Exclusive: 'R-Type' Coming to the iPhone
posted by Blake Patterson on November 9th, 2009 1:30 PM EST in Exclusives, Retro, Shooter, Upcoming Games, iPhone games, iPod touch games
DotEmu, who brought the retro titles Nicky Boom, Krypton Egg, and Golvellius to the App Store, has just given Touch Arcade an exclusive heads up on their latest IP acquisition. And for shooter fans, this is pretty much the best news you could hear: The renowned shooter classic R-Type is coming to the iPhone and iPod touch. The studio informs us that development is currently under way and the title should hit the App Store sometime in the next few months.
"We are very pleased to work on R-Type and to start our collaboration with Irem Software Engineering Inc. Our main goal is to make the best touch version possible of this great game to seduce both fans and new players. This is really a great game and we are eager to release it!" said Xavier Liard, CEO of DotEmu.
For those somehow unfamiliar with R-Type, a bit of history. R-Type is a side-scrolling shooter released to the arcade by Japanese publisher Irem in 1987. The game is set in the 22nd century and places the player in control of the R-9a "Arrowhead" fighter craft with the goal of defending humanity against the bio-mechanical alien life form known as the "Bydo." Battle is waged in and among a complex series of levels, some machine-like and metallic, some biological in nature.
( screenshot of arcade version )
R-Type is widely considered to be one of the best shooters ever made and is known for its viciously designed levels and extreme difficulty. (IGN ranked it 7th in their list of the 10 most difficult games to beat.) The game has been ported to a great many platforms, including the Xbox Live Arcade and the Wii Virtual Console, and has spawned many sequels as well as imitators.
( screenshot of arcade version )
The arrival of a classic of this magnitude — one that stands so notably apart in its genre — is wonderful news for iPhone gamers. DotEmu is a French development and publishing house dedicated to bringing classic 80's / 90's games to modern platforms. See our interview with DotEmu CEO Xavier Liard, from last year, for a close look at the company's history and vision for iPhone game development.
See the following video of the arcade version of the game for a look at the action.
DotEmu has not released any iPhone-specific screenshots or demo videos, but they did reveal that the game will feature D-pad, touch, and tilt controls and that they are focused on getting those controls implemented in a perfectly playable fashion. They have also indicated that they are eager to dig into the issue of iControlPad support and, barring something unforeseen, plan to have support implemented either in the initial release or in an update.
We will share any further news and assets surrounding R-Type for the iPhone as we get them. Stay tuned.
quite simply …
WOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!
O God! Come out NOW!!!!!!!
Hi there.
This will be our best port so far, feel free to send us your suggestions and keep you updated about the launch on dotemu.com/r-type/
Thx !
I think I just creamed my pants.
God, I had (embarrassingly!) totally forgotten about this game. Did I play it on my Atari ST?? I can't remember. Also, it wouldn't surprise me if a bit of the 1986 Aliens film had influenced the creation of that "Bydo"…perhaps long lost relatives. Looking forward to it: )
You probably played it on your NES or SNES if it was a home console. It was also available in the arcades, it would eat up quarters like no tomorrow. Can't say i'm too excited about a side scrolling shooter, but if there is one this would be my choice of the genre. We need more top down shooters, maybe a port of gigawing or something along those lines of frantic shoot-em up would be insane.
It was out on the Amiga too, so probably made it to the Atari ST at the same time. Amiga version: http://hol.abime.net/1288
The 16bit home computer ports were probably just 'okay' versions of the original. The Amiga and ST were capable of doing R-Type well but, since people tended to cross-develop for both of them at once, the ports often under-utilized the hardware.
"Katakis" http://hol.abime.net/2549 became famous on the Amiga because it was a beautiful version of R-Type before Activision had got around to porting R-Type themselves. The makers of Katakis impressed Activision enough that they were contracted to do the R-Type port.
My favorite version, I think, has been the Sharp X68000 version which I play via emulator on a Windows box. Lovely.
Man this game will rock
Only prob-It gonna be 5.99 or higher I can tell
But anything under 2.99 And it will sell like crazy!!
I'm hope it comes out soon-Can't wait
It was sure a heck of a lot more than $5.99 when it came out for the SNES and the Gameboy… and it was black and white for the Gameboy! To me, $5.99 would be a steal for this game!
This is great news. DotEmu, can you tell us what kind of controls it will have? I would really like to see controls like in the iPhone port of rRootage.
I inquired with Xavier Liard (CEO) and he indicated that they are looking into iControlPad support and if it's feasible, they will roll it in as an alternate control method. Let's hope that works out!
You are right Blake, thank you for the comment. We are also investigating other solutions than dPad. – Xavier
very cool
Awesome. Haven't played this since the greyscale gameboy version. Wicked music too!
This is great news! Bydo here I come!
fantastic news ! r-type is one of my all time favourites. I thought it might be a great choice for an iphone port. Can't wait !!!!
Yeah, why not?
Why not instead of R-type 1 why not make a rtype collection. Rtype 1,2 and Leo. They just gonna milk us like always.
Tilt controls for the win.
Um, no. Just no. This kinda game needs touch. Can't get the kinda control precision needed with tilt ..unless they change the movement to be analogue (ie: with changing speeds of movement.)
It needs touch for everyone who needs touch. I've beaten R-Type on most platforms since it was first released, and would have no problem with tilt controls as long as they were tweaked as well as those in Cell War.
oh…right…of course tilt controls would have to be analogue, which is not directly supported in the original code. That shouldn't be a major hurdle, however, assuming that the people porting R-Type are the best ones for the job.
YES!! My iPhone will finally be complete!!
The music in the Arcade version sounds terrible, I have very fond memories of playing this through (with cheats) on my C64. Awesome game, very impressive.
I think the arcade's music is fantastic, though in my opinion, the Turbografx-16 version I have edges past that slightly. Anyway, that game was hard to beat with a physical D-pad on that system, so I hope this game does implement the iControlPad as utmost precision control is required in a game like this!
Oh god, thank you. I now believe you exist.
Please, offer multiple control schemes. Tilt, touch, combo-of-both, etc. Let the customer choose their preference and allow him to adjust sensitivity to all controls.
EXACTLY
Is there already any game like this on iphone?
thank you!
can't wait too!