R-Type Dimensions III - Xbox Review

R-Type Dimensions III by developer Kritzelkratz and publisher ININ Games—Xbox Series X review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

R-Type is one of the best known shoot-‘em-ups in gaming history, and for very good reason. It’s always been incredibly challenging, but tight controls and visual flair have been hallmarks of this series for decades now. This updated port of the third game in the series, R-Type III: The Third Lightning feels quite overdue. Does it live up to the series’ legendary expectations? At its core, yes – but the edges are rougher than they probably should be.

For some reasons, R-Type III has always been sort of the black sheep of the family, as I recall it fondly from my younger years, but it never seemed to garner the acclaim of its two predecessors. In fact, it’s been nearly two decades since R-Type Dimensions came out, which was an updated packing of the first two games in the series. That’s why this one is called R-Type Dimensions III, since there isn’t a ‘part 2’ anywhere in there.

The core gameplay still slaps. It’s a punishing horizontal scrolling shooter that throws wave after wave of enemies at you, and boss fights that are tough as nails. There is a new Infinite Mode for those who wish to simply continue on after death, and frankly for a lot of players this may be the only way they get to see this game in its entirety. It’s a nice option, as this is not a welcoming example of the shmup genre. That being said, achievement hunters might be disappointed as this mode doesn’t allow you to attain any while you experience the game in an ‘easy mode’ you can’t lose.

That being said, it could have been nice to have some additional features provided on the difficulty front. I realize that this series (and really, the genre) is known for its white-knuckled action and challenging difficulty. At the same time, a lot of modern shmups offer options to adjust overall difficulty, number of lives, speed of play, more generous continue systems, etc. I worry that while purists such as myself who grew up on these games will get by just fine with the way the difficulty is structured, it’s a missed opportunity to not provide options such as the ones mentioned above to help make the series more welcoming to potential new fans.

So while the precision gameplay is still intact, what else comes with this remake of the original? The most notable changes is in the presentation. The graphics and music have both seen updates with R-Type Dimensions III. There is a slick, almost overly shiny 3Dish presentation now that is certainly easy on the eyes, and the new music fits the tempo of the gameplay wonderfully. There’s even an option to switch the presentation back to the original game’s pixel perfect visuals and the original tunes. So while the game looks really attractive with its new graphics, there’s something about the original that just plays better – or allows me to play better. Maybe it’s just the pixel perfect nature of those graphics and my muscle memory, but I almost always fared better on the original presentation. There’s some other filters and HUD options sprinkled in that are welcome additions. That being said, there are some audio issues that crept up while I played. Times that I expected sounds but didn’t hear them (like blasting away an enemy), or too much repeated use of a sound effect that I didn’t care for / found to be somewhat annoying – things of that nature. Shoot-‘em-up games tend to have a lot of audio repetition by nature, but I think the sound design could have been better in places.

In terms of the actual gameplay, you have the basics of a screen rolling from side to side. Your ship has to be carefully positioned through some often tight spaces to try and take out waves of enemies and pick up power-ups along the way. The power-up system is one of the more complex ones among the genre, and it requires a fair bit of strategy when trying to figure out how you want to position your attached unit, which can anchor to the front or back of your ship. One new addition to this release is local co-op, which seems great in theory. A little extra firepower can only help, right?

I would say yes, but with a couple of caveats. Having two ships can be mildly distracting on a screen that often has a ton going on (especially with the more modern visuals, as I mentioned before – they just aren’t quite as crisp). There’s a fair number of tight spaces here as well, and it just feels cramped at times bringing a friend along. It’s worth playing this way if you have a readily available Player 2 at your disposal, but it is not a major differentiator when compared to just playing the game solo.

R-Type Dimensions III is a welcome sight, as I have a long history with this series and it’s great seeing this iteration in the series back in the spotlight. It’s a fun shooter with some slick modern updates such as the visuals, filters and co-op. However, I would like to have seen more. You can make the game harder, but not easier. That to me feels like a major misstep when you’re trying to get a new generation of players to buy-in and see why this series has been so beloved over the years. The same tight core gameplay is alive and well in R-Type Dimensions III, but a handful of unpolished sound effects and a few more quality of life options would have taken this re-release to the next level.

 

Score: 6.75 / 10