From the Manufacturer
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R-Type Delta-the next chapter in the Legendary series-is
back. Hordes of enemies. Fiendishly tough bosses. New weapons.
New ships. All new 3-D graphics. The deadly Bydo are back so load
up your weapons and gear up for the most intense arcade action
ever. 7 levels of shoot'em up action. Top scorers can post and
compare scores on the Agetec Website.
Review
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No one can really say what Irem's been doing over the
last few years - after the shooter market bottomed out in the
early 90s, it's definitely a surprise to see a game from them at
all, let alone a game as solid as R-Type Delta. Hopping on the
industry classic-games-revival bandwagon, Irem has breathed new
life into its genre-defining R-Type series and produced a truly
excellent shooter.
R-Type was one of the first shooters to actively employ the
concept of strategy in a side-scrolling shooter, primarily
through the use of the "Force Unit." As before, the Force Unit is
an indestructible satellite that can be strategically ed on
the front or back of your ship, in addition to being launched
into remote corners of the screen to deal with enemies before
your ship arrives there. Not only is this useful, in many cases
it is essential to completing an area and surviving. R-Type Delta
has two new ships in addition to the original, each with its own
unique satellites and weapons. One ship sports a tracking Force
Unit that seeks out enemies when launched, while the other is
"anchored" to the ship with a stream of destructive energy.
Strategic use of these satellites is essential to the game's
completion, and thus each type of Force Unit will require you to
employ different attack strategies. In addition to the
satellites, you can charge up powerful bolts of energy with which
to lash out against the Bydo empire. Each ship's charged weapon
is different and has two stages of charge. Finally, you can
absorb enemy damage with the Force Unit to build up a use of the
Delta Weapon, a graphic spasm of pure destruction. Beyond those
basics, R-Type Delta is essentially another side-scrolling,
polygonally based shooter in the vein of Einhander or G Darius.
Each of the game's seven levels features the requisite midbosses
and bosses, multidirectional scrolling, and bullet dodging.
Unlike some other shooters, most of this game's difficulty comes
from the levels themselves, rather than the bosses. All of the
game's bosses have several impressive and inventive attacks, but
many die too quickly to really be appreciated. R-Type Delta is a
hard game, for sure, but you are rewarded with additional
continues the more you play - theoretically, anyone can win this
game if they spend enough time with it.
Like all of the recent series updates, R-Type Delta spares no
expense in the aesthetics department. The traditionally 2D series
has been completely made over in beautiful 3D, sporting the kind
of graphical polish one would expect from Square. Each of the
game's levels is interestingly detailed and never feels
repetitive like many of Einhander's staid levels did. In addition
to myriad little graphical touches, R-Type Delta uses tons of
effects and transparency to give the game an excellent sci-fi
look and feel. The enemies are equally varied, each sporting
unique explosions and attacks. Many enemies and bosses are taken
right from the original games and modeled in 3D, adding a
pleasing nostalgia to the experience for R-Type veterans. R-Type
Delta is much more colorful than the traditional PlayStation
game, almost to the point of being garish. All of this graphic
polish does come at the cost of the game's frame rate, however.
The game's speed drops are noticeable but never interfere with
gameplay and are even welcome at times. The game's sound is
top-notch, scoring the game with a catchy fusion of rock and
techno that changes with the game's surroundings. For example,
diving underwater in the second stage changes the music to a much
mellower, aquatic variation on the stage's theme. Sound effects
are somewhat underplayed but still effective. In addition to many
new sounds, a number of classic R-Type sound effects are present
to take the nostalgia one step further.
If there's one PlayStation shooter to own, R-Type Delta is that
shooter. Despite a handful of frustrating parts, R-Type Delta
gives shooter fans exceptional gameplay, variety, and replay, in
addition to carrying the spirit of the original on in style.
--Peter Bartholow
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