R-Type Final 3 Evolved (2023) [PS5] review

Some people would say my paintings show a future world and maybe they do, but I paint from reality. I put several things and ideas together, and perhaps, when I have finished, it could show the future.

-H.R. Giger

R-Type was big business for shooter specialists IREM back in the olden days of the arcade and 16-bit home consoles. Slowly but surely, though, the genre lost its mainstream appeal and started to bend toward a more niche audience. This culminated with the release of R-Type Final on the PS2, a swan song for the series that was supposed to be the last of its kin…well, until a couple years ago, after the Kickstarting and release of R-Type Final 2. Now we’ve got R-Type Final 3 Evolved hitting the scene on PS5. We went from R-Type Final being, well, the final R-Type game to this, with new titles coming out within a couple years of each other, up to and including a cheeky title-screen editing option released toward the end of the game’s life cycle. Talk about a revival.

It’s a little difficult to say specifically how R-Type Final 3 Evolved compares to its predecessor in terms of content, in no small part because R-Type Final 2’s content was spread out willy-nilly amongst a ton of different DLC packs. Insofar as I can tell, you’re getting all the ships from R-Type Final 2 and a set of stages new to 3 Evolved, as well as many of the stages from R-Type Final 2…but not all them, since those are still DLC for the original game…maybe.

I’ll admit to being a little confused on this point, and I’m one of those people who laugh at folks complaining about the complexity of things like the plot of Kingdom Hearts. Just expect that you’ll probably have to pick up both games, including R-Type Final 2 on some non-PS5 platform, if you want access to all the available content. Or not. Maybe it’s all there hidden somehow. Who knows? Marketing materials aren’t particularly help here either. You’ll want to do some research.

Either way, both the new and old stages are solid examples of shooter design. Make no mistake, you’re going to be experiencing these in the classic style of “die repeatedly, memorize where stuff is, repeat,” but at least it’ll be a pleasant experience. Right from its opening stage, an ocean-side running battle with the Bydo, R-Type Final 3 Evolved aims to put the power of the PlayStation 5 to work and impress.

Stages are great and all, but you know you came here for the ships. The big selling point of the R-Type Final series has been the vast array of customizable ships that the player can pilot through this array of dangerous missions. These range from the classic R-9 fighters we know and love from the original R-Type titles to more esoteric options like scout ships, sniping fighters and even cameo ships from other IREM games.  You’ll unlock more ships in a variety of ways, from playtime to collectible resources to entering unlock passwords (that, mercifully, are now easily found online.) Messing around with the various options and choosing your favorite ride is a high point of R-Type Final 3 Evolved.

The degree to which you can tweak your playstyle via ship customization is staggering. The classic R-Type Force Module can be swapped out for any of a vast variety of other options, for instance, each of which comes with its own set of unique laser power-ups. On top of that, there’s various missile and defense bit options that further define how your ship flies and fights. You can even customize each vessel’s paint job, slap on decals and otherwise really make that thing yours. It might even be more fun than actually battling the Bydo!

On the other hand, the process of going through those ships and exploring your ever-growing collection is one of the game’s low points. For some inexplicable reason, the R Museum that houses your fleet manages to have performance issues on the PlayStation 5. Maybe we’re harkening back to the classic days of slowdown in Super R-Type on the SNES, but either way it’s a fly in the lovely ship-hoarding soup. Things get even worse if you customize the R Museum with fancy outdoor scenery and the like. At least actual stage-by-stage gameplay tends to run pretty well.

R-Type Final 3 Evolved isn’t without its faults. The aforementioned R Museum issues and confusing distribution of content are stumbles that really didn’t need to happen; why not just port the entirety of Final 2’s content over? Still, this isn’t enough to keep R-Type Final 3 Evolved from a recommendation. That’s in no small part because they really don’t make as many classic shmups as they used to. If you want something with that nostalgic feel, well, this is what you’ve got on your plate, and it’s fortunate that it’s not the worst thing in the world.

PIXEL PERFECT

Recommended

Cory G. believes the pen is mightier than the sword…well, depending on how sharp the pen and sword are. A child of the ’90s and a prolific writer, he strews his work about like Legos made of words, just waiting for your brain to step on them. He enjoys a devilish challenge, so when it comes to talking about some of the more difficult games out there, you might just run into the Infernal Accountant Mage. Some advice: hold on to your soul around this guy, and don’t sign anything. Read more at popzara.com.