www.jap-sai.com - Super R-Type

The arrival of the Super Famicom seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring home R-Type II (1989). But instead, to everyone's surprise, Irem opted to hatch 'Super R-Type' - a curious reworking of the game with a few minor tweaks.
About half of the game's seven stages are directly ported from R-Type II, while the other half is composed of brand new layouts and designs. There is so much novelty on offer in fact, that the game stands out as a 'separate' entry of the series - there is plenty of new material, weapons, surprises, and a very high-quality techno-ambient soundtrack to boot.
Perhaps the changes occurred for technical reasons. After all, the Super Famicom is notoriously weak at handling multitudes of fast-moving characters and the game does suffer from severe 'slow down' whenever the playfield gets busy. But that's OK, the game is so good it completely gets away with it. A bit like the Super Famicom version of Gradius III: as if by magic.
There is so much going on that there is little time to worry about such niggling details anyways. Coming to think of it the slowdown is very much welcome - the 'Kids' setting might be a walk in the park, but the 'Pro' difficulty level really shakes a leg and will take you down.
And then you'll be faced with a problem: because even if you get blown away right at the end of the stage, Super R-Type restarts you at the very beginning. Every time. Son…of…a…
Forget it. Part of the kick. So no mistakes - the climax of the 'Pro' setting is well worth the effort, the smooth ending and credits roll really crown what is in all a top-class gaming experience, and despite its flaws it still remains one of the best shooting games available for the Super Famicom.
Maybe Irem deliberately decided to leave R-Type II in the arcades because it was still making money. Maybe it wasn't. Anyways - they did the right thing to change the game: what kind of an idiot would still playing R-Type II in 1991 anyways? Well...

TACTICS: 'PRO' MODE

Like most R-Type games, Super R-Type can be completed TWICE. After finishing the first 'loop' the game will automatically restart - but set on the next difficulty setting. EASY leads onto NORMAL, NORMAL onto HARD, etc.
Reaching the end of 'HARD' will open up a special 'PRO' game, at the end of which a extended ending sequence awaits. Good luck...