When you look at the classic arcade shooters from Japan and their long-term impact on gaming today, few games have a bigger reach than R-Type. Released in the late 80′s, the game was later ported to a variety of home consoles and handhelds, and was ported to the iPhone in 2010. Now it is on Android as well, and has just gone on sale on the Amazon Appstore for Android for $0.99!

Here is the synopsis from Wikipedia:

R-Type is set in the 22nd century, and the player flies a futuristic fighter craft called the R-9a “Arrowhead”, named for its shape, and because it is the ninth model in the ‘R’ series of fighter craft (but it is the first of the series to actually be used in combat; the previous models were all prototypes). The mission is to ‘blast off and strike the evil Bydo Empire’. The significance of the R- in the series title refers to the production code as well as the term of endearment for the player fighter craft, the “Round Canopy”.

The original R-Type was well-received by most gaming critics. However, it was also infamous for its relentless difficulty. It earned 7th place in IGN’s Top 10 most difficult games to beat.[3] The gameplay of R-Type is noticeably distinct among shoot ‘em ups. Invariably the player will lose, not because of an inequality in firepower, but because of the design of the levels themselves. There is usually a ‘correct’ way to get through a level, but players must learn these by experience – i.e. by losing and restarting from earlier in the level.

As noted the game is terribly challenging, and the touch-screen port takes some getting used to. I have found that I like the game more on the 7″ Kindle Fire than on my iPod Touch (it isn’t a native iPad app), and haven’t had any of the issues noted on Amazon with crashing or slowdowns.

Head to the Amazon Appstore for Android and grab R-Type before the deal expires!