Out of the two shmups I had this week, Psyvariar 3 and this, R-Type Dimensions III, the latter was both the main course and dessert. Let me clarify that. While R-Type is substantial as a main source for your shmup nutrients, I have a sweet tooth for the series and made a point of playing this last – to have that positive, lingering effect.
As an Amiga guy, my experience was initially on that platform before playing the other console versions, so that’s the benchmark. Now we’ve established the benchmark, let’s get rid of it: this is something else. Considering that I am an Amiga guy, and where that puts my memory skills, I can’t recall the other R-Types looking this good.
Once again, we aren’t going down the route of story in R-Type Dimensions III; we’re just jumping in our ship and holding down either the rapid-fire option or charge attacks. Before talking about the core stuff, I have to say that having a dedicated button that switches the visuals from gorgeous 3D graphics back to the original style AND a scanlines option, just made me fall off my chair. I loved that aspect. What surprised me is that it didn’t feel gimmicky, and I was switching back throughout as both the retro and modern versions are superb.
Again, looks aren’t everything [insert old joke I use about my wife, but now I’ve written too much and should have just said something like, ‘That’s what she said’, but now won’t work], but this added touch adds to the experience. Something that takes away from the experience is just how hard the game is. I don’t remember it being this ridiculously difficult. Good news then: there’s an infinite mode, at the sacrifice of bragging about your score. It’s a hit I’ll take to begin with.
However, even then, R-Type Dimensions III is painfully hard. It’s slow and methodical, which should make you be able to predict things a little better, though for some reason, you witness your crushing death in slow-motion almost. The flopping of the backgrounds makes you appreciate that your ship isn’t going to fit in the incoming dimensions, yet you can’t quite make it and die. Again. It’s frustrating. If I were a streamer, this game would make me quite embarrassed, as it would be an embarrassing spectacle. So, being completely honest with you, I played in the infinite mode, and that still posed problems.
No matter having constant attempts to get it right, with some of the boss battles, I had no idea how to attack them. The first one was the second boss(?) that hurls a stampede of semen at you, a.k.a. oversize sperm swimming relentlessly at you while an eye casually fires a slow-moving projectile. There’s no way that thing will hit me, yet when you have these pre-babies dashing in your direction, if they didn’t kill you, yep, that slow-moving projectile would. It’s obvious the eye is the weak point, but there’s no way to hit it. Genuinely, I had no idea if I was hitting it as the animations were hitting a wall and nothing was changing. Defeated, I just repeatedly rammed my ship into it until dead. That’s not fun, friends.
To keep you in the game besides the infinite option, you have a variety of ‘Force’ add-ons. If you aren’t familiar with the game, which I believe is a remaster, looking at the gumpf, it’s best to try out the various weapons in R-Type Dimensions III before committing to the infinite mode, as you’ll be stuck with it. I chose the Shadow variation, and it was shit. The only time these power-ups become worthwhile is when you are untouched and stack up the abilities, making it quite formidable. However, despite an endless supply of credits, on each death, you lose that power and switch back to the pea shooter.
Interestingly, I bailed on Psyvariar 3 in favour of this as I was a fan of the Amiga game, and some sort of variant on the Switch back in 2017 (at a guess). While R-Type Dimensions III looks amazing both in the slick 3D and retro scanlines, it’s ridiculously hard, and the power-up system feels quite dated in a sea of catchy shmups. And to revisit that ‘interestingly’, it’s Psyvariar 3 I’m going back to, as cheating isn’t fun. Especially when it’s a slow, monotonous affair. Treat yourself and stick to the classic mode and git gud.
