R-TYPE DELTA: HD Boosted - No Death Clear (Bydo Difficulty / R13)
At one point, R-Type was a series that needed no introduction, but is that still the case in 2025...? It's one of the most famous shooting game series of all time that Irem started back in the 80s, and Delta was the fourth mainline entry. It was originally released exclusively on the PS1 back in 1998, but just last month, it received a new "HD Boosted" port for every modern platform. I've played R-Type before, of course, but I've never put any serious time into learning and clearing one. It's not uncommon to see people saying Delta is the best game in the series, so after trying it out, I thought it would be a great place to start.The "HD Boosted" version has some notable differences from the PS1 original. It has new "high res" textures, but at the same time, some graphical effects, and even an entire enemy formation or two are missing, so this isn't a perfect port. But the biggest difference is probably how this version runs at full speed the entire time, while the PS1 version has a lot more slowdown. Normally, this is a really bad thing to omit in a shmup, because the lack of slowdown makes the games harder than the developers originally intended, and it makes it hard to compare scores between different versions. But for this game in particular, I don't think the lack of slowdown is a bad thing at all. I haven't played the PS1 version personally, but just from watching replays, you can see how slowly it runs in certain areas, and this game just doesn't need that. R-Type is a game about memorization and strategy first and foremost, not precise dodging, so once you understand what you need to do in each area, getting through it at full speed isn't a big problem. It's harder, sure, but all of the slowdown is unnecessary in my opinion. With that said, the developers have said they're looking into it and may be adding the slowdown back into the game in an update, so it'll be good to have the option there for it (like Gradius on the PS2 having a "wait" on/off option). Just make it optional, and everyone will be happy!
The lack of slowdown and differences in enemy formations also makes scores harder to compare between versions, but frankly, the scoring isn't interesting in any R-Type game. So I don't really care, but I still find myself trying to get a little extra score here and there whenever I can. That's just my nature.
Personally, I think the biggest issue with this port is the lack of features that you might consider standard nowadays. There's no online leaderboard (this should be a non-negotiable requirement for any shmup tbh), you can't save a replay, and there's no quick restart option, which means you have to sit through the insanely long intro every time you play a credit. Frankly I'd like the training mode to be a little better too (with more checkpoints), but it's good enough as it is, I guess... MAME and M2 have spoiled me with save states, so it can be hard to go back to anything inferior.
So those are just my complaints; overall I enjoyed this game a lot. It's a just a great old school shmup that can be easy enough for new players to get through on the lower difficulties, while Bydo/Hard mode really makes you tighten up all of your strategies in order to clear it. It turns it into a really solid arcade-level challenge, so it was satisfying to finally get the no miss after working on it for a while. And there are a few other ships to clear it with afterward that have totally different abilities, so it can keep you busy for a while. Is Delta the best R-Type game? I have no idea, but it got me interested in playing the rest of them and finding out!
Thank you to Clear River Games for sending me a key for review! R-Type Delta is available on PC, Switch, PS4/5, and Xbox for $24.99 digitally (there's also a physical version coming out later). I've put 35-40 hours into it so far, so I'd say it's well worth it! Check it out!
0:00 Intro
1:41 1st Contact
5:32 2nd Contact
9:54 3rd Contact
13:15 4th Contact
18:03 5th Contact
24:00 6th Contact
29:04 Last Contact
34:05 Ending & Credits
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Beat 'em Ups (e.g. Final Fight): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfI6IYca_kvMhpG1GR9sk8OYiWQMZZTgl
2D Action (e.g. Metal Slug): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfI6IYca_kvNFjpnJ59Th6N0IU1PSpD3d
STG/Shmups (e.g. Dodonpachi): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFE6B3779BE759F71 Receive SMS online on sms24.me
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