R-Type Final 3 Evolved
R-Type is such a long-running series and was one of my entry points into what I used to call ‘shooters’ but now have to call Shmups, a single ship going it alone against hoards of enemies with tons of bullets, lasers and explosions to watch out for all while trying to get as high of a score as possible.
As I discussed in my previous review of R-Type Final 2, I love this series and growing up I must have played R-Type and R-Type II hundreds if not thousands of times. In my teenage years, IREM released R-Type Final and I quickly fell in love with this 2004 game.
I have my copy here and often boot it up, it’s a great shmup that I would recommend any PS2 collector picks up and plays. Unlike the original games in the R-Type series, Final was less arcade-like and had various unlockables including over 100 ships. Final was a great send-off to a beloved series and to quote the instruction manual “At Last, the time has come. After three years in development, R-TYPE FINAL is complete. The latest and last instalment in the R-TYPE series.”
The manual’s appendix also includes the following: “The R-TYPE sage ends now. The reasons will not be written here, but you can be sure that any further R-TYPE release will not bear the Irem name.”
I’m pleased to say Granzella Inc. has taken a break from their excellent Disaster Report games and resurrected the series making a game on par with Irem’s previous offerings. Much of what I said in my previous review of R-Type Final 2 still applies to Final 3 Evolved as the game feels like more of an expansion pack instead of its own thing. I’ve been informed if you own Final 2 on PS4 there’s an upgrade path to the PS5 version of Final 3 which nets you the 7 exclusive PS5 levels.
Sadly, R-Type Final 3 Evolved suffers from somewhat of an identity crisis with the PS5 menu banners still proudly advertising the game as R-Type Final 2, even the PS5’s inbuilt game tracking clearly displays the game still as Final 2 it really feels like the game should have just been a DLC package instead of stand-alone release.
Gameplay
For the uninitiated, you control a singular spaceship and are tasked with facing off against the evil Bydo empire which acts almost as a virus throughout the series. The Bydo have the ability to assimilate both organic and inorganic materials and use them as weapons. This leads to some pretty impressive and varied enemy designs, each with its own attack patterns to learn and commit to memory.
Each ship has a standard shot, missiles and a unique type of charged shot. You can customize your ship as you play through the game allowing you to mix and match weapons and refine your loadout as you see fit. Your ship’s movement speed is controlled by the L2 and L1 buttons and has four levels. This is great for when you need to knock down the speed to carefully manoeuvre around enemy fire or obstacles. Changing your movement speed on the fly does take a little getting used to and I did have a few untimely deaths while speeding up instead of slowing down but my brain soon adapted and it became second nature.
Luckily, the main campaign included is really good with great level design that rivals even some of the classic games levels. Levels are varied in theme and each is unique, although a little long for my liking but that could be also said about the original games. Checkpoints are back and seem to be a little more fairly placed than in Final 2, however in true R-Type style, if you die you’ll lose all accrued power-ups and options which can make repeating certain areas a bit of a chore with only your ships standard shot against hundreds of enemies or an end of level boss.
Bosses in R-Type games are something truly special and Final 3 is no exception with screen-filling bosses each with their own gimmick and obstacles for you to train your brains pattern recognition on, they are really good fun and some of my favourite moments in the game.
If you are finding gameplay too hard or too easy, you’ll be pleased to know there are a total of 5 difficulty levels to choose from. For the purposes of this review, I played exclusively on Normal difficulty and I found my time to be challenging enough for me.
When I reviewed Final 2, it was on the Nintendo Switch and I must say the difference in graphical fidelity is huge. Final 3 is a really good-looking shoot-‘em-up and I was especially impressed with the in-game lighting, it really does look great. The music is also fantastic, especially some of the latter tracks in R-Type Final 3’s main campaign mode and makes for a great presentation style overall.
Conclusion
R-Type Final 3 Evolved is a solid shooter and looks great on the PS5. The options for difficulty are great for newcomers and series veterans alike and there’s a ton of content to unlock, however, this is just essentially an enhanced port of R-Type Final 2 with a few bells and whistles and could have easily been a major DLC pack. That said, the exclusive R-Type Final 3 campaign is great featuring excellent-level design and more class R-Type gameplay although if you already own R-Type Final 2, the price tag is a little steep.
7
Nintendo Switch review code kindly provided by NIS America