Irem's 1987 shmup epic R-Type certainly has a lot of imitators over the years, but one of the most infamously blatant has been exclusive to arcades for decades – until now.
Originally released in 1991, Rezon is the work of Japanese company Allumer, which went bust in 1999. It didn't make that much of an impact, beyond the fact that it was clearly lifting elements from Irem's more famous game. As such, it didn't get a look-in when it came to a domestic conversion.
Hamster, the company behind the excellent Arcade Archives series, has picked up the rights to Allumer's back catalogue, paving the way for Rezon to finally make its way to home systems after 32 years (thanks, Destructoid).
It's available on PS4 and Switch now, and while it's not quite in the same league as the game it so clearly plagiarises, it's still an interesting footnote in arcade gaming history – and well worth checking out for the low price of entry, especially if you're a shmup fan.
[source destructoid.com]
Comments 9
I wonder if this got as much hammer as Rainbow Arts did for Katakis/Denaris back in the day - along with the original Great Giana Sisters for that matter, although they kinda had the last laugh there..:
Fascinating to hear of this. I can't say I'd heard of this game or company before. There's no question that R-Type was a big deal, but I wonder if a clone really stood a chance in 1991, as so much progress had been made in the genre by then. Plus, shooters had a run of popularity and there was definite oversaturation at that point.
From watching that long play I can say two things, 1) I’m amazed Irem didn’t sue them, those explosions look lifted directly from R-Type and 2) it looks so difficult there’s no chance I could even get past the first level! 😅
@BulkSlash "2) it looks so difficult there’s no chance I could even get past the first level! 😅"
To be fair, arcade games have never been very fair to begin with, and the point to most arcade-style games of that era is basically memorization.
Rezon has also been called, perhaps, the worst soundtrack in video game history. With an annoying 4-second loop. For the whole game, except I think at bosses.
I'm a sucker for Japan-exclusive games, but even I draw the line at blatant Fighter's History-esque ripoffs.
Have this on my arcade cab, had it for years. Personally it looks great but its so bloody hard its even more frustrating than Rtype.
@farrgazer I’m just not very good at shmups. 😅 The only one I’ve ever really got good at is Axelay. Games like Gradius I really struggle with because once I die and lose all my power-ups I find it almost impossible to recover. That said I did really enjoy Drainus recently, the sandbox of upgrades and low difficulty meant I enjoyed it a lot.
@Coffeemonstah I'd love to replay the c64 version of Katakis. A game well worth a careful remake.
@BulkSlash
The first three levels aren't too bad, but the 4th is currently kicking my ass.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...