Super R-Type (Super NES, 1991)

Time for one of my favorite SNES shooters. This is basically R-Type II remixed for the new SNES, with some R-Type content thrown in, and a couple entirely new levels. I got this game as a kid, one of the 10-15 games I got in the 1990's, and really liked it because I kinda had to. It was all I had to play for a few weeks there! It's a good game regardless, and certainly easier on the eyes than the Game Boy ones (which admittedly punch above their weight). Since we hadn't gotten R-Type II in the states at the time, this game seemed almost entirely new. Still no build variety though.

(Originally posted in 2014, rewriting some of it now to go with the others)

As usual, you play as THE ONLY SHIP LEFT THAT CAN SAVE EARTH. Notice how the front of the ship sorta looks like a Xenomorph head. 

Before you think that it's just a coincidence, or that I'm crazy and see Xenomorph heads everywhere... here's some official art:

 Usually we just get monsters inspired by Alien, so it's pretty cool to get a protagonist ship that looks like a Xenomorph-head.

The Y button unleashes whatever special weapon you've got (there are four types) while the B button fires standard shots...that can be charged-up (seen here) to do huge damage. It's a lot more impressive than the charged shot in the Game Boy versions.

That said, the real crown jewel of R-Type... is, of course, the Force Pod. This thing has all kinds of uses. You can attach it to the front or back of your ship to function as a shield. You can fire it into enemies to do continuous huge damage. You can let it float around firing shots on its own to get more fire-coverage on the screen. In short, it's awesome.

A slightly Xeno-y miniboss! At first I was playing this game on Novice (the lowest difficulty level, below even Easy) and when I one-shotted this thing, I began to rethink that.

The first boss is an odd little satellite. Here we see the super charged shot, the result of charging up MORE after charging up for the regular charged shot. It's the strongest attack in the game, but if you don't time it well (i.e. wait too long), you lose the charge. After I one-shotted this boss with it, I started the game over and turned up the difficulty level. Gotta give the game props for having an easy difficulty level that actually lives up to its name, though. Most of these shooters have an "easy" level that will still completely kick your ass. This game is much more accomodating.

One of the four special weapons is the straight ring laser, seen here. It's powerful, but it only covers a small area of the screen. No Options here to cover more area like Gradius, either. Other special weapons include the fire chain, which runs along the floor and ceiling, a reflective laser that bounces off of surfaces, and a quartet of fireballs that fire straight forward from your ship (which is a new weapon that isn't in the two Game Boy games).

Get a second Force Pod powerup and the pod ascends to the strongest form. This thing is beastly, and a lot of fun to play with. Here I send it ahead to take out foes before they can even get off of that end of the screen.

My weapon of choice, for the most part, is the reflective laser. It fires three lasers that bounce all over the place and cover most of the screen. While it tears up regular enemies, it isn't that effective against bosses because it does the least damage of all the special weapons... but then again, charged shots and Force Pod throwing tend to be the best ways to take out bosses anyway.

Speaking of bosses, here's the second boss... and the first one that really looks like a boss. Much better than that imminently-forgettable satellite at the beginning. This thing is only vaguely Xeno-y, and looks more like those gas-mask Mor-Tax in the 1988 War of the Worlds show. Which would line up on the timing.

One of the major strengths of this game is the music. The third stage here is an aquatic underground with a really fitting BGM. ...and an oddly disturbing visual background.

This crab miniboss might well be the single most impressive sprite in the game. Keep in mind that this game was released in 1991. That's within the first few months that the SNES existed! For people used to NES graphics, things like this blew the mind. I remember seeing this in Nintendo Power's SNES previews and being wowed by it, having never seen any game graphics remotely this detailed as of 1991.

Next up is a big boss with worms slithering in and out of it. An eye pops out of the side every so often, and that's the vulnerable spot. I hit it with one super-charged shot at the right moment, and the fight ended. How strong IS that shot?

Music break: Stage 4 has this great tune. This is the kind of game music that got stuck in your head in 1995. It's just so funky! And so...fresh!

The fourth stage is the Crusader Ship, a huge spacecraft that you travel along and break apart piece-by-piece. It's one of the most memorable things in the R-Type canon. The music here is perhaps my favorite piece in the game. It's so much fun, much like the stage itself. While most of this game follows R-Type II, some stages like this one are from the first game, and it has a couple of brand new stages too. I consider this to be sort of R-Type 2.5, or maybe just a remix of the earlier games in the series.

The full Crusader Ship isn't that big, but it seems like it is due to the slow scrolling speed.

In this Super version, you go inside the ship at the end to fight the ship core. This thing fires a lot of reflecting lasers around the room. I counter with the fire chain, which sweeps along the floor and ceiling to take out the various eyes on the wall.

The big danger of stage five? The walls. They move, sliding around in an effort to trap you.

 This continues with the boss fight, a high-speed chase where the primary concern is dodging all of the platforms that zip from right to left. All in all stage 5 is kinda...bad, and I don't think it's in any of the other games, so it's one of the stages they made from scratch for this one. Which are, incidentally, the low points, or at least the lesser points, of this game.

Stage six is a machine factory with a lot of diagonals. This would be a good time to mention the two spheres above and below the ship. They aren't Gradius-style Options, but rather shields. They can block unlimited small enemy shots, and do significant damage to enemies that touch them. However, enemies strong enough to survive more than a second of contact can easily continue on to your ship, so they aren't infallible protection. Still, they're a nice layer of powerups to obtain.

Sixth boss is probably the least-impressive since the first. Some kind of weird trash-compactor that gets absolutely WRECKED by the Force Pod.

The final stage is full of creepy flying crab-things. R-Type games usually turn the creep factor way up later on. They're a bit more serious than the typically lighter-hearted Gradius games.

The final boss is a Xenomorph embryo in a case. The machine has four other captured good guy ships wrapped up in tentacles, and if you free them they assist in the battle. They must be POWs from previous failed offenses.

The Force Pod obliterates the embryo, but that means you're a lot more open to attack without it attached. It's a tradeoff. This is the hardest fight in the game, so it's a tough call to make. Weirdly enough, there's a second embryo behind the first one, and that one has to be destroyed as well once you break through to it.

At the end, the base explodes. The ship automatically flies out during the extended chase sequence, which the player can't control.

And that's it for this game. Great game, great series. Recommended to everyone due to the great music and the variety of play. The difficulty is also substantially lower than most shooters of the era, making it accessible to anyone.

...but what the hell does "turning planets into death stars" mean? George Lucas should sue!