The glory days of the shooter have passed, and while the occasionally gem like Ikaruga gives the genre a spark of life fewer of them are being made each year. The R-Type games were some of the best in the days when shooters ruled supreme, combining challenging mazes with interesting gameplay. R-Type Final is, as the name states, the final return of the R-Type series and gives a great series a graceful exit.

While most shooters are simply a glorious exercise of shooting things for the sake of shooting them, R-Type has always endeavored to give at least a little story. 500 years ago humans began exploring deep space. When they returned, they left their weapons and machines behind. These remnants of human technology became the Bydo Empire, a self-replicating army of biomechanical monsters. Four times the Bydo Empire has struck at humanity and four times they have lost, yet they always come back stronger. R-Type Final is the fifth battle, the one that will decide forever the fate of both sides.

The game begins with your ship. While you begin with three ships, you can unlock over 100 types during the course of the game, each of which is unique visually and in how it plays. You can customize several things about your ship as well, not just visual things like color, but important gameplay aspects such as Force, what type of Bit you use, and your missiles.

The heart of the game is your Force, and indestructible sphere that you can attach to the front or back of your ship to shoot powered up lasers, shoot off of you entirely to attack independently, or use to simply indiscriminately ram into your lesser opponents and crush them. Each Force acts in different ways -- what a yellow power-up laser does with one Force won't be the same as the next one. Their super attacks and independent attacks are also different, making your choice in Force an important one. Bits are lesser indestructible spheres that hover above and below your ship. Most of them are just for ramming things and protecting your fragile ship from unexpected attacks, however you can unlock ones that shoot and other effects. There's also several variety of missiles to choose from, from depth charges to homing missiles. Combine all this with the slight but noticeable differences in how each ship handles and you have an amazing level of customization available to you.

All of this would be for nothing if the game didn't give you arenas worth exploring, and R-Type delivers. While it lacks the complexity and tightness of previous games, the levels are still interesting. The replay value is upped by having levels change depending on how well you've done on previous levels, letting you see new things as you run through the game again. The game is also a visual treat -- the biomechanical monsters are really brought to life with imaginative designs. Each level is very different stylistically from the next, letting you go from a swampy cave to fighting a battleship above a bustling city to a surreal deep space exploration. The sound lives up to the visuals for the most part. Much of the soundtrack, while not something you'd run out and buy on CD, fits the mood of the levels well. There's also a great collection of zaps, crunches, and metallic clangs that enhance the feeling of combat a lot.

This is not a game for someone who is just now getting into shooters. While shooter veterans might find the game fairly easy, people new to the genre may be overwhelmed with the level of customization and the logic of the boss fights, particularly the final one. The game is also rather short, aimed at getting you to replay the existing levels instead of throwing more at you. If there's one blemish on the game, it's the familiar problem of framerate. When there's too much going on onscreen you can get frustrating framerate drops, and one level is particularly bad about it. However, you can usually get through those areas pretty quickly.

R-Type Final delivers a great graphical and audio punch as well as retaining good gameplay. While new players may feel a little lost, those who have followed the series will likely enjoy the level of customization and the great environments. R-Type Final is a loving goodbye to a great franchise and the fans who followed it.