cAvailable now for PC/Steam (Reviewed), PS5, Xbox X/S, and Switch/Switch 2.
WHAT IS IT?
A beautiful HD remaster of 1993’s R-Type III: The Third Lightning for the SNES.
IS IT GOOD?
It’s a great shmup from a bygone era.
WHO SHOULD PLAY IT?
Shmuppers.
FLY RIGHT
My favourite shmups – Ikaruga, Einhänder, the little-known Sine Mora – work best when they make you feel like a gaming genius. Combining blistering difficulty (Dark Souls ain’t got nothing on Ikaruga) with repeatable, learnable attack patterns, these are games that are meant to be honed over countless hours of practice, only to finally reach the point where the whole game can be finished in less than sixty minutes, its toughest sections no match for your lightning fast reflexes.
R-Type is one of the progenitor shmup series, and it’s easily one of the best. R-Type Final was one of my favourite games on the PS2 (it narrowly missed the cut on my rundown last year), but the series, with its attachable “Force” powerups, has always been good. While R-Type Delta (1998, PlayStation) is generally considered the best of the bunch, that’s no knock against R-Type III: The Third Lightning, or as it’s now been confusingly rebranded, Dimensions III.
FLY RIGHT
It’s been seventeen long years since R-Type Dimensions, an Xbox Live Arcade title (remember those?) which brought together and remastered the original R-Type and R-Type II for widescreen, HD gaming. There’s been nary an R-Type release since then (saving the release, earlier this year, of an HD compilation of the offshoot turn-based Tactics games), and that’s a shame for what was once a widely-heralded series.
Dimensions III – even more confusingly, there is no Dimensions 2 – comes at a great moment for fans of retro-shmups. There’s Saros, busy applying the shmup ethos to third-person roguelike shooters, while the ever-expanding Switch/Switch 2 retro console library features a plethora of classic shmups, ranging from the aforementioned Ikaruga to similarly-celebrated Radiant Silvergun and a large swath of the R-Type games.
FIRE
What Dimensions III brings to the table is the ideal version of a game widely considered among the best 16-bit shmups. Optional HD graphics – you can swap between the classic and modern with the tap of a button – alongside local shared screen co-op make for a fun afternoon, if you happen to know any other shmup nerds. (I know, we’re a dying breed.)
As for the game itself, it’s got the same solid core of spacefaring combat, albeit with the same extreme difficulty the series is known for. Difficulty modifiers help ease the pain, but players should bear in mind that this isn’t so much a game to be sit down and played through, as it is one to be mastered, over countless hours of improvement. It’s still far less daunting than Elden Ring, at any rate.
That said, we did notice some occasional slowdown, both in 16-bit and HD mode, and we actually found that original graphics to be preferable in certain areas. (Less visual clutter.) The lack of online multiplayer is also disappointing, if forgivable. Mostly, our main criticism has to do with difficulty: it is very hard, so unless you have the stamina to keep pushing through the same levels over and over, this one may not be for you. (Again, Elden Ring sickos, you’ll understand.)
***
Final score: 7/10 Vic Vipers.
Visit the official website for R-Type Dimensions III here.
