The Dimensions of R-Type 3 – What the Hell Is This..
I don’t know about you guys, but it feels like we’re going into another “hurry out” era when it comes to retro ports and remakes.
Part of me wants to blame the Nintendo Switch for this. The show had a surprisingly well-selling release, and since the retro revival began around 2019, we’ve been inundated with ports, remakes, sequels, memories, and reimaginings. Unfortunately, most of them are completely wrong.
IR-Type III Dimensions is one of those games I’ve been eyeing for a very long time. I really liked the original SNES release, and since it remained exclusive to that platform for decades, I haven’t really played it since the 1990s.
To be completely honest, when I played Dimensions, I always felt that this was not the game I remembered.
Before I continue with my slaughter of all these remakes, let’s take a quick look at what makes the original so likable.
The game was incredibly accurate. Battles wanted pixel-perfect positioning. It pushed the SNES hardware to its limits, delivering a technical showcase alongside a tough but fair game. Weapons, power-ups, and enemy encounters all felt carefully designed and structured.
With such a respected publisher and developer in charge of the remake, most of us thought this was going to be something special.
Loading up the game for the first time, I was excited and ready to be mentally and physically challenged by the series’ trademark difficulty and amazing gameplay. Instead, my immediate reaction was:
“What the hell?“
In terms of presentation, it looks shiny. At first, I really liked it. However, the shiny plastic and glass style quickly became annoying. I found myself constantly switching between the remake and the original SNES graphics—a feature that could be started instantly with the press of a button.
Every time I switched back and forth, I ended up preferring the original look, but both had problems getting offensive hits and felt “wrong” throughout play.
After hitting the first few stages, I decided to rest because I wasn’t enjoying myself. The game felt unfair, unfair, and incredibly boring. More importantly, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t the same game I played back in 1993.
And then I never went back.
Well, until today.
I shot it again and spent about five minutes with it, to confirm my initial impressions. Sadly, everything still feels as haunted as it did before.
This review was supposed to be published weeks ago, but I decided to slow down the game a bit. I thought there might be a day one patch or series of updates that would fix some of the issues.
I’ve waited long enough now.
The update code arrived before the launch, and despite the time that has passed, there have been no major improvements.
Can it be fixed?
It is possible.
But it will need some significant changes before I recommend it.
Until then, avoid it.
PS: Is this a cruel review because I was so praised and kicked in the balls, maybe it is, but I’m afraid that many fans of the first game will share that with me.
