INTERSTELLAR IMITATORS
R-TYPE HAS INSPIRED QUITE A FEW GAMES OVER THE YEARS – HERE ARE SOME NOTABLE EXAMPLES
KATAKIS
■ This game, originally for the C64 in 1987 and ported to the Amiga in 1988, landed Rainbow Arts in hot water with R-type’s official licensee Activision Europe. The developer was threatened with a potential lawsuit – unless it agreed to take on the official Amiga conversion of R-type!
XEXEX
■ With Irem’s shooting games having proven strong competitors to Konami’s Gradius series, Konami decided to incorporate some of their innovations into this 1991 arcade game. As well as X-multiply’s tentacle attack, this game’s spacecraft has a detachable orb that works rather like R-type’s signature Force.
PULSTAR
■ This 1995 Neo Geo game was developed by Aicom – a team founded by ex-irem developers. The similarities to R-type are undeniable, with a very similar Force, plenty of visual references and high difficulty. However, those lovely pre-rendered 3D graphics do visually set it apart from the real deal.
LAST HOPE
■ NG Dev Team released this rather tough blaster for the Neo Geo platforms and the Dreamcast, with the first arriving in 2007. Much like Pulstar, this one uses pre-rendered visuals, but bullets were difficult to spot in the initial releases. An updated version titled Last Hope: Pink Bullets remedied that.
Z-EXEMPLAR
■ Rather than drawing its inspiration from the arcade version of R-type, Suminell Studios clearly enjoyed Bob Pape’s excellent Spectrum conversion – just look at that signature Sinclair look. Z-exemplar was released in 2016 and is available on PC, Mac, IOS and Android, and also draws from Gradius.
along the way. “In the project’s first draft, a complex power-up system was considered but was later changed to the ability to select characteristic aircraft in the re-planning stages,” Kujo says. “At the gameplay’s start, I wanted the player to be able to choose according to their mood for the day and have the Force and Wave Cannon as different as possible from other aircraft to make their decision impactful. The artist responded and suggested aircraft with distinctive shapes and colouring.” In the final game, the R-9A2 Delta was joined by the RX-10 Albatross and R-13A Cerberus, and Kujo notes, “These efforts to create unique fighters led to the planning of R-type Final later.”
R-type Delta reviewed well upon its release in 1998, with Play magazine awarding it 90% and describing it as “simply amazing and amazingly simple to play”. The Official UK Playstation Magazine scored it 8/10, noting that “it doesn’t do a great deal that previous versions haven’t”, but concluding “R-type Delta is fun – surely a game’s only remit?”. Back in issue 51 of
Retro Gamer, Kujo said that R-type Delta
“was successful and sold well, but I’d have to say that we were hoping for more”. Today, his feelings on the game are more forwardfocused. “Because there was this title, there was 2003s R-type Final, and now we’re able to make R-type Final 2. I think Delta was a title that allowed for new possibilities within R-type.”
That mixture of feelings surely have informed the team’s decision to make a new game in the series, and to make sure it was the last. “At that time (and perhaps even now) side-view shooting games were no longer a mainstream genre, so it was a difficult type of title to gain popularity. R-type was also known to be tough, so I thought it’d be challenging to release games of this genre in the future,” says Kujo. “I felt sorry for fans who would want a sequel, so I chose a title that would denote it being the last R-type.” Indeed, there was no mistaking the intention surrounding R-type Final – it was there to act as a last hurrah for the series.
While the game developed on systems introduced in R-type Delta, R-type Final was built to last. “Numbers in shooting games are very small. Many home console games lacked volume, such as ‘you can choose from four fighters’ and ‘all seven stages,’” Kujo tells us. “I wanted to set numbers from the start that would be unthinkable for a shooting game and relay the notion that you could play for a long time, so I started developing 99 fighters. During development, we decided to add two additional graphical versions of the 99th aircraft, bringing the total to 101.” This huge number certainly lent to the celebratory appeal of the game.
However, there’s a change in atmosphere. From the moment you fly into the ruins of the first stage, the mood is sombre. Rather than sadness at the end of a great series though, Kujo wanted it to feel this way to fit the story being told. “It can definitely feel that way because it contains plot developments that don’t lead to a happy ending, and I think that part carries over into R-type Final 2,” he explains. “It’s unlikely that mankind will be unharmed in the battle against unknown lifeforms that attack from a universe beyond, and there will be various influences and circumstances awaiting the player’s main character. This I wanted to create.”
That fed into how the game ended, too. “The Force, the player’s strong partner in R-type, is made from Bydo fragments, so it felt natural to have Bydo influence on the fighter. I felt that weapons should evolve into something more powerful. That’s why at the start of R-type Final’s development, we chose to introduce ‘Bydozation’ of the player’s aircraft,” explains Kujo. “When the stage is cleared, how will Earth welcome the player who’s been transformed into the Bydo? Such a question was considered for the final stage’s setting.” That’s not the only possible ending, though. “The intention to have several final stages was there from the start. I wanted to make each of the final stages different not only in terms of what kinds of enemies appear, but also through player and game system settings,” says Kujo.
R-type Final was released in Japan in
2003, and followed to North America and
Europe in 2004. The Japanese version was enthusiastically seized upon by the UK press, and earned some good scores. “R-type Final
takes all the elements that made the original great and then adds lush three-dimension backgrounds and other graphical treats”, said Play, awarding it 89%. Edge gave the game
8/10, despite complaining of “several heavy doses” of slowdown, deciding that the game was still “close to the best in the genre”.
For the best part of two decades, R-type Final lived up to its name. The R-type Command spinoffs took the series in a different direction, and there were various releases of the classics, from the 3D remake R-type Dimensions to Retro-bit’s cartridge reissue of Super R-type and R-type III.
But a new shooting game was not forthcoming, and it appeared as if the series truly had become a thing of the past – especially as Irem had once again ceased to develop games, with Kujo leaving to form Granzella in 2011. However, the gaming world has changed considerably since the original R-type Final was released, with many supposedly impossible dreams finally coming true. In 2021, the fight against the Bydo begins anew as R-type Final 2 is finally
ready for take-off.
So why, after all this time, did Kujo and his team at Granzella decide to revisit R-type as a shoot-’em-up? “We thought if we made full use of the current development and gameplay environment, a new experience that’s never been seen before in R-type could be possible. I was surprised myself to discover that there were still many R-type fans who wanted a new title,” he explains.
The idea of a new R-type seemed too good to be true for many players, and when it was announced on 1 April 2019, quite a few people simply refused to believe that it was real. “I was surprised,” admits Kujo. “Quite a few people and the media asked me ‘Is this real information?’” It didn’t help that R-type Final 2 had previously been announced on 1 April back in 2005, as part of the reveal of the Exidna – a fake next generation console that was Irem’s April Fool’s Day joke for the year. But there was a reason for the choice, as Kujo explains. “For Japanese companies, April 1 can be considered the beginning of their year, so I was going to announce it during this period. Seeing everyone’s reaction, I regretted going with this confusing timing.”
R-Type Final 2 has been Granzella’s first experience with crowdfunding via Kickstarter. “We’re a small publisher, so to launch a new project we need to start with funding. Also, it’s very important to see whether there is any real demand for the games we’re going to make. Side-shooting is no longer a mainstream genre, and many companies are not so optimistic about releasing new side-shooting games,” Kujo begins. “But rather than thinking negatively about the genre with such a mindset or wondering if fans wouldn’t be impressed, we decided to ask the fans directly if, even now, they really want to play a side-shooter. Crowdfunding allowed us to see demand that had yet to be fulfilled and helped us a lot in moving forward with the project funding-wise”.
Granzella is not about to reinvent the wheel, and is focused on simply providing more R-type for fans. “Basic mechanics follow that of the previous R-type Final, so there’s no need to learn anything new,” says Kujo. “R-type Final 2 focuses on visual enhancement, stage variations and the increase of collectable elements each time you play. So, those who played previous R-type
works and Tozai Games’ R-type Dimensions
can enjoy it straight away.” However, with almost 18 years separating R-type Final 2 from its predecessor, there is consideration for newcomers. “Players who never experienced the R-type series should try the ‘Special Weapon’ that allows for emergency evasion via attack. If the difficulty is set to Easy, the ‘Special Weapon’ will charge quicker,” advises Kujo.
With the game design being very similar to that of past games, most of the extra capabilities of modern hardware have been used to improve the visuals, “Of course, the visual expression of enemies, backgrounds and aircraft can now be depicted with intricate details. Also, the 16:9 screen size is perfect for side-shooting games,” says Kujo. For fans,
that will translate to seeing past glories in a whole new way. “In the R Museum, a mode where you can view the fighter vessels, you can appreciate them from viewpoints not possible during R-type Final and also take a closer look at each aircraft’s shape,” Kujo tells us.
But by far the most exciting trips to the past will be the remade versions of classic stages, as Kujo explains. “Since this was a campaign for fans, we wanted to have a plan that touched upon their memories of R-type.
In addition, we respect the previous R-type titles our predecessors made (in which some of our previous work is included as well), so we set them as stretch goals,” he tells us. “Unfortunately, some titles’ stages did not reach the production stage. On the other hand, we are producing R-type’s stage even though it hadn’t actually reached its stretch goal.”
While Kickstarter offered new possibilities for Granzella, did it cause any problems? “There were no problems, per se, but the game’s development was a reserved operation so I feel sorry that there was a period of time when I couldn’t visually report the project’s progress and give information to those who supported me,” says Kujo. “Overall, the people who backed us were friendly and encouraging and we were able to reach this point due to their moral and financial support. There are no words to describe how grateful we are.”
Many of you will already know whether or not you’re interested in R-type Final 2, but Kujo has a final message for first time players that confirms the team’s ambition for the game. “While there are no particular features for new R-type players, the beginning stage on Easy difficulty has been made quite simple to clear. During this stage, we hope newcomers will get acclimated to the game. If it’s still difficult, please let Granzella know and we’ll add a mode that’s easier to complete. On the other hand, if it’s too easy we’ll add a more difficult mode,” he says. “As such, we’ll continue to add and improve R-type Final 2 over the coming years because we see this title as a platform for R-type. Thank you very much.”
R-type Final 2 is out now, and is available for PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Switch and PC.