Every original PSP owner has ‘that game.’ Not the one that got away. The one that’s still trapped in a tower high. Year after year, more PSP exclusives are ported or remastered. The ones that remain landlocked on the handheld become more esoteric, refined and uncanny. I’m talking about the Patchwork Heroes, the Parasite Eve sequels, the ones with names too unwieldy to remember without looking it up. And to my mind, for a long time, mine was R-Type Tactics. An eerie and intimate strategy game that has lingered in my brain since 2008. It will haunt me no longer, as the hidden gem finally reemerges in a handsome new collection.
The R-Type series pushed the nascent SHMUP genre forward with novel weapon configurations and extra nasty aliens to mulch. The Bydo invasion translated incredibly well to a turn-based space combat game. In the original R-Type Tactics, you’d captain a fleet of warrior ships, scout bombers and supply units to navigate a 2D plane reminiscent of the original series. R-Type‘s signature weapon drones play a key role, attaching and detaching them to standard ships for added attack and movement options. You must protect your flagship and destroy your enemy’s counterpart. Countering enemy fire, maneuvering around space debris and making the best of explosive decoys. Like all great tactics games it’s tough, tense, and takes 20 minutes to realize you made a fatal error.
On top of solid design foundations, I greatly appreciated the atmosphere of the original game. The expansive void of space in the palm of my hand. Vibey music that brought the perilous airless deathtrap surrounding Earth to the comfort of my bedroom. I’m happy to report that R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos does this original experience justice. A new, clean visual presentation. Full voice overs, new character art and uncompressed cutscenes. A grin wrapped around my face when the battle march music began, a BBC News-like tune that rang to so many bloodied victories. Tactics never had much to impress story-wise, but it’s cute to have a young anime person narrate your campaign through diary entries like a fushoji Ken Burns.
Cosmos arrives with the original R-Type Tactics, its Japan-only civil war sequel Operation Bitter Chocolate and a new campaign where your units are stranded in the far flung reaches of space. On top of new material and refurbished presentation, the most appreciated upgrade is the absence of gruelingly long load times that wounded many PSP games. It was an especially sensitive issue for Tactics as attack animations extended already time-exhaustive levels. I considered the seconds-long loading bar that appears ahead of map previews an homage.
Last month I claimed R-Type summer was kicking off with Dimensions III, another long awaited remake. There a sharp new presentation Trojan horsed a few aggravating technical woes, hitbox issues being chief among them. Even if hitboxes aren’t a concern with turn-based games, it had me a little clammy. Thankfully I sweated over nothing. I had not experienced any similar bungles in my time with Cosmos. If it does shoot its foot on anything, Bitter Chocolate and the new campaign are bafflingly walled off until you complete the original game. This may roll off the back for newcomers but returners may wince at having to recomplete a 20-hour plus RPG to crack the more interesting follow up.
Granzella is composed of former Irem staffers, and the name is a portmanteau of one of the battalions from the R-Type Tactics series. Reviving it for a new audience has been a labored effort. The game’s development stretched several years into overtime. I’m glad to say that despite a few odd hiccups and little refinement to the original formula, it’s a worthwhile collection of divinely slow-paced and punishing strategy games.
