The R-9A2 Delta is the most traditional of the playable craft.
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Arguably one of the finest series of shmups ever made is R-Type, and Delta may be its best entry. So this HD Boosted edition has a lot to live up to.
Released back in 1998, R-Type Delta was the first entry in the R-Type series to flirt with 3D graphics. The gameplay was still 2D in a functional sense, but the environments and the ships were handled in 3D.
The result was one of the most fiendishly clever and innovative shmups of that era, and in my humble opinion, probably one of its best.
I say this knowing and loving the likes of G-Darius, which was very much regarded as the foil to Delta at the time. While G-Darius afforded branched levels and ostentatious beam battles, Delta was a darker, more considered shmup with some genuinely involved levels and unique ship selection.
The latter ship line-up comprised of the R-9A2 Delta, the standard ship with power-ups similar to those from the earlier games, the RX-10 Albatross, a new experimental fighter with a “tentacle” Force more like something from Xexex or X-Multiply, the R-13A Cerberus, a more tactical fighter with an “anchor” type Force, and the lovable (as well as secret) TP-2 POW Armor, which was mostly an all-rounder.
The main new mechanic was that you could farm shots and enemies with your respective Force power-ups to increase their Bydo “dose” and then unleash them in a powerful Delta Weapon attack, naturally using the triangle button on the original PlayStation to initiate it once your dose meter was full.
You also had carryover functionality from the Image Fight games, as you could control four levels of movement speed for your ship with the shoulder buttons, with the original power-up for that subsequently absent.
The RX-10 Albatross had a then-new “tentacle” Force that would hunt down enemies when detached.
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What made it all come together was that the level design was extremely well thought out, and didn’t do anything overly gimmicky, and stayed very true to the design of the R-Type series.
Yes, you had levels that made you traverse vertically, but the principles of negotiating tight spaces with the careful use of your Force, either at the front, rear, or free-floating, were still key to your survival.
The music for Delta was also entirely amazing, with the final level and boss fight cues being some of my personal all-time favorites across game music in general.
So, yes, this HD Boosted port has an awful lot to live up to.
The good news is that the main game hasn’t been messed with. It’s all there, with mildly updated HD graphics, but still functionally identical.
There is a new optional “arranged” soundtrack available, but this is mostly terrible and can be thankfully ignored entirely.
However, the massive elephant in the room is that we already had G-Darius HD released a few years back, and that was superb in every regard. It had a flawless graphical port and all kinds of additional options and extras tucked away to warrant its very similar price tag.
The R-13A Cerberus was literally the dark horse of the lineup, with a more tactical playstyle required to get the most out of it.
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Compared to that, HD Boosted feels very phoned in and pretty barren in terms of extras and additional features.
The reason why G-Darius HD was so good was that the porting masters at M2 were at the helm, and they went to town on the game.
So what HD Boosted fails at is everything that could have been in this package if M2 had been hired, rather than this somewhat disappointing budget version we now have.
Delta is genuinely a brilliant shmup, and it needed to be venerated by a studio that cared about what it meant, not only for the R-Type series but also for shmups as a whole.
Somewhat as an aside, while Delta is definitely one of my all-time favorite R-Type games, I still prefer the first arcade game if you are at all curious.
That said, being able to play through Delta again was lovely. I still have the original PlayStation versions I bought for my old PSP and Vita, and I occasionally boot those versions up to remind me how amazing the game is.
So, at least a new generation of players can experience that thrill with this HD Boosted release, but in reality, not a lot has been “boosted”, and it isn’t all that “HD” either. The only real HD addition is an updated version of the original opening movie, which I suppose is a nice addition.
Overall, R-Type Delta is one of the finest shmups ever made and obviously needs to be widely available across modern hardware. I just wish this new HD Boosted version had more to it, and M2 had been hired to handle the game in the same way they made G-Darius HD.
R-Type Delta: HD Boosted
Platform: Switch (Reviewed), PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, PC
Developer: City Connection
Publisher: Clear River Games
Released: 20th November 2025
Price: $24.99
Score: 7/10
Disclosure: Clear River Games sent me a copy of this game for the purposes of this review.
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