R-Types

R-Types
Developer(s)Irem
Publisher(s)
SeriesR-Type
Platform(s)PlayStation
Release
  • JP: February 5, 1998
  • EU: October 1998
  • NA: March 1999
Genre(s)Various
Mode(s)Single-player

R-Types[a] is a 1998 shoot'em up video game compilations developed and published by Irem for the PlayStation. It was published by ASCII Corporation in North America, and by Virgin Interactive in Europe. R-Types contains two games from Irem's R-Type franchise - the original R-Type (1987) and its direct sequel R-Type II (1989) - alongside bonus material such as promotional artwork and a gallery spanning the series' history.

Kazumi Kujo, the chief producer for the series, suggested R-Types to Irem executives whilst in talks of a potential new R-Type game. Having fallen into heavy financial difficulties and being weary of the current console game market, Irem proposed that Kujo and staff create a collection of early R-Type games as a way to test the market if a sequel was suitable. Both games were reprogrammed from scratch via reverse-engineering the original hardware, as opposed to using software emulation. R-Types allowed Irem to familiarize themselves with the hardware of the PlayStation console.

R-Types sold well, and gave Irem hope in a new R-Type game returning a profit. The game was praised by critics for its quality and extra content, although some argued that it could have benefited from additional games and that the difficulty of the two games could turn off potential players. It was re-released as a budget title in 2003, and as a digital download for the PlayStation Network in 2006.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).