R-Type Dimensions III appears to have set itself the noble goal of repeatedly introducing your spaceship to sudden, unavoidable death while pretending that’s a personality trait. This remaster of R-Type III drags one of the series’ most notoriously brutal entries onto PS5 with shiny visuals and modern features, proving that polishing a brick doesn’t stop it being lobbed at your head.
Gaming Heaven
The ability to swap between classic 2D graphics and the updated 3D presentation works seamlessly, and the new look stays faithful to the original design. The soundtrack is equally decent, with both original and rearranged tracks available.
There are plenty of options too. Infinite Mode lets newcomers practice without constantly restarting, local co-op is included, and leaderboards offer competitive players another excuse to punish themselves voluntarily.
The weapon variety is impressive as well. Different Force devices and charge attacks offer genuine experimentation, assuming you survive long enough to actually use them.
Gaming Hell
Progress depends almost entirely on memorisation. Hazards appear without warning, scenery suddenly becomes lethal, walls close in for no obvious reason, and lasers emerge from places that look about as threatening as a garden fence. Success rarely feels earned; it feels like you’ve simply died enough times to remember where the next bit of nonsense is hiding.
The camera rotation feature looks flashy but mostly serves to make an already chaotic game even harder to read. Lovely stuff.
Even Infinite Mode feels less like an accessibility option and more like the developers quietly admitting what they’ve done.
Final Judgement
R-Type Dimensions III includes plenty of extras, but underneath the fresh paint is an exercise in frustration that mistakes memorisation for skill. Dedicated shmup veterans may find satisfaction here. Everyone else will probably question their life choices.
