R-type Final 2
» System: PS4 (tested), PC, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S » Buy it from: Retail, online » Buy it for: £34.99+
When it comes to Kickstarter revivals of classic games, we’ve come to expect that they are made squarely with the backers in mind – people who love the old formula enough that they’ll pay up front for more of it, years in advance. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that R-type Final 2 doesn’t deliver much in the way of surprises or innovation, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing when the underlying structure is so very good.
R-type Final 2 feels like a celebration of the series as a whole, with all of your favourite features present and correct – Dobkeratops makes an appearance, you’ll take down another giant battleship, and the Force feels just as satisfying to use as it ever did. There are dozens of ships on offer too, each with their own weapon selections and Force behaviours, and this time you get to craft them using materials gained from completing stages. The game has a more upbeat atmosphere than its predecessor on
the whole, while the shorter stages actually benefit the pace of the game.
Of course, the game isn’t without its faults. While it does mostly look quite nice, there are moments when background detail is astonishingly sparse and low budget, and in later stages we experienced some slowdown. And while it’s not necessarily a fault, R-type games have always been characterised by their punishing difficulty and heavy reliance on memorisation. Even on the easier difficulty settings, you should expect to die a lot before achieving victory.
Though it shouldn’t take long to beat the game, there are alternate routes throughout to be found and if you’re still hankering for more after that, the first of three announced DLC packages is already available with two extra stages for £5.79. Though it is slightly rough around the edges in places, R-type Final 2 is a really solid piece of work from Granzella, which should satisfy any fan of the series.
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Score 80%