'R-Type III' went all-in with its Mode 7 2D trickery.

Ollie Barder

One of the most challenging shmups on the SNES was definitely R-Type III, so how does this new Dimensions port hold up against the original game?

R-Type III was a unique game in the R-Type series, as the first two numbered entries of R-Type and R-Type II had started out life in the arcades.

However, R-Type III was the first numbered iteration to be released on console, which in this case was the SNES back in 1993.

It introduced two new force types, that of Cyclone and Shadow, and a sleek new ship, the R-90 Ragnarok. It was also an incredibly technical and difficult game, and it’s here that we get to this new Dimensions port.

Now, the first Dimensions release included R-Type and R-Type II. It had the original 2D arcade games and added a new 3D mode that could be switched to on the fly.

This new Dimensions release of R-Type III also has the same 2D to 3D setup, and I think this is where the problems start.

The first and obvious issue is that with the 2D version of the game, the general collision detection has changed from the SNES original.

A good visual example of this is the collision offset on this Dimensions release when you fire at the big red mecha in the first stage (shown above).

On the SNES version, the collisions are flush with the mecha, but on this Dimensions version, they are ahead of it quite noticeably.

This also applies to your ship and other objects in the game world, making the previously pixel-perfect dodging a lot harder to manage.

You also have little changes, like the sparks when the environment collides with itself on the first stage, being absent in the Dimensions version (shown below).

However, the other corollary of all this is that the damage rate from your weapons has changed, and you feel much weaker compared to the SNES version.

This is especially noticeable on the small green mecha on the first stage, which are far quicker to kill on the SNES version compared to this new Dimensions release.

What’s more, the SNES version of the game clearly has more frames of animation for explosions and other effects, which again feels a bit off in this new Dimensions version.

In any case, I’ve compiled a comparison video below where you can see what I’m talking about in more detail.

In short, I think the 3D version of the game was prioritized over the accuracy of recreating the 2D version, resulting in various issues that ultimately make an already difficult game even harder.

While I’m all for new shiny 3D adaptations of classic games, I feel they should still play the same as the 2D original, especially if the 2D version is included in the same release.

Like with the recent port of R-Type Delta, I feel that corners were cut to get the 3D version of R-Type III done without retaining the fidelity of the 2D original.

Again, this wouldn’t have happened if they’d hired studios like M2 to handle this port, as they always do an exemplary job.

Overall, R-Type Dimensions III is a messy and inaccurate port of the SNES game. While the 3D rendition looks nice, it’s at the expense of the fidelity of the 2D original, and I think that’s very unfortunate.

R-Type Dimensions III

Platform: Switch 2 (Reviewed), Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Developer: Kritzelkratz 3000

Publisher: ININ Games

Released: 19th May 2026

Price: $34.99

Score: 4/10

Disclosure: A copy of this game was sent to me by ININ for the purpose s of this review, and was undertaken on the latest Switch 2 version (1.02) of the game. The SNES comparison footage was captured from my personal copy of R-Type III on my Retro Freak.

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