I can
think of a “Rezon” why R-Type fans should play this game! It’s almost
a duplicate. I mean, talk about Dolly the sheep being the first
thing cloned - that’s dead wrong, Rezon the shooter is the first
clone. But a clone of R-Type can be a good thing, if you like insanely
hard gameplay and memorization style levels. I have to admit that
once I saw this game on the MAME work-in-progress page, I could
not wait to see how closely this long lost brother would resemble
the original version. Is it worth your time? Does it measure up?
Let’s take a closer look at what should be a given hit (anything
that follows the R-Type formula).
I’m
basing this review on the fact that you are familiar with R-Type.
Let’s face it, if you are reading this, you’re a shooter fan, and
if you’re a shooter fan, you know R-Type. So that’s a safe assumption.
Two ways Rezon differs from the Type are - first of all, no power
shot. Just plain old regular weapons. Which brings me to complain
about lack of firepower. No charge, and three different weapon powerups:
the yellow rings, red lasers, and blue bouncing orbs, NONE of which
offer substantial firepower at the bosses. This actually increases
the difficulty, because there are no quick ways to out blast a boss.
“Skillz” are a requirement! Second, the detachable defense pod is
replaced by two rods at the top and bottom of the ship. Some weapons
allow them to be flipped around, but others only allow a top/bottom
orientation. These act as shields, and just like in R-Type, you
must master the use of them in order to beat the game. Only problem
is, holding the shot button locks them in place, but you can’t fire
the weapon and lock at the same time. This makes moving around and
working the shields very difficult.
So
how’s the gameplay? Well, as I got further into this game, it just
kept losing me. First level is great, almost mirroring the Irem
classic. Second level changes a bit, which is good, but still lots
of fun. From the third level on, the game gets more and more dull.
Level five is that evil pattern based block junk, and level six
is kinda empty, with lots of screen space and dull enemies. And
the final boss is a letdown. So why does this game still have high
ratings? It’s still an above average shooter…..just needs to be
polished a bit. And should I mention the difficulty? It took me
a whole day, plugging away at this one to beat it. Perseverance
is a MUST to finish this one. Is it worth playing? Yes, just to
compare it to R-Type.
Rezon
- Allumer
