R-Type

n/a

R-Type
System(s): Sega Master System, Virtual Console
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Compile M2
Licensor: Irem
Original system(s): Arcade boards
Developer(s) of original games: Irem
Peripherals supported: FM Sound Unit
Genre: Shooting, Arcade
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1988-10-01 ¥5,8005,800 G-1364 US 1988-12 9002 EU 1988 MK-9002-50 UK 1988 £29.9529.95 MK-9002-50 SE 19xx SE (Rental) 19xx AU 19xx BR 19xx KR 19xx GB-4364 JP ▼ 2009-05-19 500pts500 US ▼ 2009-11-02 500pts500 EU ▼ 2009-09-25 500pts500 AU ▼ 2009-09 500pts500
Non-Sega versions Amiga Amstrad CPC Arcade Atari ST Commodore 64 Game Boy MSX PC Engine PC-88 VA Super CD-ROM² X68000 ZX Spectrum

R-Type is a Sega Master System horizontal shoot-'em-up game developed by Compile and published by Sega. It is a port of the highly-influential 1987 Irem arcade game R-Type. It was first released in Japan in October 1988, and is considered a relatively faithful conversion for the era.

Story

The Bydo Empire, aliens from another dimensional plane, are preparing to invade Earth. The Earth Defense League has deployed the R-9, a top secret spacecraft, to counter-ambush the enemy in their own dimensional plane.

Gameplay

The game is a side-scrolling shooter composed of several stages, with a boss enemy at the end of each. The player controls a small spacecraft called the R-9 and must navigate terrain and fight enemies using the various ship weapons. The player's spacecraft is equipped with a main gun, fired with . A more powerful gun called the Wave Cannon can be charged by holding . The Wave Cannon destroys larger enemies in fewer hits and penetrates through targets.

During the game, the player can obtain an auxiliary device called a Force, which resembles a glowing orange ball. The Force appears after collecting a weapon upgrade and can be attached to the front or back of the R-9. It can be detached with to fly freely. Likewise, it can be called back to the R-9 with . The Force initially fires a pulse beam when attached, but it can be upgraded by collecting another weapon upgrade to provide one of three different powerful weapons. It can be upgraded another time by collecting another weapon upgrade, which further empowers its weapon. When detached, the Force instead fires a secondary set of guns concurrently with the R-9's main gun, even if the Force is at a distance from the spacecraft. The Force fires simultaneously with the main gun or the Wave Cannon. The Force has a secondary use as a shield; it is completely indestructible and can block most things fired at it, as well as damage or destroy enemies on contact.

The R-9 is destroyed after taking one hit from an enemy or by colliding with terrain. The player starts over from the beginning of the stage without any power-ups after losing a life. If the player runs out of extra lives, the game ends, but it can be continued as long as the player has credits remaining. The player is awarded extra lives at 50,000, 150,000, 250,000, 400,000, and 600,000 points. The player's score and extra lives are only shown after completing a stage.

Items

Items are sometimes left by enemies after they are destroyed.

	Reflecting Laser Force Unit
	Shoots three laser beams ahead of the Force, one straight ahead and two at 45-degree angles, which ricochet off surfaces that they hit.
	Anti-Air Laser Force Unit
	Shoots tall, ring-like energy waves from the Force.
	Anti-Land Laser Force Unit
	Shoots fireballs directly above and below the Force, which roll along terrain that they hit.
	Speed Unit
	Increases the movement speed of the R-9.
	Twin Missile Unit
	Arms the R-9's weapons with twin homing missiles. Missiles continue to fire while the R-9 is channeling its Wave Cannon.
	Bit Units
	Supplements the R-9 with a power sphere, up to two. The first Bit collected hovers above the ship, while the second Bit hovers below. Bits are invulnerable and can destroy enemies by touching them. They also fire pulse beams if the Anti-Air Laser is equipped.
	Force
	Augments the R-9 with a Force, which provides support fire and can be attached to the front or rear of the spacecraft or fly freely alongside it. The Force flies in from the left side of the screen after collecting a weapon item. It can be leveled up twice by collecting further weapon items.

Stages

	The Bydo Empire's Frontline Base
	The Bydo Caves
	The Mega Battleship
	The Terrible Mechanical Cells
	Super Stage
	This is a hidden stage accessible from the previous stage.
	The Underwater Caves
	The Warehouse Labyrinth
	The Eroding City
	The Bydo Empire Home Base

History

Legacy

The Master System version of R-Type was brought to the Wii's Virtual Console service in 2009. It is seen as an odd move, as a superior port to the TurboGrafx-16 had been available since 2006. This did not last long; it was removed from Virtual Console on 30 September 2011 in the US and 18 October 2011 in Japan presumably because Irem had been losing a lot of money at the time.

Versions

At the time of release, the Master System version of R-Type was one of the most accurate (and complete) home ports of the game and the easiest to get a hold of. It is technically superseded by the PC Engine version released earlier in the year in Japan; however, in this instance, the game was split into two parts due to the cost needed to manufacture higher capacity HuCards, and would not come together as one product until 1989.

Sprites in the Master System version are smaller than their arcade counterparts (and are smaller too relative to the scenery), and when too many on-screen can lead to flickering and slowdown which is less apparent in its original form. Nevertheless, virtually all the enemy patterns are retained, although the numbers are decreased in high volume areas for performance reasons. The level layouts are sometimes artificially lengthened or shortened to try and manage this workload further while balancing the differing sizes of the graphics.

Incidentally, the PC Engine version's approach to the smaller screen resolution is to introduce vertical scrolling, ensuring part of the playfield is obscured at all times.

Bosses are fought against a solid colour background (echoed in other Master System shoot-'em-ups such as Fantasy Zone). Some graphical effects have also been removed; for example, when player shots hit scenery there is no longer an explosion or flash as is seen in the arcade original.

Hints

• 

  US hints

Magazine articles

Main article: R-Type/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

File:RType SMS JP TVAdvert 1.mp4

JP TV advert

File:RType SMS JP TVAdvert 1.mp4

Print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #90: "April 1989" (1989-03-16)
also published in:

• New Computer Express (UK) #21: "April 1, 1989" (1989-03-30)
• Computer & Video Games (UK) #91: "May 1989" (1989-04-11)
• New Computer Express (UK) #23: "April 15, 1989" (1989-04-13)
• ACE (UK) #20: "May 1989" (1989-04-06)
• Computer & Video Games (UK) #92: "June 1989" (1989-05-16)
• ACE (UK) #21: "June 1989" (1989-05-04)

Print advert in Pixel (GR) #66: "Máios 1990" (1990-xx-xx)

Print advert in Pixel (GR) #74: "Fevrouários 1991" (1991-xx-xx)

Print advert in Cumhuriyet (TR) #1991-12-29 (1991-12-29)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score ACE (UK) 81 ACE (UK) PAL 92 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 84 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 84 The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) PAL 91 Computer Action (DK) 75 Console XS (UK) PAL 94 Computer & Video Games (UK) 87 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 92 Games Preview (DK) 85 Hobby Consolas (ES) 85 Micromanía (segunda época) (ES) 70 Mean Machines (UK) 92 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 91 New Computer Express (UK) 75 S: The Sega Magazine (UK) PAL 91 Sega Power (UK) PAL 90 Sega Power (UK) PAL 100 Sega Pro (UK) 96 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 92 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 94 Soft Today (DK) 100 Software Gids (NL) 80 User (GR) PAL 93 Zzap! (IT) 94

	88
Based on 25 reviews

R-Type

Master System, JP
Cover
Cart

Master System, US
Cover
Cart Manual Poster

Master System, EU
Cover
Cart

Master System, EU (Sega®)
Cover

Master System, SE

Master System, SE (Rental)
Cover

Master System, AU
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, BR
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, KR

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 bb54b6b0 MD5 9e5507d51ac6f24c702a52a7abce0d3c SHA-1 08ec70a2cd98fcb2645f59857f845d41b0045115	512kB		Cartridge

External links

• Sega of Japan Virtual Console pages: Master System
• Nintendo catalogue pages: AU

References

NEC Retro has more information related to R-Type

NEC Retro has more information related to R-Type I

NEC Retro has more information related to R-Type II

NEC Retro has more information related to R-Type Complete CD