November 2021 Shmup Club - R-Type III

[MetalFRO]

In the 90's, as arcades were in a general decline, many games that originated in that setting began to move to home consoles, as a way to continue to proliferate. When you have a recognized property that sells well enough based on the name, it makes sense to continue that, right? While home consoles can't always match the power of the arcade hardware, they can offer a way to get that experience in front of a lot of people, and give developers a chance to change things up. Irem gave developer Tamtex that opportunity, when the venerable R-Type series moved from the smoky arcades to the living room, with the arrival of R-Type III: The Third Lightning on the Super Famicom and Super NES.

The dark forces of the BYDO Empire threaten humanity yet again, with more powerful weapons than ever. Over the past few years, they have crept close to Earth, building hidden bases for their fleets. The Earth Science Center had believed that all of the BYDO Empire was destroyed. Now they know that somewhere a BYDO mother ship carries the remnants of that foul civilization. Earth will be overthrown unless the latest R-series vessel, the R-90, can defeat BYDO's armies. Equipped with the mighty Round, Shadow, or Cyclone Forces of power, the R-90 can warp into different dimensions and meet the enemy ships and ground troops on an equal basis. As the Captain of the R-90, you must seek out the mysterious mother ship and destroy it to save humanity.

R-Type III initially saw release on the Super Famicom, and made its way to the west on the Super NES in 1993. A Game Boy Advance version followed 2004. Because it has long been a sought after and expensive game, Retro-Bit licensed the game for re-release (alongside its SNES counterpart Super R-Type), and released R-Type Returns in a single cartridge, which allows you to choose between the 2 games. Join the RF Generation Shmup Club in November 2021 as we take off and strike the evil Bydo empire in R-Type III!

Participants:
MetalFRO
Addicted
BrandoReality
FauxMacho
EZ Racer
Corkman
Golem

[BlurSTG]

HELL YES I'M IN!

[FauxMacho]

I'm in. Just ordered a Super Famicom cart. I played the first R-Type a bunch earlier this year and enjoyed the parts I could get through.

[EZ Racer]

As long as my schedule allows, I'll be in

[MetalFRO]

I'm in. Just ordered a Super Famicom cart. I played the first R-Type a bunch earlier this year and enjoyed the parts I could get through.

Bolded for emphasis

As long as my schedule allows, I'll be in

Excellent! I figured you'd jump in on this one, since you got the original cart a while back.

[MetalFRO]

Oh, and if anyone still needs a copy of R-Type III, it looks like Retro-Bit still has a few copies of the limited edition print of the R-Type III / Super R-Type reproduction they did, so jump on it while there's still time:

https://retro-bit.com/r-type-iii-super-r-type-snes-collector-s-edition-black.html

[Corkman]

 
  I can't say I'm an R-Type fan. But.... I will give this game a try and keep my mind open.

  I'm going to emulate this game for now. But listen, Irem.... IF you can impress me with this game I'll pick up this game from Retro-Bit. (Thanks for the head up MetalFro).

[Golem]

My schedule is a little unclear ATM, but I'd like to put decent time into R-Type III!

Retro-Bit says it's in stock, but trying to buy it links to Castlemania, which I think is sold out. I'd pick it up myself otherwise!

I credit fed this some 10 years ago, and I remember getting a kick out of it. But the production values are high and the music is super awesome, so that would've been enough to get me through any shooter with infinite credits.

Initial thoughts after save scumming to the stage 4 midboss:
-Stage 1 is a little long I guess?
-Stage 2 is awesome. I love the acid melting away the terrain. Stage 2 boss is a pain though.
-It's hard not to compare stage 4 from R-Type III and stage 6 from R-Type. Stage 6 in R-Type is easier to follow, though, since the blocks move slower and the graphics are less busy. I'm wondering if rote memorization will be the only feasible way to get through stage 4 in R-Type III.
-I'm eager to experiment with the different ships! So far I've only put in an hour or so on the regular R-Type ship.
-I don't know how many speed-ups I want!!

EDIT: The extended charge shot is also very cool. In the original R-Type, I only used the charge shot for recovery on the stage 5 boss. And, well, if you're recovering on the stage 5 boss, you're not getting a clear. But the big charge shot in R-Type III seems more useful, and the extended time commitment seems to make it an interesting choice. I wonder how I'll feel about it as I keep playing.

[MetalFRO]

I messed with this a bit the other day, and even the 1st stage can be tricky in a couple spots. I managed to figure out my way through it, and now I need to learn my way through stage 2. The first part isn't too bad, but once you go into the segment with the large creature that slowly lurches above you, that's where the acid and I don't get along too well

[MetalFRO]

I didn't get a chance to stream last night, but I toiled in stage 2 for a little while to get a good feel for the level, and to try and find a good path through it. Holy cow, the boss is nasty. It requires you use the extended charge shot, and while it's not a total damage sponge, it certainly makes you weave through a lot of garbage to damage it enough to actually take it out. Based on how hard the game is already by this point, and what I already know of stage 4 and all of its lava shenanigans, I can safely say I won't be getting a 1CC on this game for the month. That said, I'll have no qualms with credit-feeding, just to see as much of the game as possible. I know stage 4 has been redone as a DLC level for R-Type Final 2, and I'm curious how that plays by comparison. I've heard that it's been rebalanced to be easier.

[Golem]

What force is everyone using?

I'm using the round force currently. I do really like the cyclone force, though, it's neat how you can yo-yo it back and forth without having to dock the pod.

The stage 2 boss is rough. Of the two extended charge types, I do think the regular charge is better there than the hyper charge, but I definitely did some experimenting.

I've grinded on stage 4 for a little under 2 hours now, and I'm getting more consistent. The boss seems like it would be nigh impossible to defeat on recovery--you just need such intense focus for such a long period of time. Even fully powered up, it feels like a crap shoot. There's so many moving pieces that I don't know how to form any strategies. I basically try to avoid stuff, that's about as good as I can figure.

EDIT: Another night mainly spent on stage 4. I'm getting better! The third phase of the boss is very rough, but I think I can reasonably speed through it by using a hyper charge. I need more practice to get consistent. And stage 5 seems cool!

[MetalFRO]

My favorite is the Cyclone Force, particularly when equipped with the blue laser. At its 2nd level, between its wide range and splash damage, you get a lot of coverage. Regarding the stage 2 boss, yes, it's actually quite difficult, and because of how many hits it takes with the hyper charge to take down, it's easy to fall victim to either a yellow orb, or one of the eyes. I'm not sure if it's my joystick, or what the deal is, but playing on the MiSTer with my MayFlash stick, I find that when I try to tap dodge up or down to get just above or below an eyeball, i often move too far. I'm tempted to try it with a SNES pad on real hardware, to see if I get a similar response. It has definitely made that boss fight way harder than it ought to be. By contrast, stage 3's boss, with the right weapon, is pretty easy to take down, as long as you hug the right side wall, and have an idea of when it's going to jump at you.

[MetalFRO]

I played for around 2 hours last night on stream, and having no illusions that I'm going to have any shred of a chance to 1CC the game this month, I just credit spammed to try and get through as many checkpoints as I could. The stage 2 boss is still a sticking point, and a difficult fight, mostly because of the need to properly time hyper charge shots at the eye when it's open, and though it only takes 5 or 6 (I think a direct hit does more damage than hitting it with the hyper charge shot's periphery) to take it down, weaving between the flying eyeballs and the yellow orbs can be tricky, while also paying attention to what the main eye itself is doing. Stage 3 isn't too bad, though there are a couple checkpoints with pretty memo-heavy spots, but the boss isn't too bad, particularly if you have the Cyclone Force and the blue laser. Just hug the right side wall, and don't let it trick you into moving back into the path of its jumps. Keep that force pod docked on the rear of your ship, and fire away. Stage 4 is quite difficult, but doable through memorization, and careful execution. The real sticking point with stage 4 is that you have to beat the midboss without fail after completing the lava tube maze, or you'll have to do at least a portion of that maze again. Then, once you beat the boss, you have to go backwards through the entire maze, in order to beat the level. If you die during the backwards run at all, you have to do the whole thing again, which can be very unforgiving. And the stage 4 boss is tricky. To start, I found that regular shots and using your force pod to damage it is the fastest way to get at least the first 2 phases done. After that, as it speeds up its movement around the screen, it's much more of a crapshoot. I think I burned some 10 or 12 credits on that boss alone last night, and never managed to beat it. I just kept getting caught by one of the purple orbs, or the green lasers from the boss. This game takes no prisoners.

[Golem]

I played for around 2 hours last night on stream, and having no illusions that I'm going to have any shred of a chance to 1CC the game this month, I just credit spammed to try and get through as many checkpoints as I could. The stage 2 boss is still a sticking point, and a difficult fight, mostly because of the need to properly time hyper charge shots at the eye when it's open, and though it only takes 5 or 6 (I think a direct hit does more damage than hitting it with the hyper charge shot's periphery) to take it down, weaving between the flying eyeballs and the yellow orbs can be tricky, while also paying attention to what the main eye itself is doing.

I just wanted to ask a dumb question to make sure I'm on the same page. When you say "hyper charge", what does it say at the bottom of the screen? There are two types of second-tier charges. One is a big blast all at once (I think this says "BEAM"), and the other is a shotgun followed by machine gun (this one says "HYPER"). For default controls, the R button swaps between the two.

And hey, so far as I'm concerned, credit spamming is the first step to a 1CC!

[EZ Racer]

Even though I haven't made much progress, I'm having a lot of fun with this game. I pretty consistently make it to the midpoint of level 2. I credit spammed my way to the level 3 boss a few times, but there's a checkpoint in level 3 that was frustrating with a lower powered ship. That said, for all the deaths, for the most part I feel like when I die it's my fault, usually knowing what I need to do but failing to execute it. For me, that's much more fun than the games that feel almost like a puzzle in which I have to figure out the exactly right placement through trial and error.