R-Type Final - PS2

Remember those days of hanging out at the arcade and pumping quarters into the machine while trying to blast your way through hordes of enemies and awesome bosses? Well, they're back with this fantastic shooter by IREM, concluding the saga of what is arguably one of the greatest shooters of all time. Is it a fitting memorial to a great series? You bet it is.

Where Ikaruga relies on lightning fast reflexes and your ability to memorize the patterns of enemies, R-Type introduces a different kind of strategy. You pilot your ship, one of the 100 unlockable throughout the game, and blow away ships with the help of a power up called the Force.

The Force can sit in front of you or behind, allowing you to blast the hell out of the enemies with special beams or you can send it out ahead of you to absorb bullets and damage the enemy. Since the bad guys are coming from in front and behind, you have to keep your Force where it will to the most good for you and the most damage to the enemy.

It only sounds complicated. It gets easier as you play.

Your enemies are the Bydo, a race created by man and come back to destroy him. Since they're so unfriendly, a last chance mission has been launched to stop them. The Bydo come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from the small and easy to kill, to one humongous battleship that represents a whole level and a boss.

There are six levels to fly through but several have unlockable variations to play and there are some secret levels as well. With a hundred ships to unlock, the game has great replayability and it's fun to sit down and play for a night or play for an hour to get your shooter fix on.You get limited continues to start but once you play for about 2 hours you get unlimited play and can continue as much as you want.

Give it a shot and save the universe from the Bydo empire once and for all.