Retro Reboot SHMUPtember 2025 | R-Type Final (PlayStation 2)

The R-Type series has always been one of the staples of the space shooter genre. While Life Force and Gradius were neavy rentals back in the day, Irem's side-scrolling blaster boasted a design that led to a greater challenge. Around the early 2000's, it seemed like the franchise was going to be retired with the release of R-Type Final for the PS2. For the time, this was a grand scale of a game, and one hell of a curtain call.

I could never learn a definitive reason why R-Type Final was set to be the last entry. The only thing I could assume is Irem seeing a shift in the market and a change in direction, or just feeling they've said everything they needed to say with the battle against the Bydo. Released exclusively for the PS2, and five years after R-Type Delta, Final was a fantastic looking game that showcased what the SHMUP genre was capable of on this hardware, and in some regards is a definitive version of its predecessor.

R-Type Final boasts seven total stages, depending on which route you've chosen earlier in the map. Final also has a large array of ships you can select from, and they have various abilities, ranging from different fire power, missiles, and Forces.While the Gradius series has always been my favorite space shooter series, I always felt R-Type was better designed, based on your weaponry.

As far as controls go, R-Type Final plays incredibly smooth. One of the best things to happen to the genre is sophisticated modern (for the time) analog sticks. With the ability to alter your speed on the fly, movement is as fluid and responsive as the series has been up to this point. Force Pods feel exactly the same in this entry, they can be launched and retracted as per normal, getting used to some of their new capabilities is a welcome challenge. The Dose Gauge (screen-clearing super bomb that can be activated when your Force Pod absorbs) from Delta returns, and it's incredibly necessary, as the challenge in Final escalates rapidly.

With this being the second game in the franchise to be rendered with 3D models, R-Type Final is a great looking PlayStation 2 game that launched around the time where developers were beginning to tap into the power of the hardware. Some larger enemies can seem a little jaggy and polygon-y, and there are bouts of slowdown, but the visual effects and tricks are just beautiful, enough to turn heads of someone coming into the room. I have to snap myself out of the trance of ogling the scenic backgrounds, which ranges from a vast cityscape to marchy swamplands, to remind myself to dodge enemy fire. The HUD at the bottom of the screen is clean, doesn't get in the way, and conveys all the info needed.

The various ships you can select (a total of 101 ships, with variants on models that have appeared in previous games) have some neat style to them, though some look like tools I have in my junk drawer. They can be unlocked through R-Type Final's branching museum. Even to this day, I've only unlocked a fraction of them.

A feature that's really cool, if you unlock ships, even today, the game will base its date off the PS2's internal clock, and adjust it accordingly to R-Type Final's storyline date. I enjoy things like that, it feels like the game has an ongoing living system that keeps it relevant, regardless of what time you're playing it.

Around this time, SHMUPs were not one of the strongest pillars of video games, as the medium was growing beyond arcade style play. They were being seen as a genre that was catering exclusively to a hardcore audience.

R-Type Final does have a high skill ceiling, but it is quite approachable from a casual level. Its depth and unlockables gives it a good deal of replay value, along with a stimulating challenge. Treasure's Ikaruga laid the groundwork for what this era of space shooters were establishing, and R-Type Final builds upon that with an offering that can be enjoyed in any era of gaming. So much that nearly 20 years later, Final 2 (released in 2021) burrows much from its predecessor, even with Goro Matsuo returning to produce. If you have a means to acquire this game, and are a fan of the R-Type series, it would be a welcome addition to your collection.