A legend dies....IREM is closing it's doors!

[Estebang]

On a negative side, Dimensions lacks button configuration which is bit of a bummer.

This makes it so incredibly obvious that the developers aren't the type to ever use arcade sticks.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

First Tecno Soft and now Irem?, damn.

[Mortificator]

They're not. It was speculation based on Irem removing titles from the PlayStation store. That isn't a good sign, but as of this posting, the topic title is as accurate as A nation dies... UNITED STATES is closing its shores!

[kidpanda]

time to snatch up every version of R-Type I can find now lol

[colour_thief]

On a negative side, Dimensions lacks button configuration which is bit of a bummer.

This makes it so incredibly obvious that the developers aren't the type to ever use arcade sticks.

Jeez, you'd think this was doubly letterboxed on a 4:3 SDTV or something. You clearly want to hate the game, and that's fine, but don't go spreading misinformation. The lead designer owns an original dedicated R-Type cab and is quite passionate about the game. Also, one of the chief staff at Tozai is ex-IREM from the 80s. They're a pretty cool company, having this generation published Lode Runner (original), R-Type Dimensions (remake x 2), and Spelunker HD (original). These are all more or less dead franchises which Irem famously released to arcades in the 80s. I do think R-Type was the weakest of the 3, but it was still easily 1200 points' worth of fun.

In my opinion, in this age of shovelware motion control games and countless FPS games, they're one of the good guys. I can forgive them for not pouring all their money into R-Type (which wouldn't have got made at all if not for them) and continuing to bring us other great retro games.

[J-Manic]

I was really hoping for just one more R-Type too.

[Deca]

On a negative side, Dimensions lacks button configuration which is bit of a bummer.

I'm still baffled and disappointed by this. At least I got the game/s for free.

[Zeron]

Not sure if I am slow or not, maybe this is just related to SEGAs specific Mastersystem port?

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/09/28/la ... l-console/

[Estebang]

It looks like Irem's already sold the rights to R-Type and everything else to another company. I can't think of any other reason all their stuff would suddenly be de-listed.

[Zeron]

It looks like Irem's already sold the rights to R-Type and everything else to another company. I can't think of any other reason all their stuff would suddenly be de-listed.

They might be doing one of those reorganisations minor devs like to do, open a new company with the exact same employees and just sell the rights of the failing one to the new one.

[Gus]

It looks like Irem's already sold the rights to R-Type and everything else to another company. I can't think of any other reason all their stuff would suddenly be de-listed.

They might be doing one of those reorganisations minor devs like to do, open a new company with the exact same employees and just sell the rights of the failing one to the new one.

Don't they have some huge pachinko business though? I can't see why they'd do that unless they were pulling out of video game production.

[Estebang]

Irem is a very minor company even in the pachinko biz. They don't have any licensed properties, for one thing.

They did go through a complete reorganization when the original Irem went under in 1995, it just happened very smoothly and they didn't change their name.

[Elixir]

http://andriasang.com/comzb0/irem_closures/

[Estebang]

At this point, I'd prefer if they just came out and acknowledged that they're bowing out from the game industry.

Hopefully R-Type will end up in the hands of a responsible publisher who does something worthwhile with the license (i.e. not another Dimensions or Flash of the Void).

Shit, there's literally no way to get Spelunker PS3 anymore!

[BulletMagnet]

Well, it seems Irem is still around for the time being...sort of.

They apparently threw a couple of their old games (including an R-Type) in there as extras, though, so maybe there's a silver lining in there someplace.

[Estebang]

Yeah, this pachinko game has been known about for a while, but it's neat to hear they threw in some old roms. The GB version of R-Type is pretty funky.

I really don't see any way out of Irem's current predicament, now that nearly all their games have been removed from digital distro platforms. They'll just have to become a pachinko company. The cancellation of both ZZT4 and Bumpy Trot 2 must have seriously crippled them, and R-Type Tactics II failed to get an international release. If their site stays the same again this April Fools', I guess that's it.

Tozai Games might end up inheriting their legacy--they developed R-Type Dimensions, and re-released Spelunker HD after it was pulled from PSN.

[Ed Oscuro]

The cancellation of both ZZT4

That sounds like something from Epic Games...out of their original catalogue...

Tozai Games might end up inheriting their legacy--they developed R-Type Dimensions, and re-released Spelunker HD after it was pulled from PSN.

It would be wild if Spelunker ended up going back to the guy who originally wrote it. The game credits somebody with an English name...maybe an American...will have to look up Tozai Games to see who they are.

Irem is responsible for a lot of the great titles of old but they have ceased to be for a good many years now. I don't really feel anything on hearing this news; it's just business.

[Estebang]

ZZT is Zettai Zetsumei Toshi, known in the US as both Disaster Report and Raw Danger.

Raw Danger infamously changed all of ZZT2's NPC hair colors to blonde in an attempt to move the setting to America. Of course, it just created a city of Aryans.

Is Sub Rebellion any good? It's the official sequel to In The Hunt/Kaitei Daisensou.

[Ed Oscuro]

Oh, I always wanted to play one of those. I read the plot summaries once and I said "yes sir, this is the stuff of genius."

[Mortificator]

As it happens, I own Sub Rebellion, but I haven't gotten around to playing more than the first couple of stages yet.

I hope it's better than AquaNox 2, at least. There should exist at least one good 3D arcade-style submarine game. It'd be pretty lonely if the only decent option was that one stage in Star Fox 64.

[Estebang]

Yeah, Mortificator, it would be neat if you could dig it out of storage and give us a solid opinion. It's one of the least well known Irem games out there, and can be had on the cheap.

[Ed Oscuro]

There should exist at least one good 3D arcade-style submarine game.

What about Treasures of the Deep?

[gs68]

Instead of going the Virtual Console route, the Game Boy version of R-Type is one of the four games in the Irem Masterpiece Collection Vol. 1 mode.

Game Boy version of R-Type

uh no

This is 2012. Porting a mid-80's arcade game to a handheld is not unfeasible. Hell, Konami did it 6 years ago with Gradius Collection/Portable.

[Estebang]

Except everyone's already played the arcade version of R-Type to death, and this is a good excuse to get people acquainted with one of its innumerable contemporary ports. They all have their own unique quirks, miniaturizations and sometimes deficiencies.

[Mortificator]

It wasn't a bad little port, though I suppose Irem could have stuck R-Type DX in instead. That made the top of szycag's Game Boy countdown thread and includes the original ports and colorized versions.

Yeah, Mortificator, it would be neat if you could dig it out of storage and give us a solid opinion. It's one of the least well known Irem games out there, and can be had on the cheap.

Yeeeah, an excuse to play the game! I'll probably have normal difficulty wrapped up within a couple of days and be able to give a more comprehensive opinion.

There should exist at least one good 3D arcade-style submarine game.

What about Treasures of the Deep?

I was ignorant about that game's existence. I'll check it out as well.

[BrianC]

It would be wild if Spelunker ended up going back to the guy who originally wrote it. The game credits somebody with an English name...maybe an American...will have to look up Tozai Games to see who they are.

Spelunker wasn't originally Irem to begin with. It was originally on Atari 8 bit computers and C64. Was the name by any chance, Tim Martin? I read he was the original programmer of the A800 version.

[Mortificator]

Let me tell U about Underwater Unit.

Your sub has six slots for equipment: underwater guns, underwater guided weapons, surface guns, surface guided weapons, engine, and shields. Despite this, there's not much room for customization, as many times there's a best or necessary item in each category. Equipment is bought from the between-mission menu with cash earned from rankings and treasures.

Progress through the 21 missions is entirely linear. Previous missions can be replayed and there are no consequences for failure. The missions take place over six "areas," which are basically tilesets. For example, missions 07 and 13 use the "North Area" tileset, which is Arctic-like. The areas aren't fantastically varied. I was pleasantly surprised that most missions let you surface, though the limitations on vertical space mean that your rarely feel like you're very deep underwater. Compounding that is the fact that you'll steadily lose health if submerged below a certain depth.

Each area has 16 treasure types. Collection is done Katamari style, where the first instance of each type you find earns you percentage toward your total findings. Increasing this percentage is what makes more equipment become available for purchase. The process is complicated by a few things... although the treasure locations are fixed in each mission, the actual treasue that spawns there isn't. You might replay a mission and get multiple beast-man cards from its treasure spots when what your really need to fill out your collection for that area is a crystal skull. Also, not all the treasures for an area are available in every mission in that area, though the game is at least nice enough to tell you what treasures might spawn there.

You're ranked on a scale of E to S for completing a mission, with higher grades raking in more dough and causing new paint schemes to become available. This could have been used to create the choice of playing a mission for score or for collection, but collection is a factor in ranking.

On the enemy front, there are about five types of submarine, two types of gun battery, and three types of helicoptor, not including reskins. Their AI is adequate, but don't expect expansive battles in the vein of Blue Sub 6. The game normally manages 30 FPS, but there's so much chop in the few missions that fill the screen with enemies that it's a relief to kill them and lessen the strain on the poor PS2's processor. There are a mechanical bosses, which will be recycled, and a few living statue ones, which won't be.

If you die in combat, it'll probably be from a gradual wearing-down, not from annihilation in the aftermath of a mistake. You'll fail some missions the first time just because you don't have the right part equipped. More than once, the game would throw out a timed segment at the end of a mission where I'd went with the most maneuverable engine instead of the fastest one, which was especially fun after I'd spent 10 extra minutes scrounging for treasure. There's the necessary base defense mission and escort mission with their associated frustrations, and the finale of the game seems to have been designed by a fan of Superman 64.

All in all, Sub Rebellion was as average a game as I've ever played. There are worse games to spend a couple of evenings with, but I still can't recommend this one.

[Ed Oscuro]

Just so you know, Mortificator, that sounds more or less like how the demo of Treasures of the Deep played out (at least the portion of it that I played - I'll have to go back and give it another shot here; I kinda got distracted by Armored Core at the time.)