[PS2] R-Type Final

[icycalm]

An interesting "Developer Diary" of the director, Kazuma Kujo:

http://archive.gamespy.com/devdiary/january04/rtype1/

Haven't fully read it yet, just saving the link here for later.

[zinger]

We are now trying to develop the FINAL shooting game that will make other game developers give up when they see our game, saying "We cannot do it any better."

Yeah right. :)

Now I actually haven't played Final, but the article was a major turn-off. It's like he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.

[JoshF]

Ikeda missed the memo, should we tell him? :lol:

[icycalm]

The reality of 100 ships was just around the corner! After that, everybody rushed to finish the ships and we made it! We created a shooting game that includes more than 100 ships!

haha that guy is hilarious

[icycalm]

Here's an interview with this guy originally published, in truncated form, in GamesTM Issue 6, around the time Irem released the special demo version of the game. It was conducted by Ollie Barder, aka Cacophanus.

Kujyo Kazuma Interview

Biographical Questions:

Q1. Where in Japan are you from originally?
A1. Osaka, Japan.

Q2. What kind of things interested you as a child?
A2. Pictures. I liked not only to appreciate pictures but also to draw/paint pictures, although, being honest, I was not very good at painting (Laughs).

Q3. What kind of things interest you now, and why?
A3. My hobbies now are watching horse racing, Japanese chess (Syogi), and mah-jong. The reason why I like those is that I like the element of deduction, deduction of turn of events, very much. Plus it is painful when I lose.

Q4. What other games have you worked on and in what capacity?
A4. R-Type Final (As Original Proposer, Producer and Director)
Zettai Zetsumei Toshi (As Original Proposer, Producer and Director)
R-Type Delta (Chief Planner)
Kaitei Daisenso Trasns: Submarine War (As Original Proposer and Director)
Metal Slug (Director).

Q5. Would you deem games as an artform, if so why?
A5. I think defining Art itself is difficult, but I prefer to call games as public entertainment, or something enjoyable. Viewing games this way, I think, fit better. When I am working on a game, I try to prepare something users want to see or touch rather than conveying my opinions to others. And if such game can surprise users, that would be best.

Q6. What other videogames and game makers do you respect/like and why?
A6. I like "Dragon Quest" and "Outer World". I tend to be more interested in the games than people who create them so there is not a specific creator I like.

Q7. What do think the future holds for the international games industry and why?
A7. I think we are going to see bipolarization of companies: Ones which develop something new, and ones which concentrates on improving the existing genres. So far, the major companies have done both mentioned above, but they will tend towards the latter. Particularly in Japan this tendency will be obvious. Going towards the latter case is both the reason why Japanese manufacturers are hurrying to form joint enterprises or to merge with each other, and the result of the on-going mergermania. Other than that, as not only the number of people who play games, but also the area where games are played expands, games will be developed in many countries, and these games will be distributed worldwide. In this situation, each developer and company will face more fierce competition while their meaning of existence will be severely challenged.

Zettai Zetsumei Toshi Questions:

Q1. ZZM is a very different type of game, how did the idea for it come about?
A1. The image of a film called "Nippon Chinbotsu" has been stuck in my mind ever since I saw it as a child. So I thought about expressing what I felt when I saw the film in the form of a videogame somehow.

Q2. What films, if any, influenced the making of ZZM?
A2. It is, as I said, "Nippon Chinbotsu" it can be translated into English as Japan Sinks or Japan's Sink. As for the official English title, if any, is unknown to the translator.

Q3. Are the characters in ZZM based on anyone in particular?
A3. The characters in the game were not modelled on someone specific. I aimed to create all the characters, including the main character, which are friendly and like people next door, instead of being hero figures.

Q4. Are there any plans for a ZZM sequel?
A4. There is a plan though I cannot discuss its details here.

R-Type Final Questions:

Q1. Did you have any involvement with any of the three original arcade games?
A1. I have not been involved with the arcade versions of R-Type directly. When I joined IREM, they were working on R-Type II, so I was roped in to test-play it though (Laughs).

Q2. R-Type III is being ported to the GameBoy Advance, is there any chance that we will see a port of R-Type Leo in the future?
A2. There is a possibility but there is no such plan at present.

Q3. Who originally came up with the idea for the "Force" power-up and its consequent implementation?
A3. It was someone who was in charge of the planning of the first R-Type. The point of the game, I think, lies in the strengthening of the power of arms, which is a separate entity from a player, in stead of doing that of the player him/herself. At the beginning, I heard that there was an idea to turn it to a robot. This idea was partly taken up in R-Type Final.

Q4. How do you plan on developing the "Force" power-up for R-Type Final?
A4. As for Force's Power-Up System itself (ie: rules) remains the same as before. However, we equipped the game with unimaginable number of the types of Force and Lasers which emanate from Force, and the number of Force's gimmicks. Do look forward to it.

Q5. In each of the R-Type games, bar Leo, the "Force" power-up has to be sacrificed in order to kill the last boss. In essence, creating the next Bydo Empire. How do you plan on implementing the final confrontation with the Bydo in R-Type Final, considering that this is the last ever R-Type game?
A5. Force is made, based on Bydo. It is a part of its hated enemy but it is the most reliable partner. However, to defeat Bydo at the end, Force's energy which is Bydo has to be used to its limit. This is the same as R-Type games so far. What is different in R-Type Final from other R-Types is the way the Force energy opens. It will be far more magnificent than ever before.

Q6. What is your favourite R-Type game and why?
A6. The first/original R-Type. I have been involved with two R-Type games, R-Type Delta and R-Type Final. When I worked on them, I always aimed for the first R-Type game. I still admire its impact and decisiveness.

Q7. Why was R-Type Final decided on being the last R-Type game?
A7. One of the biggest reasons was that shooting stopped getting attention from the users/players. To be more precise, shooting games stopped selling. The users/players, distributors, game's magazine publishers, managers of game companies and developers/creators, all of them take less and less interest in shooting games. So if it is left to its own devises, I felt that R-Type will be gradually forgotten. Then I thought about developing R-Type Final, the last milestone-esq R-Type, before our company lose the know-how in making shooting games.

Q8. R-Type Final has many ships to choose from and even a Versus mode, are there any other developments that you wish British fans of the series to know about?
A8. The number of stages is abundant, compared to other shooting games of similar types. In addition, many of the successive R-Type airframes as well as other main airframes which appeared in shooting games that IREM developed, such as Image Fight, of Mr Heli's Big Adventure, appear in the game. And they are all given very characteristic design and have their own arms. Moreover, these airframes will be added and developed in the manner of family tree, and this is the characteristics of the game. I want you to get surprised, and enjoy playing the game, not just the game attracting attentions.

Q9. On the R-Type Final homepage, the backround picture is that of the "agrimonia pilosa" (Japanese name: Kin-mizuhiki) flower. What significance does this hold exactly?
A9. The language of flowers for "kinmizuhiki" is gratitude. It has been 17 years since R-Type was first released. We/I wanted to express our gratitude for those who played R-Type series even if it was just once, and say thanks to those who were involved with R-Type series, as former/ senior developers, or as distributors and so on.

I think I should clarify this was the raw translation, so it's pretty literal throughout.

The interesting thing for me about the guy was that he started in testing, as the Japanese industry is even more snooty about a testing background than in the West.

The guy is also behind Bumpy Trot and the producer of the awesome Pachinko Fuuunroku adventure section for Pachipara games; he is basically the living soul behind each and every interesting Irem thingy.

I got all the above information from this thread:

http://forums.insertcredit.com/viewtopic.php?t=10170

[Molloy]

I didn't enjoy Final all that much. It looks lovely but the gameplays so slow. I bought Delta a couple of months later and I much preferred that despite it looking a tad crusty at this stage.