Prepare yourself pilot! The Bydo Empire is on the rise again, this time they have their sights set on the PlayStation Network. After several years of training, it’s up to you to save Earth, ready your R-9a “Arrowhead” because it’s time to play some R-Type Dimensions.
For those of you unfamiliar R-Type is, it’s a side scrolling shoot’em up arcade game produced by Irem in 1987. It was a title that did an amazing job of reflecting the video game technology we had during it’s production.
The two original R-Type games had a unique array of monster designs, kicking soundtrack and an amazing use of every color palette we had available to us. It has aged very well and lives in infamy as being one of the most difficult games to ever beat.
R-Type Dimensions gives us an opportunity to play the legendary shoot’em once again in the comfort of our own homes and without having to feed your entire lunch allowance to a coin-op machine.
Bundled together, R-Type Dimensions, is a port of the original 1987 arcade release of R-Type and it’s sequel R-Type II but I think the term “port” would be an inadequate way to describe it. There are some exceptional additions on Dimensions that will be welcomed by battle hardened veterans of the series as well as ease rookie pilots into the cock pit.
Side scrolling your way through waves of Bydo in either the original 2D or remastered 3D world is just one of the unique features Dimensions brings to the table. Not only can you choose between pixels or cubes but the way you can transition between the two is simply amazing.
If you simply press the R1 button your environment transforms along with the music, there is no load screen or having to wait at all when switching.
Fiddling more with the video settings will also offer a chance to change how the game renders itself or change your standard view to a view from an arcade cabinet. But I felt as though these two options were kind of gimmicky and added no extra immersion to the game play experience.
Even though the core game has be left mostly untouched, Dimensions adds some nice new features to reduce the difficulty. An “infinite mode” which allows an unlimited usage of lives, the ability to continue from a previously beaten stage and 2 Player Co-Op are all welcomed features.
Having the ability to tackle this beast with a couch buddy added a whole new set of tactical advantages and at times it began to seem like this game was meant to be Co-Op.
That was until we turned on player collision, to which it quickly turned into a match of who’s to blame and then a friendship was broken (but quickly mended over some ice cream).
If you have fond memories of hitting your head over the difficulty of R-Type or just a fan of side scrolling shooters such as Gradius and Lifeforce then you would insane to not add this to your collection.
New comers may find themselves at a lose, but with some added mechanics the game is no longer impossible to beat making it a good purchase for anyone looking for a challenge. Ultimately R-Type Dimensions is a very well done remake of an arcade classic and future developers should use it as a reference.
R-Type Dimensions was reviewed using a code provided by Tozoi Games. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s reviews/ethics policy here.
