This game was fun, but in the end, nothing all that special. It basically has nothing, or adds nothing that really differentiates it from a myriad of other space shooters released on the SNES or the Genesis. The music is pretty good, but nothing compared to some of the tunes on the Genesis space games. The graphics were pretty good, but Phalanx, Gradius and Darius Twins all have superior graphics. Still, it was fun and fast and a nice distraction. Just nothing that is going to blow one away. Granted, the difficulty may blow some people away! Yes, like a lot of space games it is extremely difficult with the wonderful one hit death! Suffice to say, if you can get passed that last boss with all the stuff flying at you, I salute you! I was able to defeat this super tough baddie, but I played on an emulator, so I was able to use save states. I do not think I could get through this one without save states.
The story, well, when one plays on an emulator or rents a game and it comes with no manual, one must guess what the story is. Here the ending spelled it out a bit, as an evil empire is trying to take over the galaxy. You, and your rather unimpressive looking ship, must blast your way through hordes and hordes of enemies to defeat the empire and restore peace to the galaxy!
The game play consists you you flying left to right maneuvering through sometimes complex levels to get through a stage and then go on to fight a boss. The enemies look all right, but nothing special. Play Thunderforce III and those enemies are way more impressive looking. The bosses too are not all that cool looking. They are hard to defeat, but a bit disappointing to look at. Like in other space shooters, you collect power ups to help you navigate the stage. Unfortunately, when you die, you lose said power ups. You get a satellite that can trail you and shoot backwards or float ahead and give you considerable firepower from the front. It also shields you to some extent. You can get two more satellites on you upper and lower side; these do not emit any kind of firepower, they simply damage any enemy that gets too close. Then you have different beams for your offensive satellite.
So, is this game fun? Yes. Does it stand out amid the other 90's space shooters? Not really. I have never played the other R-Type game, but my guess is that it will be similar and will not be all that less super. The SNES is capable of so much more than this game offered, but it is a good one.