R-Type

n/a

R-Type

System(s): Sega Master System, Virtual Console

Publisher:

Sega Enterprises, Ltd.

Irem

Developer:

Compile

M2^[1]

Distributor:

Tonka (US)

Datart International (CZ)

Kanal 10 (SE rental)

Tec Toy (BR)

Licensor:

Irem

Original system(s): Arcade boards

Developer(s) of original games: Irem

Peripherals supported: FM Sound Unit

Genre: Shooting^[2], Arcade^[3]

Number of players: 1

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	1988-10-01^[2]	¥5,8005,800	G-1364
US	1988-12^[4]		9002
EU	1988		MK-9002-50
UK	1989-03^[5]^[6]	£29.9529.95^[7]	MK-9002-50
SE	19xx
SE (Rental)	19xx
CZ	199x
AU	19xx
BR	19xx
KR	19xx		GB-4364
JP ▼	2009-05-19^[10]	500pts500^[11]
US ▼	2009-11-02^[8]	500pts500^[8]
EU ▼	2009-09-25^[8]^[9]	500pts500^[8]
AU ▼	2009-09	500pts500^[12]

Non-Sega versions

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 shoot-'em-up 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 R-9 moves in any direction with the D-Pad. It 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 can penetrate through multiple 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 away from the ship 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. These guns fire directly up and down and at 45-degree angles up and down in front of it. Additionally, the Force is completely indestructible and therefore acts as a shield, neutralizing enemy fire from the back or the front of the R-9 (depending on where it is mounted) and destroying enemies that it contacts.

The R-9 is destroyed after taking a hit from an enemy or by colliding with terrain. The player starts over from a predetermined checkpoint 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. After finishing the game once, it loops again at a higher difficulty.

Items

	POW Armor
	A battlefield delivery vessel that drops an item for the R-9 when it is 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 protective 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
	Map: 1️⃣ Boss: Krell

	The Bydo Caves
	Map: 1️⃣ Boss: Gomanda

	The Mega Battleship
	Map: 1️⃣ Boss: Mega Battleship

	The Terrible Mechanical Cells
	Map: 1️⃣ Boss: Monpaira

	Super Stage
	Map: 1️⃣ Boss: Helger
	This is a hidden stage accessible from the previous stage.
	The Underwater Caves
	Map: 1️⃣ Boss: Kraken

	The Warehouse Labyrinth
	Map: 1️⃣

	The Eroding City
	Map: 1️⃣ Boss: Buronku

	The Bydo Empire Home Base
	Map: 1️⃣ Boss: Bydo

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^[13] and 18 October 2011 in Japan^[14] presumably because Irem had been losing a lot of money at the time^[15].

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 obtain. 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. The PC Engine version also introduces vertical scrolling, ensuring part of the playfield is obscured at all times, to compensate for its smaller screen size compared to the arcade version.

Sprites in the Master System version are smaller than their arcade counterparts (and smaller relative to the scenery as well), and there is more flickering and slowdown than in the original game. Also because of sprite limitations, the player's score and lives at the ship's beam charge gauge are not visible during gameplay. Nevertheless, virtually all the enemy patterns are retained, although the numbers are decreased in high volume areas for performance reasons. The stage layouts are sometimes artificially lengthened or shortened to try and manage this workload further while balancing the differing sizes of the graphics. There is an added secret stage that is only available in this version of the game.

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

JP TV advert

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

(UK) #21: "April 1, 1989" (1989-03-30)^[16]
(UK) #91: "May 1989" (1989-04-11)^[17]
(UK) #23: "April 15, 1989" (1989-04-13)^[18]
(UK) #20: "May 1989" (1989-04-06)^[19]
(UK) #92: "June 1989" (1989-05-16)^[20]
(UK) #21: "June 1989" (1989-05-04)^[21]

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

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

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

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average

Publication

Version

Score

(UK)

81

^[7]

(UK)

PAL

92

^[22]

(UK)

84

^[23]

(UK)

84

^[24]

(UK)

PAL

91

^[25]

(DK)

75

^[26]

(UK)

PAL

94

^[27]

(UK)

87

^[28]

(UK)

92

^[29]

(DK)

85

^[30]

(ES)

85

^[31]

(ES)

70

^[32]

(UK)

92

^[33]

(UK)

91

^[34]

(UK)

75

^[35]

(UK)

PAL

91

^[36]

(UK)

PAL

90

^[37]

(UK)

PAL

100

^[38]

(UK)

96

^[39]

(UK)

PAL

92

^[40]

(UK)

PAL

94

^[41]

(DK)

100

^[42]

(NL)

80

^[43]

(GR)

PAL

93

^[44]

(IT)

94

^[45]

	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 (Dennis Bergström)

Cart

Master System, SE (rental; Kanal 10)
Cover

Master System, CZ (Datart)
Cover
Manual

Master System, AU
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, BR
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, BR Alt
Cover
File:RTypeAlt-SMS-BR-Manual.pdf 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

R-Type

Books: (1988)

[https:.2F.2Fwww.mtwo.co.jp.2Fdevelopment.2Fretrogame-2.2F.23tab-2-1] ttps://www.mtwo.co.jp/development/retrogame-2/#tab-2

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20201114213233.2Fhttps:.2F.2Fsega.jp.2Fhistory.2Fhard.2Fsegamark3.2Fsoftware.html-2] 2.0 ^2.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/segamark3/software.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-11-14 21:32)

[:File:RType_SMS_EU_Box_NoR.jpg_p-3] File:RType SMS EU Box NoR.jpg

[:File:ComputerEntertainer_US_Vol.7_10.pdf_p12-4] Computer Entertainer, "January 1989" (US; 1989-01-21), page 12

[:File:BristolEveningPost_UK_1989-03-31_Page_21.jpg_p-5] File:BristolEveningPost UK 1989-03-31 Page 21.jpg

[:File:BristolEveningPost_UK_1989-04-07_Page_85.jpg_p-6] File:BristolEveningPost UK 1989-04-07 Page 85.jpg

[:File:ACE_UK_19.pdf_p60-7] 7.0 ^7.1 ACE, "April 1989" (UK; 1989-03-02), page 60

[http:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20170707063824.2Fhttp:.2F.2Fwww.nintendolife.com.2Fgames.2Fmastersystem.2Fr_type-8] 8.0 ^8.1 ^8.2 ^8.3 http://www.nintendolife.com/games/mastersystem/r_type (Wayback Machine: 2017-07-07 06:38)

[https:.2F.2Farchive.is.2FhT2Od-9] ttps://www.nintendo.fr/Jeux/Console-virtuelle-Wii-/R-TYPE--278678.html (archive.today)

[http:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20180305233321.2Fhttps:.2F.2Fwww.nintendo.co.jp.2Fwii.2Fvc.2Fsoftware.2F10.html-10] ttps://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/vc/software/10.html (Wayback Machine: 2018-03-05 23:33)

[http:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20090524023742.2Fhttp:.2F.2Fvc.sega.jp:80.2Fvc_ms_rtype.2F-11] ttp://vc.sega.jp:80/vc_ms_rtype/ (Wayback Machine: 2009-05-24 02:37)

[http:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20120328013212.2Fhttp:.2F.2Fwww.nintendo.com.au.2Findex.php.3Faction.3Dcatalogue.26prodcat_id.3D42.26prod_id.3D19900.26pageID.3D4-12] ttp://www.nintendo.com.au/index.php?action=catalogue&prodcat_id=42&prod_id=19900&pageID=4 (Wayback Machine: 2012-03-28 01:32)

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20111001200317.2Fhttp:.2F.2Fi.joystiq.com.2F2011.2F09.2F28.2Fr-type-being-removed-from-virtual-console-on-sept-30-13] ttp://i.joystiq.com/2011/09/28/r-type-being-removed-from-virtual-console-on-sept-30 (Wayback Machine: 2011-10-01 20:03)

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20090524023742.2Fhttp:.2F.2Fvc.sega.jp.2Fvc_ms_rtype.2F-14] ttp://vc.sega.jp/vc_ms_rtype/ (Wayback Machine: 2009-05-24 02:37)

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20110922064148.2Fhttp:.2F.2Fwww.gamasutra.com.2Fview.2Fnews.2F36029.2FTroubled_Irem_Pulling_Titles_Home_Lounges_From_Japanese_PSN.php-15] ttp://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/36029/Troubled_Irem_Pulling_Titles_Home_Lounges_From_Japanese_PSN.php (Wayback Machine: 2011-09-22 06:41)

[:File:NewComputerExpress_UK_021.pdf_p9-16] New Computer Express, "April 1, 1989" (UK; 1989-03-30), page 9

[:File:CVG_UK_091.pdf_p84-17] Computer & Video Games, "May 1989" (UK; 1989-04-11), page 84

[:File:NewComputerExpress_UK_023.pdf_p7-18] New Computer Express, "April 15, 1989" (UK; 1989-04-13), page 7

[:File:ACE_UK_20.pdf_p68-19] ACE, "May 1989" (UK; 1989-04-06), page 68

[:File:CVG_UK_092.pdf_p89-20] Computer & Video Games, "June 1989" (UK; 1989-05-16), page 89

[:File:ACE_UK_21.pdf_p76-21] ACE, "June 1989" (UK; 1989-05-04), page 76

[:File:ACE_UK_26.pdf_p144-22] ACE, "November 1989" (UK; 1989-10-xx), page 144

[:File:CompleteGuideToConsoles_UK_01.pdf_p69-23] Complete Guide to Consoles, "" (UK; 1989-10-16), page 69

[:File:CGtC_UK_04.pdf_p105-24] Complete Guide to Consoles, "Volume IV" (UK; 1990-11-xx), page 105

[:File:TheCompleteGuideToSega_UK.pdf_p60-25] The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 60

[:File:ComputerAction_DK_01.pdf_p34-26] Computer Action, "Juli/August 89" (DK; 1989-0x-xx), page 34

[:File:Console_XS_UK_01.pdf_p144-27] Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 144

[:File:CVG_UK_089.pdf_p95-28] Computer & Video Games, "March 1989" (UK; 1989-02-xx), page 95

[:File:MeanMachinesEssentialSegaGuide_Book_UK.pdf_p151-29] Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 151

[:File:GamesPreview_DK_07.pdf_p41-30] Games Preview, "7 1989" (DK; 1989-xx-xx), page 41

[:File:HobbyConsolas_ES_001.pdf_p81-31] Hobby Consolas, "Octubre 1991" (ES; 1991-xx-xx), page 81

[:File:Micromania2_ES_021.pdf_p34-32] Micromanía (segunda época), "Febrero 1990" (ES; 1990-0x-xx), page 34

[:File:MeanMachines_UK_07.pdf_p88-33] Mean Machines, "April 1991" (UK; 1991-04-01), page 88

[:File:MeanMachinesSega01UK.pdf_p135-34] Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 135

[:File:NewComputerExpress_UK_018.pdf_p47-35] New Computer Express, "March 11, 1989" (UK; 1989-03-09), page 47

[:File:StheSegaMagazine_UK_04.pdf_p31-36] S: The Sega Magazine, "March 1990" (UK; 1990-02-01), page 31

[:File:SegaPower_UK_15.pdf_p49-37] Sega Power, "February 1991" (UK; 1991-01-03), page 49

[:File:SegaPower_UK_23.pdf_p59-38] Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 59

[:File:SegaPro_UK_05.pdf_p63-39] Sega Pro, "March 1992" (UK; 1992-02-20), page 63

[:File:SegaPro_UK_09.pdf_p31-40] Sega Pro, "July 1992" (UK; 1992-06-18), page 31

[:File:SegaPro_UK_18.pdf_p72-41] Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 72

[:File:SoftToday_DK_04.pdf_p14-42] Soft Today, "April 1989" (DK; 1989-03-23), page 14

[:File:SoftwareGids_NL_01.pdf_p35-43] Software Gids, "Mei/Juni 1990" (NL; 1990-05-xx), page 35

[:File:User_GR_31.pdf_p52-44] User, "Dekémvrios 1992" (GR; 1992-1x-xx), page 52

[:File:Zzap_IT_59.pdf_p69-45] Zzap!, "Settembre 1991" (IT; 1991-xx-xx), page 69

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R-Type

From Sega Retro

Contents

Story

Gameplay

Items

Stages

History

Legacy

Versions

Hints

Magazine articles

Promotional material

Physical scans

Technical information

ROM dump status

External links

References