It's still possible if you talk to some of us old-school gaming fogeys about shooters, probably the last bastion of classic 2D gameplay that hasn't yet gone quietly into the good night, and watch our eyes glaze over at the mention of classics like R-Type. For those who's memories stretch back that far, fond recollections of fighting off the corpulent, organic menace that was the Bydo Empire are still plenty vivid, thanks to massive screen-filling boss encounters and an innovative system for detaching and recalling an indestructible upgrade that has since become the series' hallmark.



With the decline of shooters as a viable genre and the instant feelings of giddiness that washed over us at the news that the final shooter in the venerable R-Type franchise was actually going to make it to U.S. shores, we jumped at the opportunity to talk with R-Type developers Irem to discuss what it actually means to put the series to rest and the state of shooters in general. Talking with R-Type Final's Producer and Director, Kazuma Kujo, we learned plenty about what will happen with the R-Type series, and what might be next for the developers. Read on to find the goodies.



PSX2.com:First off, we'll start with the most obvious question. If this is the final R-Type game, what's next for everyone involved? Any plans to start something new and aside from the obvious lack of interest in shooters these days, was there any particular reason why you decided to call it quits with this game? From what we've played of the import copy, it's quite possibly the best in the series, and certainly the flashiest.



Kazuma Kujo:At the moment, we cannot comment on any future plans. However, one of the reasons why we made this the final title is because of the sales figure of shooting games in the market today. Not only did we make this the final for the market and for gamers, but also for our development staff. I feel some of our staff is losing interest in developing shooting games, and I think if this trend goes on, it is apparent that we, IREM, will lose our ability to develop "R-TYPE". I know of other titles that have lost their initial vision by releasing them several times and have become failures. I didn't want "R-Type" to fall into this pattern. That's why I decided to develop the final "R-Type", so we can preserve our ability to develop it.



PSX2.com:Is there still a place in the industry for shooters these days? It seems like kids getting into games only care about free-roaming baseball bat-swinging epics and have no time for classic 2D-style gameplay. Even Treasure – developers renowned for their innovative shooters – couldn't seem to make any headway with Ikaruga, a fantastically old-school shooter with updated graphics.



KK:Actually, shooters are difficult right now as you pointed out. It is apparent if you compare the sales figures with other games. Now people want to play a game where they can do everything and shoot everything in sight, rather than playing classic 2D shooters. I think it would be impossible to change this trend and this trend will continue for the time being.



Although it may sound strange, I think it is worth it to release "R-Type" in this current trend of open-ended, 3D gameplay. In my opinion, game developers should offer a variety of choices to gamers at all times. If the market has become just one game category, I think developers should create new and different experiences for gamers to enjoy. I believe that there still are people who want to play 2D shooters on an advanced platform and there are people who have not played this game before but are interested to know this is the final "R-type" game.



PSX2.com:What – if anything – about R-Type Final seemed to flow more quickly when in the design and programming stages of the game? Was there anything in particular that was really difficult to pull off?



KK:Yes, we tried very hard to make the game move quicker, and there may have been room to improve this during the early stages of development. As you know, the Playstation 2 has lots of potential, but it requires us to study continuously. I think a problem for developers is they want to put all of their ideas into a game, sometimes even beyond their ability. In the case of "R-Type", our staff said we must make the "Laser" prettier, make the enemies more attractive, give the "Wave Cannon" more impact, etc. Not only was this the case for "R-type", but for our other titles as well.



PSX2.com:In a slightly related question, there's still a bit of slowdown, but that's become almost expected in shooters over the years, was there any part of the PlayStation development process that really had you guys pulling your hair out?



KK:There were actually some obstacles to speed up the game processing, but I think the main factor of slowdown is the developer's tendency to put everything in the game, a so called "never-give-up-mindset", rather than a technical issue.



PSX2.com:Since it seems like the only thing that sells these days is 3D, has there ever been a discussion about creating some kind of fully 3D shooter rather than a 2D or 2.5D shooter?



KK:Of course, when we developed "R-TYPE DELTA" and at an early stage of "R-TYPE FINAL", we discussed the possibility of developing a full 3D shooter. But we came to the conclusion that we could not represent the "Force" weapon and functionality of it in 3D, so we decided to continue to employ 2D for this game. However, we will continue to consider making a 3D shooter, and someday we may create a full 3D shooter.



PSX2.com:There seems to be more than a passing resemblance (at least visually) to Square's PlayStation shooter Einhander. Was any major inspiration drawn from the more successful shooters out there, or was there a conscious effort to try to create a game that didn't borrow from anything else out there save for the previous R-Types?



KK:When we developed "R-TYPE DELTA" [back in 1999], we definitely looked at Square's "Einhander", but of course, we did not want to copy it. For "R-TYPE FINAL", we did not take any inspiration from other successful shooters. Instead, we were influenced by RPG and simulation games.



PSX2.com:Can you go into a little detail about the whole process that went into creating the upgrade system and insane number of different ships this time around?



KK:Initially, we wanted to increase the number of ships in the game. Previous shooting games had only a handful of ships to choose from, but we aimed to create more than any other developer could dream of, over 100 to be exact. We also developed these ships with a historical evolution tree to give users a deeper "R-TYPE" world.



PSX2.com:Were there any concepts that were going to be implemented that just didn't quite fit with the game, or were the gameplay mechanics and additions to the R-Type formula that are in the final product pretty much the same from beginning to end?



KK:Yes, we had other ideas we tried but could not put in the game. One of these was "Simulation Mode" where the game mode will change to automatic operation when the player cannot continue to play. But if the player does not give clear direction to ship, it cannot work at all. Actually, we developed a trial version, but we could not put this mode in the final version. We also considered a new feature that would teleport the "Force" bit, so the positions of the ship and the "Force" will be switched instantly, but we also gave up on this feature.



The new features we put in this game are stages that will change every time you play and gameplay routes that will be decided by how you beat the boss characters.





PSX2.com:R-Type Final certainly seems like it's longer than most shooters past or present. Was this a deliberate attempt to give fans a nice, long sendoff, or did it just end up being a lengthy experience. Moreover, what kind of experience were you trying to deliver to both the newcomer to the genre and us old fogeys that grew up on these kinds of games.



KK:We are always trying to make the best games to fans, not just "R-TYPE", so it is not just a lengthy experience.



For newcomers, I wanted to make collecting ships fun because even if the game is too difficult for them, I think it would be fun to get stronger ships to increase your odds. In other words, I think newcomers can enjoy the game by getting better ships that will help them progress through the game.



And for old fans that have played "R-TYPE" before, we put in classic "R-TYPE" ships and other IREM ships, not just "R-TYPE" ships in this game. This feature was received well by Japanese fans here. Also, we set up 5 difficulty levels this time to cover beginners to hardcore gamers. If you feel unsatisfied with the difficulty, just go up a level. You can enjoy the game more with the added tension..



PSX2.com:Is there anything you'd like to say to fans or some of the younger gamers possibly discovering shooters for the first time? Anything you'd like to say about the whole process in general that we didn't reall touch on in the previous questions?



KK:First, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all the fans who have played "R-TYPE" before. As I said before, this is really the best and the final game in the "R-TYPE" series so I want you to give "R-TYPE FINAL" a try.



I am confident that "R TYPE" has something for everyone because it has been loved for a long time. So for younger shooters who have not played a "R-TYPE" game before, I want them to try it this time and not think this is just another difficult game.



In conclusion, although "R-TYPE" will be the final this time, we, IREM, will continue to develop attractive games that will be loved by you. So, US gamers, please look forward to our new games!



And my last words are … Don't forget "R-Type"!!



Thank you!





Big thanks from us as well go out to everyone at Irem and the Fresh Games crew at Eidos for putting this all together. For those that need a few goodies to tide them over until we post a hands-on preview next week, check out these six exclusive screens of a couple of the game's gorgeous levels.



Fancy Camera Angle

Bydo Goof Monster!

Is that a… nevermind

Icy Goodness

You get to blow this entire frigate up

The sun sets on some fancy pyrotechnics