How the grand dame of shooting games is making its return

There are shooting games, and there are games. Irem’s 1987 R-Type can’t exactly claim to be the first of its kind, and you could well argue there are more widely acclaimed shooting games, but you’d be hard pushed to find any as iconic as this stately sci-fi venture. Cold, composed and challenging, it’s the archetypal 80s shooter, and a prime example of the genre in its pomp.

The popularity of shooting games would wane throughout the 90s, however, and by the turn of the century those in charge of the series wondered whether it had a future at all. Which explains the brilliantly fatalistic air that hangs over R-Type Final, the 2004 entry that was imagined as a full-stop for the series.

R-Type Final 2 – Gameplay Trailer | PS4 Watch on YouTube

R-Type Final lead designer Kazuma Kujo has since discovered there’s life yet in the series, though. The veteran of Nazca, Irem and now Granzella – the studio where many Irem alumni ended when the company moved away from video games – now finds himself heading up development of a sequel, somewhat bafflingly called R-Type Final 2, after a Kickstarter campaign more than doubled its targets. A month ahead of R-Type Final 2’s release on April 29th, we spoke to Kujo about R-Type’s return, and what it will entail.

I’d like to start off talking about your relationship with the shooting genre.

Kazuma Kujo: I’ve loved shooting games since childhood. I’d play them in arcades and game centres. When I started working for game companies, when I entered the game industry, I’d create them all throughout my 20s. There were some games that I was able to play a role in creating that are lesser known. There’s Metal Slug…

I know that one quite well!

Kazuma Kujo: I started out with a passion for it and ultimately and kept with it and created those games

It’s a genre that’s clearly dear to you. Was it R-Type that attracted you to work at Irem in the first place?

Kazuma Kujo: Actually before I joined Irem I hadn’t played it – I did find it to be a really interesting game, but to be perfectly honest I found R-Type to be a little too difficult…

That’s fair enough. I love shooting games – I love them to bits – but I also find them very difficult but it doesn’t stop me loving them. R-Type Final was a game you played a big part in – what can you tell me about the thinking behind the concept of the game?