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Home : Games : Reviews : Sony PSP : R-Type Command
The graphics of the battlefield are a mixture of 2D and 3D which work well for the game, but don’t really exceed expectations. When a battle takes place the player is also treated to a short 3D cinema of the conflict. These cinemas are interesting at first, but quickly become an annoyance due to the three to four second load times before each one. Thankfully the cinemas can be turned off and the 2D battlefield representation of the conflict is more than sufficient to get the point across.
The game itself can be a bit imposing at first but in reality it looks more complex than it really is. This can mainly be attributed to the overly complex menu system and the lack of a stand-alone tutorial system. There are also some aspects like pilots who gain skill rankings and the ability to assign them to different ships that don’t seem to make much of a difference and can be ignored all together. Once you have played the game for two or three missions you should become accustomed to the menus and how the game operates.
Just because the game is not as complex as it first appears does not mean that it lacks depth, however. R-Type Command relies heavily on the positioning of your ships to give yourself a strategic advantage in battle. Many of the ships in the game feature special weapons that take several turns to charge up. If a ship is dealt damage while it is charging, that charge is reset and you have to start building it up over again. In addition most of the special weapons can only shoot one direction (typically straight ahead of the ship) and so a dance develops between you and the enemy as you try to place you ship in range with a full charge before the enemy has a chance to hit you.
Although most of the levels are side scrolling with you on the left side and trying to advance to the right, Irem does a good job of using the terrain to add to the depth of the game. Unfortunately there is only so much you can do when you follow a basic side scrolling progression. The level design excels best when this left-to-right advancement is cast aside in favor of some other direction such as top-to-bottom. On these types of levels the emphasis on positioning your ships can really be felt and they add a little bit of variety to what can become a tedious method of progression.
