R-Type Final minimal endings!

[ST Dragon]

So, I managed to complete R-Type Final (Euro PAL).
I played through all 5 variations of level 2, unlocked level 3.5, completed all 3 versions of level 6 which lead to the 3 alternative Bosses & endings and unlocked 22/99 ships (Including Lady Love ship).

But all 3 three endings are minimal.

1. After you beat the Bydo Boss in Stage F-A, it just shows your ship in a rotating camera inside a dark brown tunnel while the credits roll down.

2. Once you defeat R-9A Arrowhead Boss in Stage F-A, it only shows your ship flying away.

3. And finally after you complete Stage F-C ”Wherever”, it just says welcome to the 26th century!

I don't understand, was the pilot supposed to have traveled back in time from the 26th to the 22nd century to fight off the Bydo?
Weird and poorly scripted storyline!

Where is my cool FMV ending and nicely orchestrated epic music?
This is supposed to be their last game after all!

[Zebra Airforce]

It's about the journey, not the destination. (See sig)

[Regulus]

Actually, in F-C, your pilot is traveling from the 22nd to the 26th century. The Bydo were created by future humans to be used as a weapon. They were too aggressive and dangerous, though, so the humans of that time sealed them in a large capsule of some sort, which eventually found its way into an alternate dimension and then several hundred years in the past...

So basically, R-Type is about humans fighting off the mistakes of their, uh, future.

Man, R-Type's got an awesome and detailed backstory, one that's particularly good for a shmup, IMO.

[Mortificator]

The humans of the 26th century create the Bydo living weapons, using their own DNA as the base. Bydo have to ability to assimilate pretty much anything: living tissue, machinery, minerals, you name it. The first Bydo were placed in a Moon-sized sphere where they could multiply, the idea being to chuck it at the home planet of any alien race that gave humans trouble, but something goes wrong and it ruptures whiles still in our solar system. The Bydo rampage for a few days until another experimental weapon is used to suck them all up into another dimension. Problem solved.

But the Bydo are still alive in the other dimension. They spend what seems like forever there, growing and evolving and hating humans more and more. They constantly look for a way out, and there is one, but it leads to a star system some distance from Earth in the 22nd century. A bit of Bydo flesh makes it through and is picked up by the first intersteller exploration craft, brought back to Earth, and used to develop the Forces (and by extension the R-9A that uses them). However, a few decades later the rest of the Bydo find the way out and make a beeline for Earth, assimilating every planet along the way to create the Bydo Empire. The games are of course about humanity's wars against them.

So like Regulus said, it's about humans fighting their future mistakes. Or another way to look at it, the Bydo hate people for something they haven't actually done yet.

In F-A your ship pierces through to the Bydo Abyss and destroys the organism that's supposed to be the essence of all Bydo. In the ending you can see the Bydo are indeed gone (until R-Type Tactics ), but your mortally damaged R-Type floats beyond any hope of rescue.

In F-B your ship takes a wrong turn in hyperspace and ends up assimilated by the Bydo and travels back in time to right before the beginning of the game, where it fights its former comrades.

You ship takes another wrong turn in F-C which leads to it being sent to the future. What happens there is anyone's guess. Does it try to destroy to Bydo before they escape? Or, strange idea, is it responsible for letting the Bydo free in the first place? That'd be one hell of a paradox.

Anyway, some FMVs would have been nice, but I thought the Blue Man music was perfect. It fits much better that the J-Pop song from the Jpn version, "Proud of You."

[ST Dragon]

Actually, in F-C, your pilot is traveling from the 22nd to the 26th century. The Bydo were created by future humans to be used as a weapon. They were too aggressive and dangerous, though, so the humans of that time sealed them in a large capsule of some sort, which eventually found its way into an alternate dimension and then several hundred years in the past...

So basically, R-Type is about humans fighting off the mistakes of their, uh, future.

Man, R-Type's got an awesome and detailed backstory, one that's particularly good for a shmup, IMO.

Yes, I understood that in F-C you're actually travelling from the 22nd to the 26th century, but are you in fact from the 22nd or from the 26th sent back in the past by future humans to fight off the Bydo at a time where Earth is technologically limited and more vulnerable?
So, your ship is actually a lot more advanced than what earth has to offer at the time of the R-Type Final events?

Chronologically, at what time in space do the stories of all the R-Type games take place?
I take it that R-Type Final is in fact the 1st of the series, being a prequel of the things to come!

[ST Dragon]

The humans of the 26th century create the Bydo living weapons, using their own DNA as the base. Bydo have to ability to assimilate pretty much anything: living tissue, machinery, minerals, you name it. The first Bydo were placed in a Moon-sized sphere where they could multiply, the idea being to chuck it at the home planet of any alien race that gave humans trouble, but something goes wrong and it ruptures whiles still in our solar system. The Bydo rampage for a few days until another experimental weapon is used to suck them all up into another dimension. Problem solved.

But the Bydo are still alive in the other dimension. They spend what seems like forever there, growing and evolving and hating humans more and more. They constantly look for a way out, and there is one, but it leads to a star system some distance from Earth in the 22nd century. A bit of Bydo flesh makes it through and is picked up by the first intersteller exploration craft, brought back to Earth, and used to develop the Forces (and by extension the R-9A that uses them). However, a few decades later the rest of the Bydo find the way out and make a beeline for Earth, assimilating every planet along the way to create the Bydo Empire. The games are of course about humanity's wars against them.

So like Regulus said, it's about humans fighting their future mistakes. Or another way to look at it, the Bydo hate people for something they haven't actually done yet.

In F-A your ship pierces through to the Bydo Abyss and destroys the organism that's supposed to be the essence of all Bydo. In the ending you can see the Bydo are indeed gone (until R-Type Tactics ), but your mortally damaged R-Type floats beyond any hope of rescue.

In F-B your ship takes a wrong turn in hyperspace and ends up assimilated by the Bydo and travels back in time to right before the beginning of the game, where it fights its former comrades.

You ship takes another wrong turn in F-C which leads to it being sent to the future. What happens there is anyone's guess. Does it try to destroy to Bydo before they escape? Or, strange idea, is it responsible for letting the Bydo free in the first place? That'd be one hell of a paradox.

Anyway, some FMVs would have been nice, but I thought the Blue Man music was perfect. It fits much better that the J-Pop song from the Jpn version, "Proud of You."

Very interesting story indeed!
I did notice that in F-B you turn into Bydo, but not that you actually fight against the humans. So this is the "Bad" ending as you help to annihilate humanity.
Interestingly as you fly away at full throttle from the submerged & crashed space colony, it says something like: "No one is happy to see me"

In the alternative stage 3.5 you also fight another assimilated R-9 ship, but it's not clear when and for how long it's been there?
What was that stage supposed to be really, a chaotic parallel Bydo dimension?

Also in stage 3, what is that huge battle ship supposed to be, one of the ships of earth's fleet that got assimilated?
In the beginning of the stage, the text says: "This was our only refuge"?
Is that a reference to the battle ship before it got assimilated and so, was that supposed to some kind of Arc?
It's striking that humans possessed such a powerful vessel in the 22nd century, as that same battle ship also appears in the 1st R-Type centuries later!
Is that a paradox or a hole in the games plot?

Also, in level 6.1 that cool asteroid filed bathed in the yellow & orange rays of an unknown star, is that supposed to be Earth Solar System in the future, or another system conquered by the Bydo?

Generally the level structure and layout gave me a hard time understanding where and when I was exactly, as they were inconsistent with each other!

Maybe the conclusion of Level F-C leads to the events of the previous and later R-Type games of the series?! Now if someone was kind enough to post a chronologically list of each R-Type game (If there is one!) we could clarify that with some degree of accuracy

[StoofooEsq]

Regarding chronology, this is what I got from this page on the official R-Type site: http://www.irem.co.jp/official/r/j/history/index.html

2163: 【R-TYPE】 【R-TYPE LEO】

2164: 【GALLOP】 【R-TYPE △】

2165: 【R-TYPEII】

2169: 【R-TYPEIII】

2XXX: 【R-TYPE FINAL】

Holy hell, I forgot how much R-Type's backstory confused me. But I don't mind it at all because I still find that the series is incredibly strong in the storyline aspect. Final made that fact so much more evident.

[Ghegs]

In the alternative stage 3.5 you also fight another assimilated R-9 ship, but it's not clear when and for how long it's been there?
What was that stage supposed to be really, a chaotic parallel Bydo dimension?

That would be the R-13 that's captured by the Bydo at the end of R-Type Delta.

[Mortificator]

That was a pretty creepy ending.

Also, in level 6.1 that cool asteroid filed bathed in the yellow & orange rays of an unknown star, is that supposed to be Earth Solar System in the future, or another system conquered by the Bydo?

Generally the level structure and layout gave me a hard time understanding where and when I was exactly, as they were inconsistent with each other!

One of Irem's sites has a handy map. Stages 1 through 3 are on Earth, 4 is on Mars, 5 is as you travel through the 26-Dimensional Way (the R-Type version of sub-space) to the Bydo Empire, and 6.1 & F-A are in a star system conquered by the Bydo. I guess those branches off of Dimension 26 lead to the past (6.2 and F-B) and future (6.3 and F-C).

On a side note, the little joke personality quiz on that page was translated by a group that translates doujin visual novels. I got the Sweet Memories!

Also in stage 3, what is that huge battle ship supposed to be, one of the ships of earth's fleet that got assimilated?
In the beginning of the stage, the text says: "This was our only refuge"?
Is that a reference to the battle ship before it got assimilated and so, was that supposed to some kind of Arc?

I think it was talking about the city, it being sort of the eye of the storm during the war. But I like the Ark idea better.

I don't know if the Giant Battleship was made by the Bydo themselves or assimilated. The Warship from the original R-Type was constructed from an assimilated asteroid, at least, and like you said the one in Final is of the same basic design.

Now the ships in stage 5, the Bydo Lab straight-out says are assimilated human vessels.

[ST Dragon]

In the alternative stage 3.5 you also fight another assimilated R-9 ship, but it's not clear when and for how long it's been there?
What was that stage supposed to be really, a chaotic parallel Bydo dimension?

That would be the R-13 that's captured by the Bydo at the end of R-Type Delta.

Interesting!
Does that happen in one of the alternative endings of R-Type Delta?
I completed Delta in 2001, however I don't remember that!?

So, what is that level 3.5 supposed to be really, some kind of Bydo Hell where that R-13 was stuck for all eternety?

[ST Dragon]

Regarding chronology, this is what I got from this page on the official R-Type site: http://www.irem.co.jp/official/r/j/history/index.html

2163: 【R-TYPE】 【R-TYPE LEO】

2164: 【GALLOP】 【R-TYPE △】

2165: 【R-TYPEII】

2169: 【R-TYPEIII】

2XXX: 【R-TYPE FINAL】

Holy hell, I forgot how much R-Type's backstory confused me. But I don't mind it at all because I still find that the series is incredibly strong in the storyline aspect. Final made that fact so much more evident.

Yes, the whole story of the Bydo actually being Humanity's evil creation, was not revealed until R-Type Final!
I was surprised my self as the story unfolded in the Bydo lab. I always thought that the Bydo were the stereotypical evil Alien invaders.
So, it turns out that the story was a lot deeper,darker and more sinister!
Very cool indeed!

However, it would have made more sense if R-Type Final was actually the prequel of the previous R-Type games, as the 2 alternative endings (F-B & F-C) lead you to believe!

The ending in F-A is the only conclusive ending, but not a happy one asboth you & you ship end up adrift in the ravaged Bydo dimension.

[ST Dragon]

That was a pretty creepy ending.

Also, in level 6.1 that cool asteroid filed bathed in the yellow & orange rays of an unknown star, is that supposed to be Earth Solar System in the future, or another system conquered by the Bydo?

Generally the level structure and layout gave me a hard time understanding where and when I was exactly, as they were inconsistent with each other!

One of Irem's sites has a handy map. Stages 1 through 3 are on Earth, 4 is on Mars, 5 is as you travel through the 26-Dimensional Way (the R-Type version of sub-space) to the Bydo Empire, and 6.1 & F-A are in a star system conquered by the Bydo. I guess those branches off of Dimension 26 lead to the past (6.2 and F-B) and future (6.3 and F-C).

On a side note, the little joke personality quiz on that page was translated by a group that translates doujin visual novels. I got the Sweet Memories!

Also in stage 3, what is that huge battle ship supposed to be, one of the ships of earth's fleet that got assimilated?
In the beginning of the stage, the text says: "This was our only refuge"?
Is that a reference to the battle ship before it got assimilated and so, was that supposed to some kind of Arc?

I think it was talking about the city, it being sort of the eye of the storm during the war. But I like the Ark idea better.

I don't know if the Giant Battleship was made by the Bydo themselves or assimilated. The Warship from the original R-Type was constructed from an assimilated asteroid, at least, and like you said the one in Final is of the same basic design.

Now the ships in stage 5, the Bydo Lab straight-out says are assimilated human vessels.

Very interesting map indeed!
What about the Bydo labatory in Level 4 (Mars), it seems to be built around a huge tank with the chained Dobkeratops Boss inside the fluid!
Was that where the experiments on the Bydo creations originally took place?
And what is that Dobkeratops supposed to be really? A failed Bydo-Alien hybrid gone horribly wrong?
It also appears in R-Type & R-Type II (inside some armour)

As for the battleship in level 3, since the text is unclearly refering to something as being "their only refuge", I naturelly concluded that it's actually refering to the Battleship it self. Beeing a high-tech, powerful Ark, built by humans and to be used in case of an invasion.
This would explain why it was equiped with such powerfull weapons. The front beam cannon is powerful enough to anihilate an entire planet, in the same fashion as the Planet Destroyers in Gall Force.
That's what it says in the game documenation.

Unluckily, it got asimilated by the Bydo before the humans could use it and it was turned against them!

By the way, how do you know that The Warship from the original R-Type was constructed from an assimilated asteroid?

[Ghegs]

That would be the R-13 that's captured by the Bydo at the end of R-Type Delta.

Interesting!
Does that happen in one of the alternative endings of R-Type Delta?
I completed Delta in 2001, however I don't remember that!?

It's the ending you get when completing the game with R-13.

[Thinimus]

Dobkeratops is the Bydos' guardian for alternate dimensions. He's set up in that lab so that your ship can kill it and jump into 26th Dimensional Way. During the space trip, you are trying to get to stage 6.1, which is in the 26th century. Stage 6.0 consists of remnants of containing planetoid for the first Bydo. That boss in 5.0 tries to send you to the other two routes to keep you away from the Bydo core. (Something interesting: There is no difference whatsoever in that boss despite what difficulty setting you playing are at.)

6.1 is sends you back to 1.0. The Bydo Alpha system ship and Metallic R-9's are pilots that keep taking the wrong route and ending up in F-B.

In Delta, the R-13 got stuck in the Bydo dimension that opened up around Earth because it couldn't escape with it's lightening gun. When you get the R-12 and are on you way to Mars 4.0, you end up in that dimension because your ship is based around the Bydo.

Basically the idea is that each game you start is a timeline and eventually every ship ends up in FA, FB, and FC because of the time travel loops.

New ships keep get being made because of other pilots coming back through FB and Bydo showing up with technology of ships that haven't been built yet. (In that particular timeline).

Pilots that end up in FC, (26th century), end up bringing the technology of their ships and forces to that period and cause the creation of the Bydo.

So... the Bydo are created in the 26th century due to 22nd century ships showing up what's new technology to those people while the ships are created in the 22nd to fight off the Bydo.

The Bydo are pissed becasue they end up being made solely to be killed.

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

So effectively, the actual game itself - the entire series, is it's own end sequence. I suppose thats why they're not making any more - we already know what happens.

[Mortificator]

What about the Bydo labatory in Level 4 (Mars), it seems to be built around a huge tank with the chained Dobkeratops Boss inside the fluid!
Was that where the experiments on the Bydo creations originally took place?
And what is that Dobkeratops supposed to be really? A failed Bydo-Alien hybrid gone horribly wrong?
It also appears in R-Type & R-Type II (inside some armour)

If you click on stage 4 on that map, you'll get a fictional research paper (in Japanese) that says the lab was created to study the Bydo's bio-technology to use it against them. The BX-T Dantalion and its many descendants are the fruits of this research.

The project probably started sometime after R-Type III, since you don't pilot any Bydo-derived ships in the earlier games.

It makes sense they'd use good 'ol Dobkeratops as a research subject. He's definitely the most prolific R-Type boss, managing to appear in every game except Gallop in some form.

By the way, how do you know that The Warship from the original R-Type was constructed from an assimilated asteroid?

Well, the intro to R-Types for PS1 shows an asteroid covered by this distortion effect, and an instant later it's the Giant Warship. I'd assumed it was assimilated, but maybe not. *shrugs* Make whatever of it you will.

[ST Dragon]

Very interesting read indeed!
I never knew the R-Type timeline was so complex!

[shoe-sama]

OW MY HEAD

[MX7]

moar liek minimal gameplay AMIRITE

[SteevTee]

I wonder how much of this story Irem came up with for Final, I mean, did they have all of this time travel/other dimension story in their heads when the original R-Type was released?

Also, we (I) really need someone to compile a complete chronological timeline of the events of the series, from the creation of the Bydo, the R-9, Force etc. Would possibly be quite an interesting read for fans.

I would like that.

[Mortificator]

There was a timeline on the PS1 R-Types compilation. Someone put a transcript of it on GameFAQs (along with the museum entries from Final). Like Vincent posted, a more complete timeline is on Irem's page, though it's in Japanese.

So the concept of the Bydo coming out of a different dimension, and humanity creating the Force from Bydo flesh, has been around since R-Types at least. But R-Type Final is the first mention I know of that said the Bydo were created and trapped in that dimension by future humans, so that part of the story may have been thought up just then.

R-Type Complete CD for the PC-Engine has long Japanese cinema scenes, at the beginning of the game and after every two stages. Maybe someone who understands spoken Japanese would know if anything important is said.

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

So the concept of the Bydo coming out of a different dimension, and humanity creating the Force from Bydo flesh, has been around since R-Types at least. But R-Type Final is the first mention I know of that said the Bydo were created and trapped in that dimension by future humans, so that part of the story may have been thought up just then.

This storyline is on the english official R-Type page. It's been there since at least 1999.

http://www.irem.co.jp/e/game/r/bydo_page/index.html

[Mortificator]

I'd actually checked that before posting using the Internet Archive, and the earliest revision they have is from late 2002 - shortly before Final was released. Do you have a reliable source dating the page at 1999?

It would make sense if you're right, though, since the English page only covers the PS1 titles.

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

I drew a fan-comic in 1999 that more or less copied the ideas on the Bydo page. I was willing to say that the bydo page has remained in that state simce as far back as 1997 as it was one of the first things I ever looked up when I started using the internet that year. I have no physical evidence for that though, just my own memory.

Unfortunately I dont have an independant credible source outside of anything cooked up in my brain. I still have files on my comp, downloaded from the english R-Type site with a "last modified" date of October 2001, The bydo page has remained the same as long as I can remember it.

[Mortificator]

*shrugs* Good enough for me.

Hey, was your comic that one with the Powerpuff Girls fighting an R-13?

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

^no, that one's pretty new.