R-Type Final 2 is a horizontal-scrolling, shooter game developed and published by Granzella Inc. and is a direct sequel to R-Type Final, which was released in 2004. This is the newest instalment in over a decade and it is available on all major platforms. For this review, MKAU played on the Nintendo Switch version.

R-Type Final 2 starts off by letting the player name their character. There’s no customisation for the character but you can reskin and colour the ships you can pilot for the game. Each ship has a unique charge up attack ranging from a rail gun cannon to big bomb blasts however the hitbox for each ship seems to still stay the same despite the design of a ship changing. There is also a wide range of other ships to unlock and use. The enemy ships I found had much better designs with the Gundam-looking mech suit by far my favourite enemy unit to see pop up on the screen.

The story unfolds in the aftermath of a war as your player is cleaning up the dregs of alien forces on the attack. Graphically, it is a traditional side scroller with a lot of overused, old school skins and effects during gameplay. The sound effects felt lacklustre, I guess there is only so much sound it could have to offer but it just felt like a miss that space adventure feels, in my books, personally.

R-Type Final 2 has an arcade style of one hit and you die but the game is a tad more punishing as the difficulty levels are all pretty hard even on the easy setting. I did not really notice any change when I compared normal to hard; I am all for a challenging game but this was very brutal from the start so a rage warning needed. It is definitely a game for the old arcade enthusiasts that live for that die-hard challenging feeling where it’s ”Game Over” with one slight slip up.

The R-Type series has a good community and fanbase given that Final 2 was a Kickstarter game made possible by the community and supporters. I found it a fun game, which sadly did get repetitive quite fast and became easily forgettable as I didn’t have the urge to pick it back up again and keep playing, as I would with many other games.

I tried to enjoy this game with all the aspects but I just felt very bored with the overall feel of the game. It felt like a dated game despite all its glitz and neon glamour with nothing new or special to draw in new players to the series. I get that not all games need a plot but this had none so there was no draw other than the gameplay which is easy to use and nothing different from other side scrollers. The scale of difficulty is another thing I can see not being a big pull for new players. Clearly, R-Type Final 2 was more directed for the community they already had rather than attracting new players.

Written by: Shane Walsh