GIVE ME A "REZON" TO HOLD ON TO WHAT WE'VE GOT
The surprise title from Hamster turned to be an interesting entry on the Arcade Archives: Allumer's R-Type clone Rezon.
Blast-off and Strike the Evil "Whoever is the enemy here".
Clones. When a small developer wants to do a quick profit follows one principle: "Send in the Clones". Fighting genre has its ration of Street Fighter clones such as Mortal Kombat, Fatal Fury and Killer Instinct, Platforming is the classic Super Mario Bros./Sonic The Hedgehog and so on. In shooting, most developers go for the basic, easy to play shmups like Gradius or Raiden at the point that an R-Type clone sounds out of the question due to its demanding difficulty...until Allumer takes up the challenge. Before Aicom released the incredible-but-brutal Pulstar, Allumer's Rezon is clearly a clone of R-Type, mostly its sequel R-Type II (Super R-Type on the SNES) as the stages borrow heavy similarities with said game. But the Gameplay slightly differs from R-Type. Starting off with the lack of the "Force" that provides the weaponry and front shield. The job of providing you offense-defense advantage is assigned to the SR-91's equipment known as the VAWS (Variable Armor & Weapons System), which are the "Bits" of the game. The VAWS have an unique feature that changes the weapons behavior based on their angle by moving the SR-91 back and forth. For instance the yellow laser changes its regular single fire (front-backwards) to a twin ring laser when they're aiming at an angle. The blue laser has rapid firing and bouncing properties similar to the Rebound Laser making this weapon very efficient. The red "Air-to-Air" laser splits the VAWS into four cannons rather than the traditional two, but it is locked to aim either left or right, leaving you exposed to vertical enemy fire.
The main mechanic of Rezon is the VAWS which can be locked by holding the fire button, allowing you to move your ship while keeping your weaponry in a fixed position, but that configuration leaves you vulnerable since you can't fire by holding the button, and this is where some of the problems of this game appears. First off is being unable to fire while holding the fire button to lock the VAWS, something as simple as that can compromise the playability of the game giving the enemy a free shot because you were off guard adjusting the formation of your pods, this disadvantage is exploited by the game in Stage 2 where the bizarre sculptures will spit constant Zako/popcorn enemies to your ship along with a few enemies that require multiple hits. In fact, Stage 1 is a good training level for the players to get used to the mechanics they'll be facing on their gameplay. Another problem is the lack of specific weaponry. In the R-Type series, the chargeable Beam is a must since its the most damage dealing weapon in the game and is essential on the boss battles since not using them is a death sentence. Rezon lacks of the beam, making your fully powered weapons look weak against the bosses and some enemies like the spaceships in Stage 4. Also, without a support weapon like the missiles, the game is even harder than playing R-Type without power ups since it also features the die and restart at a checkpoint rule that applies when you continue the game. Also, the 2 player mode is alternative like the classic Super Mario Bros., making the game more strategic, complex and demanding all the VAWS mastery possible from the player. It is hard to believe that something as simple as locking the pods could be solved with an additional button rather than this awkward mechanic.
HINT 1: You will only need 1 Speed Up item throughout the whole game. If you picked a second one by mistake, just pick the Speed Down item.
HINT 2: Having trouble with the boss at Stage 5?, Twitter user TZW-ART found an easy way to kill it: Lock the formation backwards, go to the right side of the screen and just dodge the diagonal lasers.
Finally at home with new features for today's audiences.
As an arcade game it was an obscurity already since the market was focused on the big names like IREM, Taito, Capcom, and Konami, and that obscurity was its destiny on the homeporting since after its obscure debut at the arcades, it didn't had a console port. I mean, this could be easily ported by the SNES considering how great Super R-Type was despite being an enhancement rather than a full port of R-Type II. With Allumer going bankrupt and all of its catalogue plunged into darkness, it was truly a miracle that 32 years after its release on the arcades, it finally gets a home port as part of Hamster's Arcade Archives collection, being the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch the ones getting it. One of the things that I've really appreciate of this port was the inclusion of the rate-adjustable rapid fire, which comes in handy most of the game, but it somewhat fails in stage 2 due to the constant "Zako" spam that can cover the screen. Along with the classical game and screen adjustments, it has the Hi-Score and Caravan modes to improve the gameplay's replay value.
Graphically, it manages to capture the color style and influences of IREM's famous shooter, mostly of R-Type II/Super R-Type, minus the Alien-like nods and reducing the organic (and sometimes suggestive) nature of the game by making things more "technological" and less biofused. There's some bizarre sculptures in Stage 2 which break with the natural cavern premise of R-Type II's water level. With bio-technology drastically reduced, the game relies more on factory-like installations and space battles while keeping the familiar atmosphere of the game. As a clear reference to IREM, the SR-91 is clearly based on the R-9A Arrowhead (or R-9C Warhead) The music is also right on in the R-Type II style. The best example is stage 1 which has "Counterattack '91" vibes but with a more rocking style. Despite being a few second loops and there's themes where the looping can be heard like the boss theme, it is good enough and manages to be R-Type-ish. The only problem is that unlike R-Type II's clear sound, the music in Rezon sounds a little muffled as if someone was blocking the speakers with the hands.
REZON-ATING CURIOSITIES
- The SR-91 slightly resembles the R-101 Grand Finale from R-Type Final more than the R-9C Warhead from R-Type II.
- The number designation is a reference to both the R-9 and the SR-71 Blackbird.
- Second Allumer title in the Arcade Archives series.
- First console port of the game.
Just surviving another R-Typing session.
Hamster gave us a nice surprise this time, Rezon might be a tougher R-Type II clone, but still fun and rookie-friendly enough if we compare it with Aicom's Pulstar, but this opens a window to other shooters from the company like the classic ThunderCade/Twin Formation, the Raiden clone Mad Shark and the visually stunning game War of Aero: Project MEIOU.
As for R-Typing, one thing is certain for sure. With Rezon out there, Granzella/IREM should REALLY consider a return to Arcade Archives and release the rest of their catalogue, and that means all three R-Type arcade games. The only obstacle for IREM in Arcade Archives would be Namco and Taito since Hamster has a favoritism towards them as big as the Bydo Empire itself.
R-Typers, go ahead and pick it.