I'm not sure about the exact timeline who did what since Rainbow Arts also published games, but factor-5 who made the Amiga port, consists of five people who left from Rainbow Arts. Wikipedia actually says that Factor-5's Katakis was thought to be too similar to R-type, so Activision made them an ultimatum to accept a deal to port R-type to Amiga, or face court.
Yes, Katakis was clone of R-Type, and people who made it, made conversion of R-Type for C64 :) At least Katakis wasn't pull from shelves like Giana Sisters.
It's a bit surprising to see the negative talk about the PC Engine version. Something that wasn't mentioned in the video, is that the US release of R-Type for the TurboGrafx 16 was fit onto ONE hu-card, and only the Japanese release was on two. So this wasn't an issue in America. Secondly, I find it to be the best home version of R-Type before R-Types was released on the Playstation. It was the absolute closest to the arcade available at the time, and I never found the "scrolling" to be a detractor. I guess that part is just a matter of opinion :) The SMS version was very impressive for an 8-bit console but lets be honest, it pales by comparison to the Turbo port in all departments, save the secret stage.
+Decibel FX Yeah, my views on the PC Engine R-Type are not shared by the most. That's okay though. Difference in opinions makes the world a more interesting place :)
Well am telling you, the PC-Engine version look awesome, i seen some arcade systems that used trhe PC-Engine as base and was kinda baffled when the attraction mode did show the level 5-6 rather than the usual 1-3 of the normal arcade; i also noticed a bigger area and some flickes, then when the logo with a II appeared i understood was watching the second R-type Hu-card attractor and the quality was almost undistinguishable from the arcade original!
Decibel FX: I am weird and think the TurboGrafx16 version of R-Type is the best. Of all the versions. Even the arcade. Mainly because I like the TurboGrafx16 instruments better for the battle theme.
Wait, what?? Since when has there been negative talk about the PC Engine/TG-16 port? That's news to me, it's a fantastic port! Someone would have to be pretty stupid to actually think it's a bad port. Yeah, there's lots of sprite flicker but that's just the way games like that ran on the system due to the sprites on screen limit. A good FPGA core that ups the sprite limit would help many PC Engine games immensely with this.
The C64 Version is coded by 1 Person (Manfred Trenz. Legend in the C64 & Amiga Scene, he's the Father of Turrican) in only 6 1/2 weeks ! Like the C64 Version, the Amiga Version was coded in only 6 1/2 weeks, but it was a Port from the ST Version (16 Colors) it was converted by 3 Coders. Here's R Type 2. ruclips.net/video/ycbIccnlNuw/видео.html I'm shure that R-Type 2 Team got way more Time and Support (Source Material) from Irem & Activision. Here's the Google Translated Version from the German Wiki Article to Katakis. "The technical and graphic similarity of Katakis to irems flagship shooter R-Type introduced shortly after the release of the C64 version to a legendary agreement between Rainbow Arts and R-Type publisher Activision, who wanted to avoid a legal battle . It was agreed that the programming team of Katakis the implementation of R-Type completed - within 6½ weeks the game was finished." EDIT: The Amiga Version is super smooth and not sluggish ! Your Emulator Settings are bad, or your CPU Power is to low to Emulate it good, or you did a mistake and dont disabled Intel SpeedStep. Never leave Dynamic CPU Over&Under Clocking on, when you use Emulation. Run the CPU always on full Power -> Switch the Windows Power Scheme to Desktop Profile.
Just came from you 400th BotP episode, that Super Mario one was good, thought i'd come and watch some of the early ones, see the humble beginnings so to speak! So congrats on the big 400, and i've subbed so i don't miss otners!
Thanks for the sub! This R-Type video is an old one for sure. I've actually remade this one as part of the Remastered series. If you search BOTP R-Type remastered, you should find it
The Super Famicom's intro is really neat! Very rarely do we get to see the pilots or crews in SHMUPs next to their ships; despite being such a small part of the game, it gives a sense of scale to the sheer size of the enemies you're fighting!
Here are the timestamps for each one. Arcade : 0:23 Amiga 500 : 2:09 Commodore 64 : 2:51 Amstrad CPC 464 : 4:25 GameBoy : 5:55 GameBoy Colour : 7:38 Sega Master System (with FM audio) : 9:17 PC Engine : 11:20 PlayStation : 13:03 Sharp X68000 : 14:18 XBOX 360 : 16:07 Super Famicom : 18:20 ZX Spectrum : 20:11 MSX : 21:26 Speaking of the Amstrad, someone made a CPC 6128 version which has full colour, music and an intro which is different from other versions, way different from the half-baked conversion that was featured for the CPC 464. ruclips.net/video/8y67EaQWpy0/видео.html
Cheers for the time stamps. I'll add them with credit to the video discription. About the more recent CPC release. Saw that a while back. Very impressive compared to the crap we got back in the day.
I know this video is almost 9 years old but this series really is the best of the port comparison videos. I think R-Type was one of the best shmups for 8-bit systems. I get the same feeling playing it that I do with Thunder Force III and beyond, that feeling that the game really is trying its absolute silicon best to kill you. At least in the SMS version, that is. But maybe that's not surprising given it's from Compile. Out of the decent (i.e. not the CPC or Spectrum) ports here, is there a hardest / most difficult? Or are they all comparable?
What's maddening about the PC engine is that there was nothing stopping the sprites being adjusted to the same size as the Super Nintendo version, both consoles have a resolution of 256x224. While the Super Nintendo version of sprites is more akin to R-Type II, the graphics from R-Type II are not too different from the first game.
ZX Spectrum R-Type: the eight technical wonder of the world on a "shortage-economy" of a hardware, and it plays awesome Retail Amstrad CPC R-Type: I actually like the idea it being in high resolution, makes me wonder what would be if it was re-drawn to better suit the system's potential in high-res mode. Homebrew Amstrad version: Tremendous work, and could be my favourite 8-bit version, but the blocky graphics mode is harshly restricting the the playfield space to me Commodore 64: smooth and cool, if a bit derivative and buggy. Great music, but it's a rare occasion when I favour "the epic 80s anime" feel of the original instead of the disco dance remix music here.
Mate, you really need to redo this show after you made R-Type 2. I really miss you speaking, the videos are really short... and the Amiga version is NOT that sluggish indeed. One of the most amazing things about the Amiga version is how silky smooth the game is. It does have stuff missing from the arcade game, but the game is incredibly smooth. Also the MSX version is annoyingly slow because you are playing it at 50hz instead of 60hz. You can also turn on FM emulation on the MSX version (if you're using an emulator) and the music gets *really* good. Though R-Type is an MSX 1 game, FM was only found on MSX2 and MSX2+ computers.
Brad Allen No, it runs at 50 (PAL) and 60 (NTSC). It is not silky smooth due to some (not that aggressive) slowdowns when much is happening on the screen and while the ship you control moves at 50/60 enemies tend to move at 25/30. Your 25 fps is simply not correct, I am playing it at this very moment on original hardware just to be sure.
Was playing the c64 version today with invincibility cheat.god it's hard. Think I never got past stage 3 originally.graphics are fantastic for an 8bit system .loads of enemies on screen. Lots of bullets.no slow down.
Now that it has been ported to the Switch we have a new winner!! The on-the-fly change to beautiful 3D graphics makes it the winner over all (including the arcade) in my book!
+ManicTom C this video will be receiving an update in the future and will include the new Amstrad version :) I'm not sure when I will have time to do it though.
Hi mark, not sure if you’re interested in this old project. I Bob Pope’s ebook on his speech port. It’s a really good read. It’s called “it’s behind you”.
Indeed it did. It's one thing that really stood out aboutthe game back when it was released. No other console game atthe time had a sound like Super R-Type.
Yeah, in the UK the Master System was king of 8bits and the Nega Drive was king of the 16bits. then it all went wrong for Sega and never really recovered. In Japan the Master System wasn't very popular. The Mega Drive did ok. The Saturn did very well as did the DC.
Nice video, thanks for adding commentary. I'm not sure you'll get many people agreeing with your PC Engine criticism, particularly from the US where the whole game was released on one card for the TG16. I don't mind the slight vertical scrolling, it has richer sound and better stereo separation than the arcade version and it's miles ahead of the comparatively inaccurate Master System version that you praise so much. The X68000 version is good, but has smaller sprites and very tinny sound.
The MSX game is one of the biggest cartridges for an MSX system with 384kb. It's actually the biggest one for MSX 1. I am still amazed with what they did with an MSX 1 game. It really looks incredible for an MSX 1 game. And please please PLEASE whenever you have sometime, check out Space Manbow, Aleste, Aleste 2, Aleste Gaiden, Zanac EX Famicle Parodic, Famicle Parodic 2, Laydock 2, Hydefos, Sea Sardine, Kyokugen, Pleasure Hearts, BLaster Burn, Twinkle Star and Rona , so you get off this "MSX can't scroll for shit" taste from your mouth :D Though all of those are MSX2 games, and some of them need an MSX2+ actually. None of them are arcade ports though and... except for Aleste which got a port for the Master System, and Zanac EX which is actually an enhanced port from NES Zanac (which in turn was an enhaced/remixed port of the first Zanac for MSX), they are all MSX exclusives.
Space Manbow is the best 8 bits horizontal shooter ever, and Aleste 2 the best vertical 8 bits shooter ever. They are really that amazing. And yeah, I do know Recca (even own it - freaking love it :D )
They just have a better VDP, everything else is still the same hardware. Of course, a better VDP makes a huge difference for gaming :D On MSX 1 there are some games that have smooth scroll, but indeed that's not common. From the back of my head I remember Rally-X, Crusader and Theseus (None of them are shooters).
Not really. Rally X uses single color walls that are made by rectangles and they scroll on a single color background. I think that's why they managed to make it smooth.. they are just drawing rectangles instead of a background made of tiles. Both Theseus and Crusader are also running in a black background. I think this somehow helps, though the walls/floor are more colorful. The MSX can't have more than 4 sprites on the same row, and AFAIK it can't multiplex sprites either. The sprites are also single color.
Unfortunately the choppiness comes from RUclips resampling the videos to 30fps. They should be in 60fps. Other videos made after this have faster scrolling so it's easier to read.
"I never knew the US version of PC Engine R-Type was released on 1 Hu-card. I did know about the R-Type Complete CD version though as I owned that at one point." Yeah we got off easy not having to buy separate cards that time. I've read it had to do with the space issue with HuCards only going up to 2 megs at the time R-Type came out in Japan but by the time the TurboGrafx-16 was released in the US, the cards could not hold 4 megs so they simply reprogrammed the game to fit on there entirely. No passwords for us!
Kinda agree with your opinion of the PC Engine version. The vertical scrolling really does change the game play and not for the better. It's a shame the devs decided that big sprites were more important than keeping to the original scrolling - especially since it was Compile. They should know better!
thanks very much. Actually that link couldn't be found but a little look around that site and I found it myself. I'm going to give this a try tomorrow.
Понятно что это через чур очевидно,но версия на xbox-360,выше всяких похвал! =) Хотелось бы добавить,что все остальные версии тоже хороши,с точки зрения ограничений железа,с портами справились очень хорошо! =)
Correction on Super R-Type on SNES. Super R-Type was loosely based on R-Type II from 1989, *not* the 1987 original R-Type. It uses some levels from R-Type II but Irem created some new exclusive levels for the Super Famicom / SNES.
+Retro Core Also there is a bit of difference between the SFC and SNES versions, the slowdown isnt as apparant in the snes version, and there are added textures to the background and stuff making it better to look at.
The Arcade version of the game was my favorite and the SNES version was a strange mix of rtype 1/2. A friend of mine 30 YEARS AGO(HOLD ME F**KING BACK LOL) finished rtype 1 on MY Amiga 500 using MY Kempston competition pro while Drinking STELLA, I was drinking NEWCASTLE BROWN, and I believe this impaired my GAMEPLAY and hey I kicked his BABY ASS at Street fighter the new contenders :) Love your vidz and HAVE SUBSCRIBED xxx
Yeah, I really do like the C64 music on R-Type. Some of the best on the system. And you're right about the 360 version of R-Type. This is how all classic ports should be made IMO.
I really hate modern updates of old games where they try to “improve” the graphics. The games just end up looking soulless and clinical. It really isn’t necessary most of the time.
I never knew the US version of PC Engine R-Type was released on 1 Hu-card. I did know about the R-Type Complete CD version though as I owned that at one point. I still don't really like the odd resolution though. The reason the Master System gets so much praise is because it's a very underestimated system. It's actually quite a powerful 8bit console. Not as powerful as a PC Engine but more than the Famicom / NES. Just nobody really bothered with it.
I can see why people wouldn't like the PC Engine version but I don't have a problem with it. Got the CD version myself with all the looong cutscenes XD
I also hafta disagree with you about the ZX Spectrum version. It seems to scroll just fine to my eyes, and the graphics seem pretty darn good for the system. It could probably stand to be slowed down a bit as it seems to run a bit too fast, which might be partly why the controls seem a bit jerky. If it were downclocked a bit then it would probably run and play much better.
I like both Pc Engine and Master System versions of R-Type But I think the Master System wins because 1)It pushes the Master System Hardware to its limits, 2)The entire game is in a 4Mbit(!) cartridge and Compile still managed to create an entire new level which fits very well with the game organic theme. The Exclusive Boss in PC Engine version isn't that great and the vertical scrolling is a bit annoying at times.
At least someone agrees with me. Many would say the PC Engine version is the best and while it is great I still feel the Master System version really pushes the hardware.
For sure the PC Engine version is great, but the Master System version is terrific, and impressive for the console It runs on (with a bit flickering and slowdown, but for me is just a very little price to pay). To this very day Compile's job still amazes me. It is fun the fact that R-Type for the Master System hit the market in 1988, the same year Mega Drive was launched. They should have made R-Type a Mega Drive launch title as well.
It always did puzzle me why R-Type never got a Mega Drive port. Maybe the cartridge size would have been bigger than 4mbit which for an early Mega Drive game was unheard of.
Indeed they are but I do feel that the Mega CD game, Robo Aleste (English title) has levels that drag on way too long. Super Aleste (Space Megaforce) also has very long levels but they are much more fun to play. Compile's Aleste (Power Strike) on the Master System is crazy withthe amount of stuff on screen at once. A bit oo hard in some cases though. It's a shame Compile are no longer with us just like so many other great japanese game developers such as NCS Misaya, Game Arts and so on.
Indded. In the right hands it could preform some amazing games. have you ever seen NewZealand Story on it? Looks and plays really well. Far better than the NES version.
Also, love the original music for the C64 and Amiga versions, although the conversions aren't too accurate (the Amiga one limps by at just 25fps). LOL at the Speccy (as always), it was never designed for smooth arcade ports - only diehard fans of the machine will defend its arcade ports. Shame that the Amstrad so often ended up with the same ports due to having the same Z80 CPU, when it in truth was more capable than the Spectrum. Ideas for the next episode? For amusement I'd like Pit Fighter.
The MSX received enhanced versions of all Gradius (nemesis) games including Salamander, using msx2 hardware to add smooth scrolling... Someone could do the same for R Type... And yes, the player ship is bizarre, it looks like a deformed skull to me...
C64 R-Type was an absolute disaster if you had the cassette version, due to the terribly poor implementation of the multiload. Die on Level 1? off you go and reload the entire level in again and that meant rewinding the tape and starting from scratch Disk Drives were way out of the reach of the average UK household. A simple continue playing option would of fixed this. But when you only give the coder 7 weeks to write the game..
Lol I imagine you must think most Gameboy Color games look awful, cus that's pretty much how they all look. The colors just aren't very good on the Gameboy Color, but it is what it is.
I like the Master System port too, but it's only a great port for the machine's capabilities, in absolute terms it's only a decent port and I'd always pick the TG16 version ahead of it. Nice FM music on the Japanese version though, hadn't heard that before. About the PC Engine version's resolution, it actually has the closest resolution (377x239) to the arcade game (384x256), so has the most accurate scale graphics. The PC Engine CD version has some very odd remixed music, don't like it much.
I need to say it but people that play snes on your pc... STOP USING ZSNES. The sound core is broken, it's horribly outdated and tired of people thinking it's the greatest emulator ever. The coder is super lazy and keeps saying "Hey,working on it" with other better emulators that have barely any issues there is NO reason to use Zsnes. May it RIP.
the snes verion of this game is trash ... we all know that shooters is one of the snes weakness...nintendo didnt really care for shooters...they focus more on side scroller rpgs..and games for babys like donkey kong and mario.
Good job :) Master System was a great system, I´m usually surprised at the quality of its games. I´m glad it was popular in Europe, here in Spain back in the day 3 of my friends had Master System, and only 2 a NES. Things reversed with Super Nintendo and Mega Drive, SNES was more popular.
Agree about PC Engine's R-Type, the added vertical scrolling doesn't fit R-Type at all. Also many parallax are missing + the game flickers quite a lot. And even if there's an exclusive boss in fact it's lame since it's ruined by the obvious safe-spot. And there's also a PC Engine CD version but instead of improving the HuCard version it makes it worse! The (boring) added cutscenes + remixed soundtrack are out of place and the game doesn't loop anymore nor keep your highscore. The Master System port for a full 1985 8-bit system is quite impressive. Unlike the PCE ports the full playfield is shown in the window, the controls are spot-on (this version is really fun to play) and as you mentioned there's an exclusive stage. Just the score isn't displayed while in-game but other than that it's a great version. And, weirdly enough, despite its choppy scrolling I kinda like the MSX version.
The Master System version is indeed very good however it seems many like the PC Engine version more. Personally I don't. I actually own the CD version and both Hu-cards. I do quite like the CD audio in the CD release but the cut scenes aren't anything special. I don't care much for games looping either so I'm fine with that. Still, I am a big fan of the Master System version.
+Retro Core I played both and had more fun with the Master System version. And its additional stage is nicer than the kinda lame additional boss of the PC Engine versions. Finally about what can be called "gamer features" like the fact that a game loops or saves your highscore, I think you should, at least for your videos, give more importance to these things. Gameplay is what matters most in the end :P Oh and, some games which might interest you to compare: Marble Madness; New Zealand Story and maybe Prince of Persia.
For the time being I'm only doing arcade to home ports so Prince of Persia couldn't be included but maybe in the future I'll start to cover games that were not arcade games. Then Prince or Persia could be added. The other two games you mentioned are on the list of to do videos. That list is pretty big with over 100 titles :)
Why would it be hard to imagine R-Type being good on the Gameboy? Boy, you really do underestimate Nintendo hardware don't you? The Gameboy was a fantastic little handheld and very capable! Not sure why you thought R-Type wouldn't be good on it, it has many great shooters, and R-Type was a very early game for the system too!
Nope, I think the Super Famicom is a fantastic console. The GB has a very low resolution so it's hard to imagine a detailed shooter running on a low res monochrome screen.
I didn't know the msx port was so bad O.o Altough I disagree with you the MSX and MSX2 are both fantastic system for shooters. In fact I don't know many shooters (just nemesis or gradius) that had anything but a smooth perfect scroling Check out these : ruclips.net/video/aV9WWuCespA/видео.html (Known as power strike I on the master system) ruclips.net/video/tE47OqHisWg/видео.html (never ported anywhere else) ruclips.net/video/tE47OqHisWg/видео.html (never ported anywhere else)
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
C64 conversion was made by same people who made Giana Sisters, Katakis (R-Type clone), Turrican 1 and 2, they really pushed C64 to its limit.
That explains the great job they did.
I'm not sure about the exact timeline who did what since Rainbow Arts also published games, but factor-5 who made the Amiga port, consists of five people who left from Rainbow Arts. Wikipedia actually says that Factor-5's Katakis was thought to be too similar to R-type, so Activision made them an ultimatum to accept a deal to port R-type to Amiga, or face court.
Yes, Katakis was clone of R-Type, and people who made it, made conversion of R-Type for C64 :) At least Katakis wasn't pull from shelves like Giana Sisters.
@@metalcoola it had to be reworked as Denarius
@@thefurthestmanfromhome1148 Denaris is how I remember it. I didn't realise it was originally called Katakis until recently.
It's a bit surprising to see the negative talk about the PC Engine version. Something that wasn't mentioned in the video, is that the US release of R-Type for the TurboGrafx 16 was fit onto ONE hu-card, and only the Japanese release was on two. So this wasn't an issue in America. Secondly, I find it to be the best home version of R-Type before R-Types was released on the Playstation. It was the absolute closest to the arcade available at the time, and I never found the "scrolling" to be a detractor. I guess that part is just a matter of opinion :) The SMS version was very impressive for an 8-bit console but lets be honest, it pales by comparison to the Turbo port in all departments, save the secret stage.
+Decibel FX Yeah, my views on the PC Engine R-Type are not shared by the most. That's okay though. Difference in opinions makes the world a more interesting place :)
Well am telling you, the PC-Engine version look awesome, i seen some arcade systems that used trhe PC-Engine as base and was kinda baffled when the attraction mode did show the level 5-6 rather than the usual 1-3 of the normal arcade; i also noticed a bigger area and some flickes, then when the logo with a II appeared i understood was watching the second R-type Hu-card attractor and the quality was almost undistinguishable from the arcade original!
Decibel FX: I am weird and think the TurboGrafx16 version of R-Type is the best. Of all the versions. Even the arcade. Mainly because I like the TurboGrafx16 instruments better for the battle theme.
R Type for turbo grafx 16 is the best version that came out till R Types on PS 1
Wait, what?? Since when has there been negative talk about the PC Engine/TG-16 port? That's news to me, it's a fantastic port! Someone would have to be pretty stupid to actually think it's a bad port. Yeah, there's lots of sprite flicker but that's just the way games like that ran on the system due to the sprites on screen limit. A good FPGA core that ups the sprite limit would help many PC Engine games immensely with this.
The SMS version is so good the Mega Drive didn't need a port!
I disagree, the Genesis would have made a much better port than the sms.
The C64 Version is coded by 1 Person (Manfred Trenz. Legend in the C64 & Amiga Scene, he's the Father of Turrican) in only 6 1/2 weeks !
Like the C64 Version, the Amiga Version was coded in only 6 1/2 weeks, but it was a Port from the ST Version (16 Colors) it was converted by 3 Coders.
Here's R Type 2.
ruclips.net/video/ycbIccnlNuw/видео.html
I'm shure that R-Type 2 Team got way more Time and Support (Source Material) from Irem & Activision.
Here's the Google Translated Version from the German Wiki Article to Katakis.
"The technical and graphic similarity of Katakis to irems flagship shooter R-Type introduced shortly after the release of the C64 version to a legendary agreement between Rainbow Arts and R-Type publisher Activision, who wanted to avoid a legal battle . It was agreed that the programming team of Katakis the implementation of R-Type completed - within 6½ weeks the game was finished."
EDIT: The Amiga Version is super smooth and not sluggish !
Your Emulator Settings are bad, or your CPU Power is to low to Emulate it good, or you did a mistake and dont disabled Intel SpeedStep.
Never leave Dynamic CPU Over&Under Clocking on, when you use Emulation.
Run the CPU always on full Power -> Switch the Windows Power Scheme to Desktop Profile.
Just came from you 400th BotP episode, that Super Mario one was good, thought i'd come and watch some of the early ones, see the humble beginnings so to speak! So congrats on the big 400, and i've subbed so i don't miss otners!
Thanks for the sub! This R-Type video is an old one for sure. I've actually remade this one as part of the Remastered series. If you search BOTP R-Type remastered, you should find it
The Super Famicom's intro is really neat! Very rarely do we get to see the pilots or crews in SHMUPs next to their ships; despite being such a small part of the game, it gives a sense of scale to the sheer size of the enemies you're fighting!
I agree. There are few shooters where you see the pilot or crew next to there ships. Sol Feace, GlayLancer and Thunder Force III spring to mind.
@@RetroCore I have played all of those and I love them equally for similar aesthetic decisions! ^^
Here are the timestamps for each one.
Arcade : 0:23
Amiga 500 : 2:09
Commodore 64 : 2:51
Amstrad CPC 464 : 4:25
GameBoy : 5:55
GameBoy Colour : 7:38
Sega Master System (with FM audio) : 9:17
PC Engine : 11:20
PlayStation : 13:03
Sharp X68000 : 14:18
XBOX 360 : 16:07
Super Famicom : 18:20
ZX Spectrum : 20:11
MSX : 21:26
Speaking of the Amstrad, someone made a CPC 6128 version which has full colour, music and an intro which is different from other versions, way different from the half-baked conversion that was featured for the CPC 464. ruclips.net/video/8y67EaQWpy0/видео.html
Cheers for the time stamps. I'll add them with credit to the video discription.
About the more recent CPC release. Saw that a while back. Very impressive compared to the crap we got back in the day.
I know this video is almost 9 years old but this series really is the best of the port comparison videos.
I think R-Type was one of the best shmups for 8-bit systems. I get the same feeling playing it that I do with Thunder Force III and beyond, that feeling that the game really is trying its absolute silicon best to kill you. At least in the SMS version, that is. But maybe that's not surprising given it's from Compile.
Out of the decent (i.e. not the CPC or Spectrum) ports here, is there a hardest / most difficult? Or are they all comparable?
Oh, you should check out my updated remastered version with more ports, voice over and 1080 60fps video.
ruclips.net/video/b92idpWmYlk/видео.html
What's maddening about the PC engine is that there was nothing stopping the sprites being adjusted to the same size as the Super Nintendo version, both consoles have a resolution of 256x224. While the Super Nintendo version of sprites is more akin to R-Type II, the graphics from R-Type II are not too different from the first game.
ZX Spectrum R-Type: the eight technical wonder of the world on a "shortage-economy" of a hardware, and it plays awesome
Retail Amstrad CPC R-Type: I actually like the idea it being in high resolution, makes me wonder what would be if it was re-drawn to better suit the system's potential in high-res mode.
Homebrew Amstrad version: Tremendous work, and could be my favourite 8-bit version, but the blocky graphics mode is harshly restricting the the playfield space to me
Commodore 64: smooth and cool, if a bit derivative and buggy. Great music, but it's a rare occasion when I favour "the epic 80s anime" feel of the original instead of the disco dance remix music here.
Every time I watch these vids I want to build a MAME Cabinet.
Mate, you really need to redo this show after you made R-Type 2.
I really miss you speaking, the videos are really short... and the Amiga version is NOT that sluggish indeed. One of the most amazing things about the Amiga version is how silky smooth the game is. It does have stuff missing from the arcade game, but the game is incredibly smooth.
Also the MSX version is annoyingly slow because you are playing it at 50hz instead of 60hz. You can also turn on FM emulation on the MSX version (if you're using an emulator) and the music gets *really* good. Though R-Type is an MSX 1 game, FM was only found on MSX2 and MSX2+ computers.
Some day I will revisit some of the older shows and redo them but when that will be is a mystery :(
Brad Allen No, it runs at 50 (PAL) and 60 (NTSC). It is not silky smooth due to some (not that aggressive) slowdowns when much is happening on the screen and while the ship you control moves at 50/60 enemies tend to move at 25/30. Your 25 fps is simply not correct, I am playing it at this very moment on original hardware just to be sure.
Super R-Type is based on R-Type II, with some levels replaced by new ones.
Was playing the c64 version today with invincibility cheat.god it's hard. Think I never got past stage 3 originally.graphics are fantastic for an 8bit system .loads of enemies on screen. Lots of bullets.no slow down.
The Spectrum version is the best game for the system by far.
Just sayin'
Another great BOTP! thx I want to play more of these ports.
The PC Engine version is stunning and plays well too. Definitely the best 8bit in my opinion
Another quality production. Really enjoyed that mate. Fantastic. Cant wait for the next one
Now that it has been ported to the Switch we have a new winner!! The on-the-fly change to beautiful 3D graphics makes it the winner over all (including the arcade) in my book!
Great video. One of the best game of the 80s. Please could you consider updating the video to include the new amstrad cpc 128k home brew? Thx
+ManicTom C this video will be receiving an update in the future and will include the new Amstrad version :) I'm not sure when I will have time to do it though.
Hi mark, not sure if you’re interested in this old project. I Bob Pope’s ebook on his speech port. It’s a really good read. It’s called “it’s behind you”.
isnt super r-type a semi-port of r-type 2?
Yes, that's correct.
Indeed it did. It's one thing that really stood out aboutthe game back when it was released. No other console game atthe time had a sound like Super R-Type.
Perhaps you could also add the Atari ST version when you upload an update to this video?
With do. I also need to add the remake of the CPC version too.
@@RetroCore Personally, I'd love you to do that I'm part of Easter Egg team that created the remake and made all the music/sfx conversion 😁
Yeah, in the UK the Master System was king of 8bits and the Nega Drive was king of the 16bits. then it all went wrong for Sega and never really recovered. In Japan the Master System wasn't very popular. The Mega Drive did ok. The Saturn did very well as did the DC.
How about doing an R-TYPE 2 show?
Lots of ports to contend with...
Great intro!!! Great channel!
Thanks for the visit
I'm glad you enjoyed the show.
thanks, There's more on the way.
Nice video, thanks for adding commentary.
I'm not sure you'll get many people agreeing with your PC Engine criticism, particularly from the US where the whole game was released on one card for the TG16. I don't mind the slight vertical scrolling, it has richer sound and better stereo separation than the arcade version and it's miles ahead of the comparatively inaccurate Master System version that you praise so much. The X68000 version is good, but has smaller sprites and very tinny sound.
The MSX game is one of the biggest cartridges for an MSX system with 384kb. It's actually the biggest one for MSX 1.
I am still amazed with what they did with an MSX 1 game. It really looks incredible for an MSX 1 game.
And please please PLEASE whenever you have sometime, check out Space Manbow, Aleste, Aleste 2, Aleste Gaiden, Zanac EX Famicle Parodic, Famicle Parodic 2, Laydock 2, Hydefos, Sea Sardine, Kyokugen, Pleasure Hearts, BLaster Burn, Twinkle Star and Rona , so you get off this "MSX can't scroll for shit" taste from your mouth :D
Though all of those are MSX2 games, and some of them need an MSX2+ actually. None of them are arcade ports though and... except for Aleste which got a port for the Master System, and Zanac EX which is actually an enhanced port from NES Zanac (which in turn was an enhaced/remixed port of the first Zanac for MSX), they are all MSX exclusives.
Space Manbow is the best 8 bits horizontal shooter ever, and Aleste 2 the best vertical 8 bits shooter ever. They are really that amazing.
And yeah, I do know Recca (even own it - freaking love it :D )
Ah, but MSX2 and MSX2+ are more powerful systems :p
They just have a better VDP, everything else is still the same hardware. Of course, a better VDP makes a huge difference for gaming :D
On MSX 1 there are some games that have smooth scroll, but indeed that's not common. From the back of my head I remember Rally-X, Crusader and Theseus (None of them are shooters).
Rafael Lima I would imagine those games use sprites to obtain the smooth scrolling rather than background layers.
Not really. Rally X uses single color walls that are made by rectangles and they scroll on a single color background. I think that's why they managed to make it smooth.. they are just drawing rectangles instead of a background made of tiles.
Both Theseus and Crusader are also running in a black background. I think this somehow helps, though the walls/floor are more colorful.
The MSX can't have more than 4 sprites on the same row, and AFAIK it can't multiplex sprites either. The sprites are also single color.
Unfortunately the choppiness comes from RUclips resampling the videos to 30fps. They should be in 60fps. Other videos made after this have faster scrolling so it's easier to read.
What do you think aboutt he C64 music? I love that!
I think it may actually say that Chris wrote it on the game's title screen.
"I never knew the US version of PC Engine R-Type was released on 1 Hu-card. I did know about the R-Type Complete CD version though as I owned that at one point."
Yeah we got off easy not having to buy separate cards that time. I've read it had to do with the space issue with HuCards only going up to 2 megs at the time R-Type came out in Japan but by the time the TurboGrafx-16 was released in the US, the cards could not hold 4 megs so they simply reprogrammed the game to fit on there entirely. No passwords for us!
Excellent overview! Thanks for making this video.
I didn't know that. I'll have to look in to this MSX FM sound pack.
Compile shooters are easily some of my favorites, so well programmed and the music is almost always great as well
Kinda agree with your opinion of the PC Engine version. The vertical scrolling really does change the game play and not for the better. It's a shame the devs decided that big sprites were more important than keeping to the original scrolling - especially since it was Compile. They should know better!
Not Compile, it was ported by Hudson.
The Master System version was the one made by Compile. One hell of a job, I must add, as expected from them.
thanks very much. Actually that link couldn't be found but a little look around that site and I found it myself. I'm going to give this a try tomorrow.
Hows about giving us a choice of games to pick for the b.o.t.p. ??
Понятно что это через чур очевидно,но версия на xbox-360,выше всяких похвал! =) Хотелось бы добавить,что все остальные версии тоже хороши,с точки зрения ограничений железа,с портами справились очень хорошо! =)
Please do. I'll take a look at it and see what would be good to cover. I think Ghost'n Goblins may be the next one.
I know about Magic Dragon. There's quite a lot of videos of it on RUclips but I couldn't find the ROM so sadly it had to be left out.
Correction on Super R-Type on SNES.
Super R-Type was loosely based on R-Type II from 1989, *not* the 1987 original R-Type. It uses some levels from R-Type II but Irem created some new exclusive levels for the Super Famicom / SNES.
+Thunder Force Yep, that's right. I didn't know that back then when this video was made.
+Retro Core Also there is a bit of difference between the SFC and SNES versions, the slowdown isnt as apparant in the snes version, and there are added textures to the background and stuff making it better to look at.
Lockhart1433
Thanks for the heads up. I didn't know about that. makes sense though since the Japanese version was a very early SFC release.
Retro Core anytime, worth playing mind you.
My first approach to R-Type was with the Game Boy version. Pretty cool port.
Where's the turbo graphics 16 version that was the best one?
It's on the video. Only in America is it called a Turbo Graphics 16. In the reset of the world its know. As a PC Engine.
Nah, I won't be doing Street Fighter 2 :) But then again I bet that would get twice as many views :)
Il have a think and post a list if ok
The Arcade version of the game was my favorite and the SNES version was a strange mix of rtype 1/2.
A friend of mine 30 YEARS AGO(HOLD ME F**KING BACK LOL) finished rtype 1 on MY Amiga 500 using MY Kempston competition pro while Drinking STELLA, I was drinking NEWCASTLE BROWN, and I believe this impaired my GAMEPLAY and hey I kicked his BABY ASS at Street fighter the new contenders :)
Love your vidz and HAVE SUBSCRIBED xxx
Yeah, I really do like the C64 music on R-Type. Some of the best on the system. And you're right about the 360 version of R-Type. This is how all classic ports should be made IMO.
Yeah, licensing would be a real pain. I think only 1 or 2 were even ported by Irem.
I really hate modern updates of old games where they try to “improve” the graphics. The games just end up looking soulless and clinical. It really isn’t necessary most of the time.
No worries man. I could find the game from your link to the main site.
I never knew the US version of PC Engine R-Type was released on 1 Hu-card. I did know about the R-Type Complete CD version though as I owned that at one point. I still don't really like the odd resolution though.
The reason the Master System gets so much praise is because it's a very underestimated system. It's actually quite a powerful 8bit console. Not as powerful as a PC Engine but more than the Famicom / NES. Just nobody really bothered with it.
I agree its been done before but with your production values and quality of your xrgbmini etc the picture would be stunning
I guess streetfighter 2 is also a must along with outrun too
I can see why people wouldn't like the PC Engine version but I don't have a problem with it.
Got the CD version myself with all the looong cutscenes XD
I also hafta disagree with you about the ZX Spectrum version. It seems to scroll just fine to my eyes, and the graphics seem pretty darn good for the system. It could probably stand to be slowed down a bit as it seems to run a bit too fast, which might be partly why the controls seem a bit jerky. If it were downclocked a bit then it would probably run and play much better.
Retro COre how is the GBC Version bad looking it? It is very cartoony like the Gameboy version just with added color, it is sweeter.
+Quinn The Quartz Because of the way it's coloured. It just looks so messy.
As spectrum jerky scrolling u need Specsavers!
This game needs a 3D remake.
And a *_G O O D_* film adaptation.
SMS version is the best considering the power of the hardware.
Great stuff, ghosts and goblins would def have been on my list
One port missing: the PC-88 version.
Yeah, I couldn't find that one at the time of making the video.
maybe in the future. Just out of interest, what would you like to see?
I like both Pc Engine and Master System versions of R-Type But I think the Master System wins because 1)It pushes the Master System Hardware to its limits, 2)The entire game is in a 4Mbit(!) cartridge and Compile still managed to create an entire new level which fits very well with the game organic theme. The Exclusive Boss in PC Engine version isn't that great and the vertical scrolling is a bit annoying at times.
At least someone agrees with me. Many would say the PC Engine version is the best and while it is great I still feel the Master System version really pushes the hardware.
For sure the PC Engine version is great, but the Master System version is terrific, and impressive for the console It runs on (with a bit flickering and slowdown, but for me is just a very little price to pay). To this very day Compile's job still amazes me. It is fun the fact that R-Type for the Master System hit the market in 1988, the same year Mega Drive was launched. They should have made R-Type a Mega Drive launch title as well.
It always did puzzle me why R-Type never got a Mega Drive port. Maybe the cartridge size would have been bigger than 4mbit which for an early Mega Drive game was unheard of.
A Mega Drive port could easily break the PC Engine version in two pieces (no pun intended).
rockmanhunter hmmmm If we push both to the absolute limits.... It would be interesting I'll say that.
The only thing that surprises me about the master system is people underestimating it
Hmm, Ghost'n Goblins maybe worth doing. I quite like that game too.
ah crap, indeed when replacing the characters the URL is screwed. This version is impressive anyway. Have fun !
Indeed they are but I do feel that the Mega CD game, Robo Aleste (English title) has levels that drag on way too long. Super Aleste (Space Megaforce) also has very long levels but they are much more fun to play. Compile's Aleste (Power Strike) on the Master System is crazy withthe amount of stuff on screen at once. A bit oo hard in some cases though.
It's a shame Compile are no longer with us just like so many other great japanese game developers such as NCS Misaya, Game Arts and so on.
the super famicom version has an awesome soundtrack
Indded. In the right hands it could preform some amazing games. have you ever seen NewZealand Story on it? Looks and plays really well. Far better than the NES version.
Also, love the original music for the C64 and Amiga versions, although the conversions aren't too accurate (the Amiga one limps by at just 25fps).
LOL at the Speccy (as always), it was never designed for smooth arcade ports - only diehard fans of the machine will defend its arcade ports. Shame that the Amstrad so often ended up with the same ports due to having the same Z80 CPU, when it in truth was more capable than the Spectrum.
Ideas for the next episode? For amusement I'd like Pit Fighter.
Ah, I never knew that. Thank for the info. Truth be told, I've never played R-Type II
Thanks
You voice is missing in the old videos =(
Yep. Some of these older videos will be remade with voice and at 60fps.
The MSX received enhanced versions of all Gradius (nemesis) games including Salamander, using msx2 hardware to add smooth scrolling...
Someone could do the same for R Type...
And yes, the player ship is bizarre, it looks like a deformed skull to me...
The Super NES/Famicom Version has a really bad framerate but it has the best Music.
Agh! Bloody typos
The new version of the amstrad cpc R-type is on this website but u will need an emulator to play www.rtype.fr/Game_Features.html
C64 R-Type was an absolute disaster if you had the cassette version, due to the terribly poor implementation of the multiload.
Die on Level 1? off you go and reload the entire level in again and that meant rewinding the tape and starting from scratch
Disk Drives were way out of the reach of the average UK household.
A simple continue playing option would of fixed this.
But when you only give the coder 7 weeks to write the game..
I guess super r type belongs to r type ii
Yeah, it's an odd one. It does have more in common with R-Type 2 than 1 for sure.
Dang... the Amiga 500 version would be fantastic if it wasn't for the bad framerate.
I think the C64 music is better than the original arcade version.
Bro u put aracde istead of arcade.i see it
Yeah. Best check out the remastered version of this video ruclips.net/video/b92idpWmYlk/видео.htmlsi=A-3wHV58YXqWfI2N
Lol I imagine you must think most Gameboy Color games look awful, cus that's pretty much how they all look. The colors just aren't very good on the Gameboy Color, but it is what it is.
I like the Master System port too, but it's only a great port for the machine's capabilities, in absolute terms it's only a decent port and I'd always pick the TG16 version ahead of it. Nice FM music on the Japanese version though, hadn't heard that before.
About the PC Engine version's resolution, it actually has the closest resolution (377x239) to the arcade game (384x256), so has the most accurate scale graphics.
The PC Engine CD version has some very odd remixed music, don't like it much.
I need to say it but people that play snes on your pc... STOP USING ZSNES. The sound core is broken, it's horribly outdated and tired of people thinking it's the greatest emulator ever. The coder is super lazy and keeps saying "Hey,working on it" with other better emulators that have barely any issues there is NO reason to use Zsnes. May it RIP.
the snes verion of this game is trash ...
we all know that shooters is one of the snes weakness...nintendo didnt really care for shooters...they focus more on side scroller rpgs..and games for babys like donkey kong and mario.
Good job :)
Master System was a great system, I´m usually surprised at the quality of its games. I´m glad it was popular in Europe, here in Spain back in the day 3 of my friends had Master System, and only 2 a NES. Things reversed with Super Nintendo and Mega Drive, SNES was more popular.
No will look into it
I finally have done and yes, it's a million times betterthan the crap which got released.
Best one in the vid is the snes version.
Agree about PC Engine's R-Type, the added vertical scrolling doesn't fit R-Type at all. Also many parallax are missing + the game flickers quite a lot. And even if there's an exclusive boss in fact it's lame since it's ruined by the obvious safe-spot.
And there's also a PC Engine CD version but instead of improving the HuCard version it makes it worse! The (boring) added cutscenes + remixed soundtrack are out of place and the game doesn't loop anymore nor keep your highscore.
The Master System port for a full 1985 8-bit system is quite impressive. Unlike the PCE ports the full playfield is shown in the window, the controls are spot-on (this version is really fun to play) and as you mentioned there's an exclusive stage. Just the score isn't displayed while in-game but other than that it's a great version.
And, weirdly enough, despite its choppy scrolling I kinda like the MSX version.
The Master System version is indeed very good however it seems many like the PC Engine version more. Personally I don't. I actually own the CD version and both Hu-cards. I do quite like the CD audio in the CD release but the cut scenes aren't anything special. I don't care much for games looping either so I'm fine with that. Still, I am a big fan of the Master System version.
+Retro Core I played both and had more fun with the Master System version. And its additional stage is nicer than the kinda lame additional boss of the PC Engine versions.
Finally about what can be called "gamer features" like the fact that a game loops or saves your highscore, I think you should, at least for your videos, give more importance to these things. Gameplay is what matters most in the end :P
Oh and, some games which might interest you to compare: Marble Madness; New Zealand Story and maybe Prince of Persia.
For the time being I'm only doing arcade to home ports so Prince of Persia couldn't be included but maybe in the future I'll start to cover games that were not arcade games. Then Prince or Persia could be added. The other two games you mentioned are on the list of to do videos. That list is pretty big with over 100 titles :)
Great comparison but please don't use scrolling text annotations for your future ones, it's so annoying to read especially when slow/choppy.
Why would it be hard to imagine R-Type being good on the Gameboy? Boy, you really do underestimate Nintendo hardware don't you? The Gameboy was a fantastic little handheld and very capable! Not sure why you thought R-Type wouldn't be good on it, it has many great shooters, and R-Type was a very early game for the system too!
Nope, I think the Super Famicom is a fantastic console. The GB has a very low resolution so it's hard to imagine a detailed shooter running on a low res monochrome screen.
Well... the zx spectrum probably the best conversion because of the limitations of the machine. You need to improve your skills
This is an old video. Best to watch the much better updated one - ruclips.net/video/b92idpWmYlk/видео.html
I didn't know the msx port was so bad O.o
Altough I disagree with you the MSX and MSX2 are both fantastic system for shooters.
In fact I don't know many shooters (just nemesis or gradius) that had anything but a smooth perfect scroling
Check out these :
ruclips.net/video/aV9WWuCespA/видео.html (Known as power strike I on the master system)
ruclips.net/video/tE47OqHisWg/видео.html (never ported anywhere else)
ruclips.net/video/tE47OqHisWg/видео.html (never ported anywhere else)
The FM audio on the master system version sounds terrible, the non FM master system sounded far better including the music
In some rare cases the PGM audio can sound better.
Indeed still a classic game and great conversion
god those scan lines are eye cancer
aracde
+pootis spencer wtf
it's a reference to the typo thats in this video.
+pootis spencer oh, ok. These older videos have many typos. They were made in the early hours of the morning most of the time.
no worry's. i understand. :)
The spectrum version is very excellent and one the best games of this platform. You don’t know what you are talking about.