughts about playing it on a Gameboy Color, and they're not particularly good ones. R-Type is an incredibly challenging game, possibly more so than Gradius, but that could come down to preference. When you take a precision game like this and put it on the tiniest of tiny screens, with even tinier bullets flying around, the challenge feels a bit cheapened. Most of my deaths came from inaccurate hit detection, or a stray bullet coming from nowhere that I didn't even see until my ship exploded, if even then.

Still, if you need R-Type on the go, this is a fine option. The multiple game versions, difficulty settings and level selection all come together to make a very worthwhile package.

Liked:

- Same solid sidescrolling schmup action you know and love.
- Five different versions of R-Type on one cartridge.
- Each version has difficulty options and level select.

Disliked:

- Pixel-sized bullets on a small screen leads to several cheap feeling deaths.

Personal Score: