I…Kinda Feel Like Y’all Owe Me An Apology…
Consider This Part 2 of My Past Debate on Reddit.
SAY WHAT YOU WILL about the R-Type Final series by developer Granzella Inc: Regardless of your opinion of the game itself, the campaign for it on Kickstart went on to smash past its goal of pledges by more than double its goal of of ¥45M yen:
MY POINT IS: If you look at the production quality of the R-Type series dating back to R-Type Delta for the original Sony PlayStation and its sequel, R-Type Final for the PS2, you will see a legacy of Irem taking the shmup genre seriously with high production values…the same production values that I have argued when I asked a subgroup on Reddit, “When Will Shmups ‘Grow Up’?” and got totally “internet-bullied” over it. LOL! 😆
And now, with the success of R-Type Final 2, Granzella Inc is announcing yet another sequel: R-Type Final 3 Evolved:
As you can see: With R-Type Final Evolved, Granzella Inc is is not sparing any expense…not pulling any punches…from the level of visual quality they delivered with their previous entry in the franchise. I would argue, then, given such a successful KickStarter launch and follow-up release, that it was well worth Granzella Inc to take the shump genre seriously (for a change)…enough to put the effort in to push the production quality over-the-top.
I FOR ONE appreciate them doing so! Now, is Granzella Inc a AAA game studio? No! Was R-Type Final 2 a smash hit? Also no! But they they did well enough to finance another sequel.
NOW, one might argue that the gameplay experience of Granzella Inc’s R-Type Final series is subpar because of the amount of effort spent on graphical “eye candy”, i.e.; “All style and no substance”. And that’s fair, but that’s not necessarily a given. There are many legendary shmups out there that have fantastic graphics, such as the original R-Type Delta and Square’s Einhänder.
AGAIN, MY POINT IS that it was ultimately worth Irem and later Granzella Inc to take the R-Type franchise seriously in terms of production quality. Whether you like it or not, at least they are trying to push the shmup genre to new heights. So I feel my argument that it’s time for the shmup genre to “grow up” is valid. And if y’all were being reasonable you’d offer me an apology for heckling me over it.
P.S.: Just a casual reminder that this is all (mostly) satire and all in the spirit of poking fun, so do yourselves a favor and try not to take what I’m saying so personally, will ya!