G-Type is a passable clone of the age old arcade classic, R Type. It was developed by IREM Corporation shortly past the turn of the century and was distributed only as freeware. The original game was wildly popular and spawned multiple sequels and obviously, knock offs and clones. For gamers unfamiliar with the R Type game, G-Type is a side-scrollling science fiction shooter that takes place in outer space. The original R-Type was created for nearly every platform available except for the PC, until G-Type’s creation.
G-Type is a passable clone of the age old arcade classic, R Type. It was developed by IREM Corporation shortly past the turn of the century and was distributed only as freeware. The original game was wildly popular and spawned multiple sequels and obviously, knock offs and clones. For gamers unfamiliar with the R Type game, G-Type is a side-scrollling science fiction shooter that takes place in outer space. The original R-Type was created for nearly every platform available except for the PC, until G-Type’s creation. Its programming allows it to run excellently under more modern operating systems, such as Windows, and should provide an excellent arcade style of experience for gamers.
The user is the pilot of a small space ship. The user will have to fly numerous missions
against some pretty wild adversaries including, huge spider-like arachnids, alien space ships, archaic monuments that have come to life in the futuristic world, and a variety of weird other enemies.
Much of the game play, however, is very faithful to the inspiration behind this game, R-Type. The R-9 ship is virtually identical. The power ups and the upgrades for the ship are very nearly carbon copies, with a few (unspoiled) surprises in store for the serious gamer who can make it into the later levels. There are still Armos that release the power ups, which are basically air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-air guns, heat-seeking lasers, speed up bonuses, and reflective shielding abilities. The gamer can also use up valuable time by holding down the fire button to make the beam full strength and more forceful, or fire weaker shots rapidly with classic button mashing.
The game play, itself, is much better than the original, featuring crisper and more detailed graphics, and a much smoother scroll for better maneuverability and accurate shooting. The sound is also improved. There are only five stages in G-Type, as opposed to a total of eight for the original game. Another minor complaint that some users may have is the fact that its super-smooth play makes it seem almost too easy, even for users who are inexperienced in the space shoot ‘em up genre.
In short, G-Type is a very faithful remake of R-Type, and is basically an R-Type that is converted to the PC format. It is a good little shoot ‘em up, and should provide hours of addictive blasting for just about any type of computer gamer. This is a highly recommended download, especially for people who have yet to find a port for this all-time favorite.
