The shoot'em up genre is as classic a medium as it gets. With its roots in the arcade, I've always found them to be the test of reflexes and reactions that I still play as I get older in order to keep my senses as sharp as possible in my advancing years. Like brawlers, the genre has seen a resurgence in the independent market and bundled collections of classic series like Darius have made their way onto marketplaces. For the month of September, I think it would be fun to share some thoughts on a few games that affectionately became referred to as SHMUPs, starting with one of my favorite series, R-Type.

Developed by Irem in 1987 and released in arcades, R-Type saw ports on many home consoles and computers around the time, including the PC Engine, Amiga, Atari ST, and Commodore 64. I'm currently cheating and playing this on my TurboGrafx-16 Mini, but hey, any port in a storm. I intend to get my hands on the Sega Master System version, which runs at a pretty high price on most markets. That port also has an extra stage the TG-16 lacks.

Like the Contra series, one of the notable aspects of R-Type's graphics is the very H.R. Giger inspired monster designs that resemble works from the movie Aliens. This is also a contrast to Konami's Gradius series, where more of the enemies are mechanical. Irem's creatures (known as the Bydo) have a great presence and were always memorable to me. Not even a "for its time" take, R-Type is visually impressive. The slowdown is noticeable on the TurboGrafx-16 version in certain spots and there's a little bit of graphical clipping here and there, and the colors are pretty washed out compared to other ports.

R-Type's a horizontal scrolling shooter that starts off the franchise's signature ship, the R-9A Arrowhead, that starts off relatively weak. Your starter weapon is a quick shooting blaster that can be momentarily charged into a stronger single shot. You can acquire an auxiliary item called a "Force", an object capable of powering up with various items. These include multi-directional lasers, vertically firing fire based weapons, and a forward shooting ring style beam. The Force can be attached to the front of your ship or behind it and can absorb smaller projectiles. With the press of the II button, you can launch the Force forwards or backwards and it can supply fire from the rear and up ahead, leaving some creative implications for how defensively and offensively you choose to play. There's as much Force utilization in R-Type than in a certain sci-fi series that rings a bell...

Even since its inception, R-Type was never a "bullet hell" series, but it has been legendary for its stubborn difficulty and being one of the hardest in the genre. An aspect of the SHMUP genre is muscle memory and recognizing patterns, so this game can be incredibly stingy about putting you in really tight situations where you're gradually having your space taken away. Though it has a generous hitbox, the R-9A is a pretty sizable target compared to the Vic Viper in Gradius and Life Force. 

R-Type's power-up system, good music composition, fascinating creatures, and great playability keeps it being a very high tier SHMUP. While I grew up more with the Gradius series, Irem's game feels better and demands more out of you when it comes to challenge. Gradius is good, but the variables in R-Type work better, even if the game might seem unfair at times. With 8 stages of Bydo blasting carnage, Irem's classic shooter is addictive and intense.