R-Type

Game Boy 0 subscribers

65K plays 1988 #Action#Shooter

R-Type is a 1987 horizontally scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Irem for arcades. The player controls the R-9 "Arrowhead" starship in its efforts to destroy the Bydo, a powerful alien race bent on wiping out all of mankind. The R-9 can acquire a glowing orb called a "Force", giving limited protection from enemy fire and providing additional firepower.

R-Type was the first game to run on Irem's 16-bit M72 arcade system. The development team drew inspiration from Gradius, Aliens and works by H.R. Giger. The music was composed by Masato Ishizaki, while character designs were by Akio Oyabu. The arcade version was distributed in North America by Nintendo, and was the last arcade title to be released by the company.

R-Type was commercially successful and praised by critics for its graphics and addictive gameplay, but was criticized for its difficulty. It is commonly cited as one of the best shoot 'em up games, and one of the greatest video games of all time. Its success inspired several sequels and spin-off games, as well as home ports and releases for digital distribution services. A remake of the game was released as R-Type DX for the Game Boy Color in 2000. A 3D remake, R-Type Dimensions, was released for the Xbox 360 in 2009; for the PlayStation 3 in 2014; for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Windows in 2018; and for iOS in 2019.

From Wikipedia's article R-Type, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Keyboard controls

Game BoyPlayer 1
D-pad↑↓←→
BZ
AX
SelectShift
StartEnter

Hotkeys

  • 1 Quick save state
  • 2 Quick load state
  • 3 Change save slot

Gamepads are detected when you press a button. Remap any key from the emulator’s Controls menu (gear icon).

Emulator help & troubleshooting

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Keyboard controls

Game BoyPlayer 1
D-pad↑↓←→
BZ
AX
SelectShift
StartEnter

Hotkeys

  • 1 Quick save state
  • 2 Quick load state
  • 3 Change save slot

Gamepads are detected when you press a button. Remap any key from the emulator’s Controls menu (gear icon).

Emulator help & troubleshooting

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Pixel Verdict

R-TypeGame Boy

4.0 Great job!

Critics 82 · 3 reviews

What the reviews talk about

Key wordsrelentlesschallengingaddictiveexcellentoriginal

What the critics said

  • In a retrospective review, Allgame editor Shawn Sackenheim described the TurboGrafx-16 version of R-Type as "(the) most accurate home conversion (of the arcade version) of the game", furthermore stating that "it's the shooter that started it all and it's still a thrill ride from beginning to end".

    — AllGame (Shawn Sackenheim de)· about another version

  • The Games Machine praised the "incredible use of colour" and that it "blows away almost every other shoot'em up on the Spectrum".

    — The Games Machine· about another version

  • Crash congratulated Electric Dreams for "retaining the frenetic arcade feel and producing such a brilliant game".

    — Crash· about another version

  • Sinclair User praised the weapons system and difficulty curve, and C+VG called it "an excellent shoot'em up that's both challenging and addictive. An absolute must for Spectrum blasting fanatics".

    — Sinclair User· about another version

From the Reception section of Wikipedia's R-Type article, under CC BY-SA 4.0. The words are the critics'; their full reviews are on the publishers' pages.

Scores

  • Giant Bomb true
  • ACE 1989 900; 940; 871
  • AllGame 4/5; 4.5/5; 4.5/5; 3.5/5
  • Computer and Video Games 1987 Positive; 85%; 85%; 84%; 92%; 93%
  • Crash 92% (other versions)
  • Sinclair User 90% (other versions)
  • The Games Machine (UK) 82%; 90% (other versions)
  • Your Sinclair 9/10

From the review table of Wikipedia's article. The face takes, first that applies: the Metascore for this platform, GameRankings' archived average, our average of the critics (one number per publication, a panel averaged), one review alone, the players' rating. Critics and players are never mixed.

Players' rating: 74/100 · 193 votes

Full reviews

Face key

  1. 1.00+
  2. 1.540+
  3. 2.050+
  4. 2.560+
  5. 3.068+
  6. 3.575+
  7. 4.080+
  8. 4.585+
  9. 5.090+

5.0 Outstanding! · 4.0 Great job! · 3.0 Good job · 2.0 Could be better · 1.0 Wake me up when it's over · A thumbs-up adds half a point. Our own drawings, in the spirit of the faces GamePro magazine used in the '90s.

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