If there is one series that keeps drawing me back in despite its harsh treatment of me, it’s R-Type. And because I’m such a masochist with this, of course I agreed to take a look at R-Type Dimensions III, the remake of the Super Nintendo shmup, R-Type III: The Third Lightning.
He’s R Type!
Initially released in 1993 on the Super Nintendo, R-Type III: The Third Lightning was the first mainline entry to be released solely on consoles, skipping the arcades. While the earlier Super R-Type was also a console-exclusive, it was largely a remake of R-Type II with some extra levels.
If you know R-Type, you know the story by now. The Bydo Empire is looming, and Earth has the fantastic idea of sending a lone pilot right into their trajectory to bring the hurt using the R-90 Warhead craft and its powerful add-on “The Force”.
Now, there is a deeper lore for R-Type on the whole than for some shoot ’em up series, but you aren’t going to get it here. The most you get is that there is an alien menace, so have fun. And frankly, for the genre, that is more than fine. I often mention how in games like this, the story is merely window dressing, and this remake doesn’t expand upon the original in this area.
What Happened To Dimensions 2?
R-Type Dimensions III is, deceptively, the second title in the R-Type Dimensions series, following on from R-Type Dimensions EX, which provided the remake/re-release treatment to R-Type 1 and 2. The spin-off R-Type: Leo has so far been skipped, despite chronologically releasing between the second and third mainline installments.
This is a shoot ’em up, but quite different from the more “bullet hell” types I usually cover. The pace is much slower and more deliberate, and the expectation is that you play until you learn exactly what is coming and what weapon loadout you need for that section. It’s one of the most iconic horizontal shoot ’em ups, and if you need any more detail on how R-Type plays as a franchise, I kindly point you toward my R-Type Final 3 and R-Type Delta: HD Boosted reviews.
New Engine, Old Soul
I’ve mentioned that R-Type Dimensions is a remake, but it could also be considered a re-release depending on your choices. To put it simply, you can choose to either play through the game with the new remixed soundtrack, HD-3D visuals, and either with the classic two lives plus checkpoint system or the incredibly more forgiving “Infinite” mode that gives you unlimited lives and respawns you at the place you died. You can also play the SNES version of the game with the above additions, or even just the way the game was originally released, and truly choose to suffer.
When the game starts, you are given the choice of 3 types of “Force”, which is an expansion for your ship that acts like a shield you can send across the screen, but also changes shot type depending on what color upgrade you collect. The original Force is dubbed as being for “Ace Pilots”, whereas the other two have abilities that make the game “slightly” more manageable.
“The Dark Souls of Shoot Em Ups….”
While on the subject of the game being more manageable, it naturally brings me to the difficulty. R-Type has always been a difficult beast, and that’s not just me being a bit soft when it comes to this series, which has been handing it to me since I first played it on the Sega Master System, despite having cleared many shoot ’em ups in my time. R-Type III: The Third Lightning is genuinely difficult and is often considered to be one of the hardest in a franchise full of particularly challenging titles.
R-Type Dimensions III, outside of the Infinite mode and the additional Force add-ons, does very little to mitigate this difficulty; in fact, in some sections, I would even say the hit detection is a little off, making the game even more difficult if you want to try and get through it as the developer IREM intended.
Heck, if you are feeling extremely masochistic, there is even an “Advanced” difficulty, where I could only barely fathom what amount of skill and knowledge of the game’s bullet patterns and traps you would need to even make a dent in it. Safe to say, with this one, I won’t be getting the “1CC” title in this lifetime.
The seven levels available are all varied and full to the brim with set pieces that will challenge you, bosses that will absolutely wreck you, and sections of the stages where you’ll find yourself wondering, “How am I supposed to survive this?” It’s vintage R-Type turned up to 11, and if you’re a fan, casual or not, Dimensions III offers this in spades. There is even a multiplayer mode if you can find someone else who wants to take up the challenge with you. Sadly, I couldn’t convince my 10-year-old, Fortnite-addled son to play it with me, and it’s local multiplayer only, so I was unable to test how well it works.
Performance Woes
The fact that you can switch between presentation styles at the touch of a button was fantastic, and I found this immensely helpful in Stage 3, where the new HD graphics took a real battering and tanked the framerate. It is ironic for a game famous for having slowdown, but here it just started grinding my game to a halt. One press of a button to go into the SNES version, and it was smooth sailing after that.
Shiny Happy People
The new “HD” visuals are pretty much on par with the previous Dimensions release. They replace all the sprite work with 3D models and have some frankly impressive lighting effects. Sadly, I’m just really old-school and absolutely love how the 16-bit sprites look in the original version, so I would naturally find myself gravitating towards that instead.
It’s worth noting I found some areas much easier to navigate in the original graphics over the “enhanced” ones; sometimes the newer visuals get a little too much and have too much going on in the background or foreground that obscures the enemy shots or makes it tougher to figure out what is part of the instant-death environment and what is just stage dressing.
As mentioned, the performance in the “Enhanced” mode also seemed to tank more in sections than it did when they were played in the “Original” mode. Now, I played this game on the Nintendo Switch 2, and it could be that this was just specific to this version, but I have no doubt this will be addressed in a patch going forward. It’s not completely game-destroying as you can flip styles instantly; it’s just something to be aware of.
Verdict
R-Type Dimensions III is a fantastic remake of R-Type III: The Third Lightning. It might not quite be a 1:1 re-release of the game at points, but for the bulk of the experience, it’s one of the better and more friendly ways to experience a notoriously difficult title, thanks to the “Infinite” mode.
It doesn’t quite offer the same value as R-Type Dimensions EX due to that compilation remaking 2 games instead of the 1 on offer here, but for die-hard R-Type fans, R-Type Dimensions III offers a solid challenge with enough quality-of-life enhancements to make it worth fighting through those tears and giving in to that infamous “one more go” addiction the series is known for.
R-TYPE DIMENSIONS III IS RECOMMENDED
If you would like to see more Shooters, you may be interested in our review of Cotton Fantasy or Radiant Silvergun.
Many thanks go to ININ Games for a Nintendo Switch 2 review code for R-Type Dimensions III.
Pride of utopia & greatest thing ever, I found the One Piece, Collected the Dragon Balls & won the Mortal Kombat Tournament in one night, it was quiet for me that night! Follow me on Twitter @powahdunk
