Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
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![R-Type Complete CD (PC Engine CD) Playthrough [English]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sRltIEP5PEY/mqdefault.jpg "R-Type Complete CD (PC Engine CD) Playthrough [English]
A playthrough of Irems 1991 shoot em up for the PC Engine Super CD-ROM², R-Type Complete CD.
Since this version of R-Type was only released in Japan, for this video, Ive translated the cutscenes and subtitled them in English.
R-Type, Irems 1987 arcade shoot em up phenom, was adapted for countless home platforms in the late 80s. Hudsons version, released in 1988 for the PC Engine, was the first and (by most accounts) the best of them. The graphics, though slightly downgraded, came amazingly close to matching the quality of the arcades, the music sounded much better without the grating twang of the original games FM synth, and the gameplay retained everything that made the arcade game such a success.
All of this came at cost, though: in 1988, the max capacity of a HuCard was smaller than the four megabits (512K) the game required, and without major cutbacks, R-Type simply could not fit on a smaller cartridge. Rather than reducing the quality of the graphics, Hudson opted to split the game across two releases. R-Type I contained the first four stages, and R-Type II (released three months later) had stages five through eight. The following year, improvements made to the HuCard format made larger games possible, and the 1989 North American release combined the two on a single card. The game wasnt reissued on a single card in Japan, but a CD version was instead released in late 1991.
R-Type Complete CD updates the game with a remixed Redbook soundtrack and fifteen minutes of animated, fully-voiced cutscenes. It wasnt as well-received as the original PC Engine released - the quality of the arrangements and the cutscenes was heavily criticized - but its a nifty package. The story does indeed feel tacked on and the art isnt great (those facial expressions!), but the cutscenes are entertaining in how unintentionally campy and over the top they are. I didnt have any problems with the music, either. The style is a bit inconsistent, not to mention strange (R-R-R-R, R-Type... wtf?🤣), but I dug its funkiness.
The game is the same as it was on HuCard, so its still a top-quality arcade port, and I appreciated the new cutscenes and the music. Late 80s arcade shooters packed with gotcha moments dont typically appeal to me, so Im not a big fan of the original R-Type, but R-Type Complete CDs extras drew me in.
Hope you enjoy the translation!
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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