SUPER R-TYPE
Super R-Type is a 1991 side-scrolling shoot-'em-up for SNES, developed and published by Irem. The player controls the R-9 spacecraft.
Availability: Nintendo Switch Online — Super Nintendo Entertainment System app (Nintendo Classics)
This guide documents the game's main progression and structure; some specific details are still being verified and are noted where relevant.
Controls
The gamepad directional controls move the craft. The B button fires a single bullet at a time and, when held, charges up the beam weapon. The A/L buttons attach/release the Force pod. The X/Y buttons provide rapid-fire shots.
Weapons / Force Pod
Firepower includes missiles, a charge shot, lasers, and the Force Pod. The Force is a detachable device that can be attached to the front or rear of the ship, providing one of three additional weapon types while attached, and can also be used offensively (thrown/launched) or defensively when detached. Power-ups are collected to upgrade the ship's main gun and laser weapons.
Levels / Structure
The SNES version is a partial port of R-Type II: it borrows four stages from R-Type II and adds three new ones, for a total of seven stages. The first stage is entirely different from both the arcade R-Type and R-Type II. The game features a notable slowdown effect when many objects are on screen — a technical limitation that some players found made dodging easier.
Bosses
Each of the seven stages ends in a boss fight; the source notes each boss "has its own attack patterns," which are worth memorizing to succeed. Individual boss names were not confirmed from the sources accessed in this pass.
Survival / Scoring Strategy
There are no mid-level checkpoints — dying means restarting the entire level from scratch, making full-run memorization and Force-pod management important. Given the no-checkpoint design and the Force pod's dual offense/defense utility, keeping the Force attached during dense bullet-pattern sections (for its blocking/absorption properties) while detaching it to snipe distant threats is a reasonable general strategy consistent with core R-Type design — though this specific tactical framing was not confirmed by a dedicated Super R-Type strategy source in this pass.
Still confirming
- Names of all seven stages.
- Boss names and attack patterns for each stage.
- Exact number of Force pod weapon variants and how they are obtained (only "one of three" while a Force type is confirmed generally).