Review: R-Type Tactics (PSP).

As a life long shmup fan that grew up playing various incarnations of Irem’s superlative R-Type series, my initial thoughts when I heard that the next game was a turn based strategy title were not predominantly positive.

R-Type has always been one of gaming’s definitive and innovative shooters, and Dobkeratops (the Alien-esque boss at the end of R-Type’s first level) is probably the most recognisable shmup boss amongst gamers there has ever been.

Why on earth would Irem take such a highly regarded gaming property and mess around with it in this way? Was this to be simply a cash in following R-Type Final, the ‘last’ (ahem) of the traditional shooters?

Thankfully not. Because despite the understandable concerns of the series fans, R-Type Tactics actually works, and genuinely brings a nice new direction to the franchise, even if it is not in any way shmup orientated.

Unlike its shmup predecessors where the player takes control of a solitary fighter, in R-Type Tactics you take control of an entire fleet. Initially this is the human (Earth) fleet although once you beat these missions you’ll also be able to play as the Bydo (the alien antagonists of the R-Type series).

The game features over 100 different types of unit although many of these are not available at the start of the game but are ‘researched’, primarily by locating various spoils of war located in the space battlegrounds and then mining a few elements to build them.

The game itself is typical of most turn based strategy games with the player moving his units at his leisure and then handing over to the enemy who does the same. Like most games of this type, predicting and preparing for your opponents movements is often the key to survival and ultimately victory.

Much like the shooters, the player typically moves their fleet from left to right in a side scrolling manner and this is a nice touch and certainly helps maintain that R-Type feel. The levels are made from a series of hexagonal spaces and each unit can move, see and attack a certain distance along these spaces.

As you might expect, careful consideration of each unit’s movement, attack and defence characteristics is required and positioning of support craft also proves to be important. The game does at times feel slightly unfair however as the enemy never seem to be quite as restricted as you in terms of visibility (the fog of war) although this is more mildly annoying than completely game breaking.

As a strategy game, R-Type Tactics plays very well. It’s rather slow to start and the loading times are atrocious (turning off the battle animations is highly recommended after you’ve seen the first few) but it’s Irem’s use of the R-Type universe that really makes the game.

The expected squadrons of R9 fighters are all present and correct, and these are backed up by R-Types revolutionary ‘Force’ orb units. The various Force units are equipped with a variety of different abilities and can act individually (where they are particularly powerful when used as a physical ‘battering ram’) or can attach to the R9’s much like in the shmup’s. Whilst attached to an R9 they provide both defensive capabilities and additional firepower, again much like it forebears.

The Force, the ever familiar TP-02C POW armor supply craft, the inevitable and superbly crafted Dobkeratops encounter), the R9’s chargeable Wave Cannon attack – all of the style and all of the feel of R-Type is present and it’s this intelligent use of IP that makes Tactics a compelling encounter.

It is by no means perfect though and some levels can be frustratingly difficult. It’s often possible to lose the game early on by losing a single craft; not realising its importance till much later in the level. Losing said craft from a Bydo that seems totally immune to the fog of war you are impeded by makes situations like this all the more frustrating.

The load times as already noted are brain numbingly long and the game isn’t anywhere near as accessible as Nintendo’s superb Advance Wars. Gamers without any kind of familiarity with the R-Type universe may also not get quite as much enjoyment from the game as those that do although this doesn’t make any real difference to the core game play.

Hardcore shooters should definitely steer clear however, unless you are interested in a curio. This may be R-Type in style but it bears no other relation to the timeless blasters.

I mentioned when I opened this review that I’ve been a life long shmup fan; what I failed to mention is that I’m also rather partial to turn based strategy games as well, having lost an absolute age to games such as X-Com and the aforementioned Advance Wars.

Overall R-Type Tactics doesn’t come close to challenging either of those titles but it does present a nice alternative, and for anyone like me who is a fan of both genres, you really are in for a treat.

Note:
- This game is known in North America as R-Type Command.
- A sequel, R-Type Tactics II: Operation Bitter Chocolate,was released in December 2009 but has yet to see any release outside of Japan.

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