R-Type Dimensions is a port of R-Type and R-Type II for the Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA). Irem created this series started over two decades ago in 1987 and have continued making new iterations on console and handhelds alike. This iteration was developed by Tozai who is also developing the upcoming Lode Runner title for XBLA. R-Type is a side-scrolling shoot-em-up that takes place in space where you are faced with taking out the threat of the Bydo Empire but doesn’t expand much further than that. R-Type is a ridiculously unforgiving hard game series but the gameplay is simple. Collect the power ups and kill everything. You have a standard blast and a charged one. Based upon the power ups you pick up you weapon will change and become more powerful. There is also a shield that you can get that you can attach to the front of back of your space craft. It’s a lot of fun if you play it correctly or it can be brain numbingly bad if you don’t. R-Type is a game about momentum. Collecting power up after power up makes you become a powerhouse. But once you die, you lose it all. To help you get through the game they have included a new infinite mode in addition to the original classic mode. Infinite mode gives you infinite lives and you spawn immediately as opposed to classic mode where you only have 3 lives and spawn at the nearest checkpoint. If this is all overwhelming, you can take flight in 2-player cooperative play either locally or over Xbox Live. It’s a little more chaotic with two people vying for space on screen but it does help at tough parts, just know that it’s very hard to get a spontaneous game going on XBL so you’re going have to find a friend who have it before you dive in.
The most obvious change you’ll notice in Dimensions is the updated graphics. The old pixilated 2D graphics have been updated into the 3D world. Initially it just looks like high-resolution 2D graphics but when you turn on the crazy camera (which isn’t so crazy, just shifts perspective to the side) you can see the 3D graphics in their entire splendor and still play the game as intended. Some other options are to add pixilation filters and also play inside a real modeled arcade unit but they all end up a little gimmicky. One of the cool features though is you can switch between the new graphics and the old on the fly with a simple press of the Y button so you can compare at any time you desire. Overall it’s an excellent upgrade and I highly recommend the crazy camera view. The sound is the aspect that has received the least work. For all intents and purposes they are probably a direct point of the sound from the original. This makes it the weakest element of the upgrade but nonetheless still fits and works.
There is something here for R-type fans clamoring for a nostalgia fix but not much else. The infinite live mode will make the game playable for newcomers but it breaks what makes the game so fun, the difficulty and power ups. The graphics are nice and the crazy camera shows it off the 3D graphics quite nicely without being distracting but some of the other options are gimmicky like the arcade unit view. The sound has not been touched and therefore suffers aside the new graphics but still fits. If you love R-Type or just love very difficult games, this will be up your alley. If you’re not that type of gamer, you’ll barrel through the infinite mode within a half hour and never play it again. And ultimately missing what makes the game so great. At 1200 ms points this may be too much for newcomers but for those with the itch, there is a lot of gaming, and game overs, to be had here.
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