R-Type is a horizontally scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and released by Irem in 1987 and the first game in the ''R-Type'' series. The player controls a star ship, the R-9 "Arrowhead", in its efforts to destroy the Bydo, a powerful a ...

'' is a

science-fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, sp ...

themed horizontally

scrolling shooter Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a subgenre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of character m ...

franchise developed and published by

Irem is a Japanese video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher and manufacturer of pachinkos. The company has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo. The full name of the company that uses the brand is Irem Software Enginee ...

for arcade systems and home game platforms. The first entry in the series, ''R-Type'', was released in 1987 and was followed by several sequels for other platforms. Ten games in total have been released in the series. Other pieces of media, such as plastic-resin model kits, soundtrack albums and literature, were also produced. The series centers on an intergalactic war between humans and the Bydo, a powerful extraterrestrial race that are made from both biological lifeforms and mechanical structures. Most games have the player controlling the R-9 "Arrowhead" star vessel, although other entries have slightly altered versions of the ship instead. ''R-Type'' video games have been released for multiple home video game consoles, as well as personal computers, handheld systems and mobile phones. Several games in the series were also released for digital distribution services, such as

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...

, alongside dedicated compilation games for other systems. Most entries are horizontal-scrolling shooter games, although a number have expanded into other genres, such as tactical role-playing games. The ''R-Type'' series is considered one of the most important video game franchises established in the 1980s; the original is also cited as one of the greatest video games ever made.

List of games

Main series

Spin-off games

Compilations

References

External links

''R-Type Dimensions''
official site {{DEFAULTSORT:List of R-Type video games 1998 video games Game Boy Color games PlayStation (console) games PlayStation Network games R-Type Xbox 360 Live Arcade games Irem games Video games developed in Japan