http://blogs.sega.com/2011/09/27/last-chance-to-grab-r-type-f...

Apparently, one of the comments on that site said it's because of Irem going down. That might mean their other games might be getting removed too. The linked site only mentions the Master System version of R-Type because it's Sega's site.

What other Irem games are on the VC?

R Type and Vigilante on the Turbo 16. However, those games are released by Hudson, so we'll have to wait and see.

Every Irem game on the North American and European VC:

• Spelunker (NES)
• R-Type III: The Third Lightning (SNES)
• Super R-Type (SNES)
• R-Type (Master System)
• R-Type (TurboGrafx-16)
• Vigilante (TurboGrafx-16)
• Ninja Spirit (TurboGrafx-16)
• Legend of Hero Tonma (TurboGrafx-16)

Crap, I better get R-Type III anf Ninja Spirit soon! And Super R-Type, and Legend of Hero Tonma, too.

No! You're not going anywhere ,Irem, until you bring us Ninja Baseball Batman!

I think this deserves an article on the Nintendo Life main site before September ends so the users are warned before the games are removed.

WOW. this sucks, i wanted ninja baseball batman to come out on dsi ware.

Actually, these are the only ones listed as being from Irem when I checked the Shop channel.

I wonder if that means R-Type Dimensions will be pulled from XBLA.

Crap! They might have removed some of their games already!

Well I'm covered then. I've already got all the R-type games I want.
This is another bad sign for VC though. Games being removed sounds like an indication of companies losing interest in VC.
The Wii isn't completely phased out yet so VC support shouldn't be dropping already.

This is exactly the thing I don't like about digital downloads.

At least they're giving us a heads up, unlike all the Wiiware titles that have been randomly disappearing from the shop without warning.

Head up, Ninja Spirit is an absolutely fantastic game you seriously don't want to miss out on. Get it as soon as possible.

...and I need to grab Super R-Type before that goes poof. Shame about R-Type 3, I guess.

So if you've already paid for the games you can still re download them after they are removed right?

I'll see if I can find out for sure. I don't think you can de-download them once they've been removed completely.

WiiWareWave just posted an article about this at http://wiiwarewave.com/t988-last-chance-to-grab-r-type-for-vi...

@Corbs If you download it before then it'll be okay. You should be able to re-download the game just like you can with the demos that were removed |D

I read a Twitter post earlier today that was supposedly answered by a Sega rep that stated that it would NOT be available for re-download after September 30th so I want to make sure this was, in fact, an official representative that answered the question.

I really don't care for sidescrolling shoot'em ups. And doesn't the TG16 version have better visuals, music and sound effects than the Master System version? Why's everyone so hung up over this matter?