R-Type

R-Type
$1.99
7.5--Great
Those of you born in the 80's may remember R-type as a ridiculously hard (and fun) space shooter with unparalleled graphics and speed. finally, this little gem can be experienced on the iPhone, complete with leaderboards, multiple control schemes, and a new auto-fire option that makes the difficulty a little more bearable.
However, the port has it's downsides. The control schemes are o.k. at best; the first, touch control, obscures your ship, making you vulnerable to attacks from behind. The second, tilt, isn't really quick or accurate enough to navigate you through the bullet streams, and the third, classic, is kind of in-between. Touch control is definitely the way to play, along with auto-fire enabled.
The game's difficulty is staggering. Chances are, anyone short of a gaming master will die thousands of times before making it past the first four levels. An unlimited lives mode tries to soften that edge, but it still doesn't help much.
The graphics still look great today, and were phenomenal back in the 80's the boss-battles are epic, and the rest of the levels are pretty smooth too.
Leaderboards will give players cause to come back again and again, and the difficulty ensures that this is one game you won't blow through. In short, R-Type is the perfect game for veteran players or gaming prodigies, and probably those two minorities only.

image from
http://www.talkiphone.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/r-type-logo.png