Clones & Ports of Irem's R-Type
This article is concerned with clones and ports of Irem's R-Type coinop of 1987 that have appeared on Western home computer game machines.
The original coinop R-Type was designed by Abiko, programmed by Sum and Misachin, drawn by Akio Yoshige and composed by Masato Ishizaki and K.H.
R-Type-likes are defined by me as shoot 'em ups that feature a detachable orb-device and chargeable beam-wave cannon or equivalent. R-Type-likes can feature horizontal and/or vertical screen-scrolling.
The origin of R-Type is Konami's Scramble of 1981. There are scores of shooters that were heavily influenced by R-Type audio-visuals and its weapons system; so much so that one could reasonably say they are R-Type clones. However, most of those clones lack the detachable orb-weapon and/or chargeable super-weapon. Thus, I don't consider them true R-Type clones. That said, some of those sort-of clones stand as the best shoot 'em ups on Western computer-game machines; some of them are better than R-Type clones and ports; they are Salamander-likes.
R-Type charged beam-wave cannon: the player holds down a button, watches as the weapon charges up, and then releases the button to unleash a devastating bolt of firepower capable of taking out rows or columns of hostiles in one shot. During the charging phase, however, players are denied use of their conventional weapons system.
The article is only concerned with R-Type clones and ports that appeared on Western home computer game machines. The clones and ports are presented chronologically.
R-Type Ports
R-Type Commodore 64 1988
Rainbow Arts of Germany ported Irem's R-Type coinop of 1987 to the Commodore 64 in 1988. Published by Electric Dreams, C64 R-Type was programmed by Manfred Trenz, drawn by Andreas Escher and composed by Ramiro Vaca and Chris Hülsbeck.
C64 R-Type is stands as a solid albeit low-res and low-color port of coinop R-Type. C64 R-Type features the eight stages and eight bosses of the coinop. As well, the screen-scrolling and sprite-shifting are smooth and the music is excellent. And while a lot of graphics from the coinop is missing, a lot has been packed in. Thus, C64 R-Type is an 8½/10 port for 1988.
R-Type Amiga 1989
Factor 5 of Germany ported Irem's R-Type coinop of 1987 to Amiga in 1989. Amiga R-Type runs at a consistent 25 FPS. Amiga R-Type displays in "hires" in comparison to C64 R-Type. In addition, Amiga Paula allows for more sophisitcated renditions of R-Type music than C64 SID. This is an 8/10 port for the Amiga in 1989.
R-9 Fighter vs. Bydo Empire:
Amiga R-Type bosses:
R-Type Weapons System:
- Beam-wave cannon (charges up)
- Reflection Laser, Anti-aircraft Laser, Ground Laser, Homing Missiles
- Extra Speed, Detachable Shield Orb (Space Bar)
Amiga R-Type consists of seven horizontally-scrolling stages each of which culminates in an end-stage boss fight. In addition, one stage (the third) has the player circling a multi-screen boss sprite. Thus, Amiga R-Type consists of eight stages in total.
Each stage in Amiga R-Type is 192 pixels in height but varies in width, from ~2,000-4,000 pixels.
Amiga R-Type displays in 16-color 320x200, but its active drawspace is only 304x192.
Produced by Rainbow Arts, Amiga R-Type was programmed by Holger Schmidt and Achim Moller, composed by Chris Hülsbeck (title music) and Darius Zendeh (in-game music), and drawn by Lutz Osterkorn, Stefan Tsouparidis and Willi Bäcker.
Amiga R-Type was distributed on 1x 3.5" 880kB DD diskette.
R-Type Atari ST 1988
Images Design ported Irem's R-Type coinop of 1987 to Atari ST in 1988. Atari ST R-Type was programmed by Karl Jeffery and Rob Hylands, drawn by Mark Jones and composed by Wally Beben.
Atari ST R-Type is faithful to coinop R-Type in controls and audiovisuals, but it runs at only half the framerate of Amiga R-Type.
R-Type 2 Amiga 1991
Arc Developments faithfully ported Irem's R-Type 2 coinop of 1989 to the Amiga in 1991. Amiga R-Type 2 runs at a consistent 25 FPS. Still, this is not an outstanding Amiga port for 1991. Thus, 6½/10.
Amiga R-Type 2 bosses:
In R-Type 2 each weapon-type can be powered-up once. R-Type 2 Weapons System:
- Beam-wave cannon (charges up)
- Detachable "Force" orb-device (Space bar)
- Air-to-ground Laser, Air-to-air Laser, Reflective Laser, Search Laser, Shot-gun Laser
- Heat-seeking Missile, Air-to-ground Missile
- Speed-up
Amiga R-Type 2 consists of six horizontally-scrolling stages each of which culminates in an end-stage boss fight. Amiga R-Type 2 employs parallax scrolling.
Each stage in Amiga R-Type 2 is 192 pixels in height but varies in width, from ~3,500-5,700 pixels.
Amiga R-Type 2 displays in 16-color 320x200, but its active drawspace is only 288x192.
Published by Activision, Amiga R-Type 2 was programmed by Tim Round, lead-drawn by Jon Harrison and composed by Martin Walker. Amiga R-Type 2 was distributed on 1x 3.5" 880kB DD diskette.
R-Type 2 Atari ST 1991
Arc Developments faithfully ported Irem's R-Type 2 coinop of 1989 to the Atari ST in 1991. Atari ST R-Type 2 looks good in stills but runs at half the framerate of Amiga R-Type 2. In addition, Atari ST R-Type 2 audio is weaker than Amiga R-Type 2 audio.
Published by Activision, Atari ST R-Type 2 was programmed by Tim Round, composed by Martin Walker and lead-drawn by Jon Harrison. Atari ST R-Type 2 was distributed on 2x 3.5" 720kB diskettes.
Also based on R-Type 2, SNES Super R-Type of 1991 was infamous for its slowdown.
R-Type 2 Atari ST 1991
R-Type ZX Spectrum 1989
Incredibly, Electric Dreams Software of the U.K. ported Irem's R-Type coinop of 1987 to 48K ZX Spectrum in 1989. ZX Spectrum R-Type was programmed by Bob Pape, drawn by Mark Jones and composed by Rob Hylands.
This is an incredible port. Thus, 9.8/10.
ZX Spectrum R-Type consists of eight horizontally-scrolling stages each of which culminates in an end-stage boss fight.
Each stage in ZX Spectrum R-Type is 160 pixels in height but varies in width, from ~1,000-3200 pixels.
ZX Spectrum R-Type displays in 8-color 256x192, but its drawspace is 240x192 and its active drawspace is 240x160.
R-Type Clones
Katakis Commodore 64 1988
Rainbow Arts of Germany released Katakis for the Commodore 64 in 1988. C64 Katakis is the best R-Type clone ever made. C64 Katakis features 12 stages and either single-player, 2-player alternating or 2-player coop mode.
C64 Katakis plays music and sound effects simultaneously.
C64 Katakis was programmed by Manfred Trenz, composed by Chris Hülsbeck and drawn by Andreas Escher.
Katakis Amiga 1990
Katakis / Denaris by Factor 5 is a solid R-Type clone converted in 1990 to Amiga from the C64 original of 1988. This is the kind of shoot 'em up where you wipe out hard-as-hell waves, yet get no power-up. And that is not a criticism. Just don't expect power-ups to get thrown about like confetti.
Amiga Katakis was programmed by Holger Schmidt and composed by Chris Hülsbeck.
X-Out Commodore 64 1989
Rainbow Arts released X-Out for the Commodore 64 in 1989. C64 X-Out was programmed by Jörg Prenzing, drawn by Andreas Escher and composed by Michael Hendriks.
X-Out is a horizontally-scrolling shooter that features customizable armadas and ships.
X-Out Weapon Shop:
X-Out Amiga 1990
Rainbow Arts' Amiga X-Out of 1990 is a port of the Commodore 64 original of 1989 by Arc Developments (see above).
Amiga X-Out runs at 50 FPS while shifting 50 objects and displaying 48 colors on-screen simultaneouly. Amiga X-Out features 40 different aliens, 25 weapons and eight underwater levels 160 screens in length. In addition, it features some destructible terrain.
Project Deep Star: The Ultimate Underwater War-Machine:
ST/Amiga X-Out was level-designed by Holger Schmidt and programmed by Heiko Schröder and drawn by Celal Kandemiroglu. Amiga X-Out audio was composed by Chris Hülsbeck and ST X-Out audio was composed by Jürgen Piscol.
X-Out bosses:
X-Out Weapons System:
- Three types of Missile & Jumpbomb
- Electric Claw, Claw-arm, Flame-thrower
- Drone, Drone-collector, Teuton Laser, Shield
- Up to three Satellites (moving or stationary)
Impressively, the X-Out merchant interface employs joystick- or mouse-driven click-move-drop functionality.
Amiga X-Out consists of eight horizontally-scrolling stages each of which is 6,400 pixels in width and 256 pixels in height. Each stage culminates in an end-stage boss fight. Amiga X-Out displays in 320x200, but its active drawspace is only 288x168.
Amiga X-Out was distributed on 2x 3.5" 880kB DD diskettes.
Z-Out Amiga 1990
Advantec released Z-Out for the Amiga in 1990. Z-Out is the sequel to X-Out. Z-Out only runs at 25 FPS but its vertical and horizontal parallax scrolling is still smooth. Z-Out supports 2-player coop and features 12 bosses.
Destroy Alpha Centauri:
ST/Amiga Z-Out was designed and programmed by Tobias Binsack and drawn by Matthias Hauser and Thomas Klinger. ST/Amiga Z-Out audio was assembled by Rudolf Stember and ST/Amiga Z-Out title music was composed by Chris Hülsbeck.
Z-Out bosses:
Z-Out Weapons System:
- Beam Shot, Drones, Satellites
- Bouncing Flames, Double-shot, Triple-shot
- Fusion Bomb / Centrifugal Supercharger
- Flame-thrower, Streaker
- Blue-Scythe Satellite Rotation, Creep Bomb
Amiga Z-Out consists of six horizontally-scrolling stages each of which is 4800 pixels in width and 224 pixels in height. Each stage culminates in an end-stage boss fight. Amiga Z-Out displays in 32-color 320x200, but its active drawspace is only 300x200.
Amiga Z-Out was distributed on 1x 3.5" 880kB DD diskette.
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