ININ, Tozai Games, and Irem have re-released R-Type Dimensions III on current gen platforms with significant visual upgrades. But even with the visual overhaul, how well does this shooter hold up today?
R-Type III is known as one of the hardest SNES games ever made. Really, one of the hardest games released on any system, and the same holds true with this 2026 enhanced port. This game is so difficult, I was not only unable to clear the first stage, but I also couldn’t survive beyond the first bigger three robots that you encounter. Most players will probably never see the first checkpoint.
Why is this game so hard? Well, because of the one-hit deaths and everything is out to kill you. Then, when you die, you get sent back to the beginning, or the last checkpoint… but most likely the beginning since you probably will be unable to reach the first checkpoint. In comparison to the real estate of the screen, your playable ship is also rather big, making you an easy, big target to hit. Plus, bumping into anything, including the environment, will insta-kill you. I honestly do not think any human, even with hours of practice, can clear this game. Most common enemies also take way too many hits regardless of your ship and shot type.
Unfortunately, the difficulty is so high that it limits the fun factor.
The newly included features are welcomed, like the quantity visual upgrades while still honoring the original, and an “Infinite” lives mode has been included. Be aware, however, playing on Infinite mode will not unlock any Achievements/Trophies with no leaderboard support. Also, when I cleared the game on Infinite mode, I was disappointed that the game doesn’t track the number of lives it took to clear. If I had to guess, I probably died 200+ times to play through to the end. When set on Infinite mode, the player respawns with about three seconds of invincibility frames but then I would consistently die the second it stopped. This is a problem because there is one boss that can only take damage if you warm up the super shot. The super shot takes maybe 5-6 seconds to heat up, making this one fight in particular dastardly.
Strangely, if you manage to clear the game, an even harder mode gets unlocked which is hard to even comprehend.
Also, I am playing this game pre-release but kept experiencing a game breaking bug. Upon game over, the score automatically uploads to the leaderboard. I’m guessing the leaderboard system might not be activated because the game would freeze at this same spot every time. I am guessing this will be fixed when the game becomes public, or maybe there will be a Day 1 patch, but felt the need to mention it as it was another point of frustration.
Personally, R-Type III isn’t fun for me because restarting at the beginning every ten seconds simply isn’t cool. I also owned the TG16 version as a kid and played the heck out of it, so I am not stranger to the series. But when a game demands god-tier all-or-nothing perfection, the audience for a game of this type is drastically reduced. At the same time, I feel like R-Type players fully understand it going into it. So for fans, this is nothing new and expected. New R-Type players, however, will give it the old college try but then quickly rage quit once you realize you will never have the skill to make it to the first check point.
SCORE: 5/10
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
X/Twitter: @ZackGaz
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