Systems > Game Boy Advance > R > R-Type III: The Third Lightning > Staff Review
Sign up for a free user account and you can leave feedback for this review or even submit a game review of your own!
Review by Gary Hartley
March 24, 2008
In this, The Third Lightning’s opening stage even looks like an updated beginning of the first title. Moth-like enemies drift in lazily and are destroyed by a familiar mammoth laser barrage or a new overcharged stream of plasma. The same rotund hoppers are nuked for Force Divide power-ups, controllable satellites that sit on -- and can be detached from -- your craft’s nose, producing streams of extra firepower, and the same narrow openings you need to navigate without brushing the sides make numerous appearances.
The difference is found in the lines of turrets lining hard-to-shoot floors and ceilings and the indestructible crates mixed in with the flood of screen-filling scrap-metal you need dodge. The difference is when the jet boosters that you thought were bits of scenery suddenly burp out blue flames and spin the screen 90°, making the corridor you just barely navigated suddenly becomes a wall to hastily dodge.
R-Type III enjoys taking elements from the first game and then applying a generous new coat of difficulty. R-Type’s first level had you trade shots with a hulking, cannon-wielding robot as you both tore through a metallic cylinder. This is recreated with triple the number of gundam-ripoffs, but makes the last invincible, letting it pepper you with blasts until you force it to smash into the scenery.
To help battle the new difficulty curve, your Force Divide options are added to. While you’re free to select the Round Force earlier titles have included, Lightning gives you the selection of two more, allowing you to build upon your strengths by offering Divides that can act as bullet blockers or ones that can flood the screen with laser.
The difficulty turns out to be the biggest turn off, especially as the GBA port is much more challenging than the SNES original, which offers the chance to top up extra lives alongside unlimited continues. The port gives you three lives and one continue, forcing you not to play R-Type III as a whole but instead making each stage like a stand-alone game. Three lives to beat one level, collect a password then lay siege to the next with the same limitations. It may delight the hardcore fan, but it’s mission impossible for those unwilling to invest hours in memorising enemy movement and level structure.
If you’ve the patience to munch though the difficulty, then you’ll uncover a well of satisfaction. If you don’t, you’ll find a game all too happy to provide yet another destroyed fighter and a Game Over screen.
|
|
|
Most recent video game reviews written by Gary Hartley
Medal of Honor: Airborne (Xbox 360) [January 31, 2012]
GET TO THA CHOPPA TWOOO!!2 (Xbox 360) [November 29, 2011]
Tropico 4 (Xbox 360) [November 06, 2011]
Fire Mustang (Genesis) [August 20, 2011]
L.A. Noire (PlayStation 3) [August 13, 2011]
|
You can click the tabs on the above bar to choose whether you wish to read comments from visitors who have posted on Facebook, or from registered site users who have left feedback on the forums. Please leave a comment of your own if you have anything to say!
|
|
|
Follow Us |
Advertise exclusively for 1 month... only $1000!
Recent Forum Discussions
+ Alpha Olympics 2012
+ zippdementia's Mega Jump review
+ [News] Schafer has pitched Psychonauts 2, Minecraft dev says 'let's make it happen'
+ Where's SkyWard Sword's review ? And please bring back the rating feature.
+ holdthephone's Final Fantasy XIII-2 review
+ JoeTheDestroyer's Area 51 review
+ playstation vita, yo.
+ RotW January 29 - February 04 2012
+ Games to be added to the database...
+ The Final Fantasy XIII-2 thread
+ [News] Final Fantasy X HD will be a remaster, not a remake
+ [News] Naughty Dog explored making a new Jak and Daxter, made Last of Us instead
Staff Game Reviews
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| SoulCalibur V |
| The Simpsons Arcade Game |
| Quarrel |
| Star Ocean: The Last Hope |
| Pushmo |
| Medal of Honor: Airborne |
Site Staff
 |  | ||
 |  | ||
 |  | ||
 |  | ||
 |
Featured Reviews [+]
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Rayman Origins |
| Othello |
| Scarface: The World is Yours |
| The Last Express |
| Golden Axe II |
| Assassin's Creed: Revelations |
Exclusive User Reviews [+]
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Mega Jump |
| White Knight Chronicles |
| Dragon Wars |
| F-Zero GX |
| Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door |
| Pokemon Snap |
Info |
Help |
Privacy Policy |
Contact |
Advertise
© 1998-2012 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site--from reviews, guides, cheats and editorials to message board posts--may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. R-Type III: The Third Lightning is a registered trademark of its copyright holder. This site makes no claim to R-Type III: The Third Lightning, its characters, screenshots, artwork, music, or any intellectual property contained within. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors.
