Unofficial R-Type port for Mega Drive and Genesis looks absolutely superb!
IREM’s space shooter R-Type is surely the granddaddy of the genre, providing the player with multiple weapons and challenging enemies across a pantheon of levels and ports. Mixing Giger-esque graphics with Chris Hulsbeck (Turrican) audio, the game was a classic of both the arcades and the home computer/console platforms.
But incredibly, despite ports on the C64 and Sega Master System, the game never landed on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis.
This is an astonishing omission that is now set to be resolved. This is thanks to a team of devs including Andrea Baldiraghi and Richard Ashmore. They’re bringing R-Type to the Mega Drive and it looks as good as the original IREM version. (R-Type was IREM’s first title on the 16-bit M72 unit).
OK, here’s the important bit – it’s completely unofficial and does not contain code from any released version of R-Type.
This ROM is a fan creation not affiliated with IREM SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INC. It doesn’t contain any pre-existing or reverse-engineered code from any available version of the original game.
The Mega R-Type demo features:
- 3 Stages
- Arcade and Remixed Soundtracks
- 2 Difficulty levels
- Music Player
- Tons of Mega Options
To play Mega R-Type, you’ll need a Sega Control Pad or Control Stick.
Download your version of the demo from the Mega R-Type itch.io page. You’ll need a suitable Mega Drive/Genesis emulator to play.
A full game of this fan creation will be released at some point in the future with all missing levels.
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