R-Type Delta: HD Boosted Review - Screenshot 1 of 7
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

In the great pantheon of shoot-'em-up games, R-Type is both one of the greatest and one of the most excruciatingly difficult. Released in arcades in 1987 and drawing visual inspiration from the works of H.R. Giger, you pilot an R-9 fighter craft through spectacular alien worlds in a bid to destroy the Bydo Empire.

Although shoot 'em ups later evolved to favour more twitch-reflex gameplay, R-Type’s staple is its strict memorisation, requiring you to learn it by rote. As with Gradius, not dying is an unspoken challenge: losing your power-ups makes recovery brutally tough, and the game's infamously aggressive checkpoints send you back a considerable distance each time you bite a bullet.

Impressed with the polygonal revision of Taito’s 1996 Raystorm, IREM endeavoured to make a similar transition for R-Type’s fourth entry. Being their first attempt at 3D, it was a project with a steep learning curve. And, while the result was glorious, it was also mystifyingly brief, remaining a PlayStation exclusive for 27 years.

R-Type Delta: HD Boosted Review - Screenshot 2 of 7
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Enter R-Type Delta: HD Boosted - a remaster that upscales the visuals handsomely. Its PlayStation-era polygons have been buffed to an astonishing shine without losing any of their characteristic charm, and overall visibility is greatly improved.

Additionally, while the game was originally in a 4:3 aspect ratio, some trickery has been done to create the illusion of widescreen, using an “expanded” fade effect on the border edges that, when locked in, you quickly forget are there. Its upscaling is on par with M2’s G-Darius port, and, coming from City Connection — a developer praised for their taste in re-releases but less so for their effort thereafter — its quality comes as a pleasant surprise.

R-Type Delta is one of the series' best, both smoother and cleaner than R-Type Final, and faster and freer than the three 2D entries that preceded it. Delta is to R-Type what G-Darius was to, well, Darius: a remarkably slick, visually gorgeous game that maximises the possibilities of 3D architecture.

R-Type Delta: HD Boosted Review - Screenshot 3 of 7
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

There are now three craft available: the original R-9, playing in traditional fashion; the new R-X, with Force Ball homing properties; and the R-13, which is primarily hinged around its Force Ball’s sticky anchoring and laser tether. Impressively, each craft totally changes your approach, requiring its own roadmap to victory. Power-up modifiers vary greatly depending on the ship you’re using, making a maximum of nine shot-types when factoring in three per craft. Additionally, the doubling up of said power-ups expands the range even further.

Visually it’s beautiful and the audio is stellar. Set pieces abound as early as stage one: mecha-centipedes rip through burned-out industrial high-rises to encircle you in the foreground, and screen-dwarfing bosses pump out neon laser barrels and fiery exhaust flame. Dynamic and ploughed with invention, it cherry picks elements from its predecessors and paints them across a bolder seven-stage canvas.

Stage three is wonderfully creative, the entire episode just one hulking, stalking boss that requires travelling beneath its feet to strip its armoury, before climbing to its peak under a hail of missiles. The way the camera scales, shifting your flight path in various directions, heightens its cinematic nature. The fine visual and audio details are terrific, too, like the way the music switches to a muted, bassy throb the instant your ship dips below water.

R-Type Delta: HD Boosted Review - Screenshot 4 of 7
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

Delta remains a hardcore memoriser, despite having more random elements than those before it. It also maintains checkpoints, although now getting powered back up post-death is much easier. Not dying, though, is still the star to shoot for, as maintaining a strong ship enables you to wipe out large enemies and bosses in a fraction of the time.

More than anything else, though, Delta is about ball control. And by that, I mean the Force Ball: R-Type’s idiosyncratic ship attachment. More than any other game in the series, Force Ball usage feels so much more integral, and its strategy varies greatly depending on the different ship types.

Typically the ball can be bolted to the front or back of the craft with a touch. When positioned there, it provides different shot boosts depending on the colour of the power-up you collect. It also shields against almost all incoming bullets and missiles. With a touch of the button, it can be shot out directly into enemies or objects, and set to travel adjacently, firing as it goes to cover more screen space.

R-Type Delta: HD Boosted Review - Screenshot 5 of 7
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Sending the Force Ball out on repeat is how Delta ticks, with the landscape and enemy patterns calling for ever-evolving strategies. When it’s fired into a large enemy it can be absolutely devastating, its point-blank hit-rate making short work of any foe - but its greatest trick is in its new “Dose” function. Now, whenever the ball absorbs a bullet on your behalf, it fills a gauge that, when reaching 100%, will allow you to deploy an explosive super attack against everything on the screen.

Delta has been engineered painstakingly around this, cleverly placing swarms of popcorn enemies in-between junctures so you can quickly ‘dose up’ with a little risk-reward flying. Attached to the front of your craft, it can be used as a collision barrier, nosing through enemy waves and building the meter fast. Dedicated players will be able to eke out myriad possibilities for maximising the Dose attack's regular deployment.

Delta proves incredibly deep and impressively malleable for a series known for its strict rail structure. Elements that pose problems initially can be quickly outwitted through experimentation, and often felled in the blink of an eye. Learning not just where to camp, but how to utilise the Force Ball effectively increases your offence and defence in equal stride. And when all else fails, you still have your charge beam to cut through incoming obstacles.

R-Type Delta: HD Boosted Review - Screenshot 6 of 7
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Although you start with limited continues, these increase through play time, and once a stage is beaten it becomes available in practice. There are three difficulty levels to choose from, and perks in the form of graphics texture options, screen dimension adjustments, and time-unlockable bonuses that will keep you plugging away.

Delta HD Boosted's only real presentation shortcoming is that, inexplicably, you can’t skip the lengthy start-up sequence on each new game. With no quick restart from the pause menu either, you’re forced back to the title screen to repeatedly endure the whole opening preamble. It’s an easily addressable oversight that proves genuinely frustrating.

Delta is often cited as one of the most difficult R-Type games, but I beg to differ. Compared to the more static nature of its predecessors, all the new tricks and possibilities here actually make it easier in many ways. Getting powered back up after a death is far friendlier, the Dose super weapon is a crucial get-out-of-jail-free card, and being able to adjust the ship’s speed can save you in a pinch. That said, it’s still hard as nails, and 'Kid' difficulty, despite the disparaging name, comes highly recommended as a first port of call.

R-Type Delta: HD Boosted Review - Screenshot 7 of 7
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

[Update: Since release, technical discrepancies stemming from slowdown removal have been identified by fans. Hiroya Kita, the game's original director, once stated that the PlayStation version's slowdown wasn't intentional. Based on this, City Connection's team made a conscious decision to remove it. Additionally, they only had around 60% of the source code to work with, and needed to supplement with 'bandage' code.

Unfortunately, music desyncing can occur, most commonly on stage three, and certain background graphical elements do not operate as they should. It's also more difficult, as it doesn't chug when things get busy. While beautiful to play and look at nevertheless, and a superb game as it remains, it's worth noting these anomalies if you're coming from the original.]

Conclusion

A true arcade game that never was, and confined to the PlayStation until now, shoot-'em-up fans will adore what’s in store. A seminal work that has never looked better, Delta, with its boundless creativity and exacting design, stands out not just amongst its peers, but as perhaps the best R-Type the series ever produced.

Yes, it’s still crazy tough, and no quick restarts or scene-skipping is painful, but this new HD revamp is by far the best way to play it. If you’re itching for a shoot-'em-up experience of note, this will make your year.

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