R-Type Dimensions is a remake of R-Type and R-Type 2, both contained in a single package. I got this game yesterday and hmmm... what can I say. The game itself is great, but I found a few breaking points.
1. Infinite Mode breaks the game
They must have thought that it would be a welcome addition for newcomers to R-Type or the shmup genre in general. I mean, shmups are really hard, so why not make it easy by giving the player infinite lives! However, in practice, it is generally frustrating to see your ship die 20 times during a single stage. It also robs you of the sense of achievement in beating the final boss, since technically, in Infinite Mode, winning the game is just a matter of time and not skill.
R-Type is the kind of game where it is by design that you only get to the later, more difficult stages when you get enough practice and get better with your skills. Infinite Mode, however, opens up all the stages up front. Without the skills to handle them, players would just end up throwing the controller down and dismissing the game as unfair. The more eloquent ones out there might even blog about it and say that the game design is not balanced.
Solution for this breaking point: Don't even try Infinite Mode. Play the game as it was meant to be played, using Classic Mode. This mode is closer to how the original developers designed the game.
2. Sound and music are outdated
One of the "selling points" that appear in the game's trailer goes something like "Classic sound and music -- the way it should be!". What this basically means is that they took the music and sound effects from the original games and put them in, as-is without modification nor enhancement. I understand that this game is aimed mainly towards people who have played the original version before, but I see that tagline as just a big, fat excuse, especially seeing that they revamped the graphics to high definition 3D. Here we have a game that offers both the classic 2D look and an enhanced 3D look, but with sound effects that are trapped in decades past. I know that classic gamers appreciate the blast to the past, but I would guess that even some of those players would appreciate having those classic sounds remade for modern times.
Solution for this breaking point: Nothing yet. They might try to peddle an audio pack in the XBox Live Marketplace in the future, but I'm pretty sure they'd ask for money for it.
I actually bought this game (1200 points) without getting the trial version first since I was sure it's going to be good. The game is great -- it's the classic R-Type that many players have enjoyed for many years. However I can't help but feel cheated because of the music and sound that frankly, are utterly lacking.
