R-Type Tactics and its Japan-exclusive sequel are getting a surprise 2023 update [UPDATE]
Update: November 7, 2022
Looks like NIS America showed up pretty quickly after the initial announcement with their own site and store pages. Cosmos will be available with original Japanese audio and text options in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Japanese on its “Summer 2023” release. It’s also been pointed out that the collection will be coming to the Epic Games Store alongside Steam on PC. The rest of my post from October 27th follows below.
Eerily, just weeks after remembering that there’s a fan translation for R-Type Tactics 2 that I never checked out, IREM and Granzella have revealed a Summer 2023 release for R-Type Tactics I & II Cosmos. The updated combo pack includes both games that were originally released in 2007 and 2009 respectively, and were only playable on a PSP until now.
My admiration of the series is pretty well-worn territory around these parts but if you just found this post in 2022 and can’t wait a year to see the games in action, may I suggest my full playthrough of the original? You’ll definitely come to appreciate the upgrade in resolution between the versions.
Cosmos will be coming to PC, Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 but the big question is: will this be a Japan exclusive or will R-Type Tactics 2 finally see an official English release? Well, judging by this screenshot that is 100% in English, I’m now pretty certain that it will, although Granzella has yet to confirm anything but a Japanese release.
Granzella’s homepage for Cosmos also reveals that some new missions will be added “as a sequel to the two previous stories” so this is shaping up to be at least a little more than a straight clean-up-and-port job. With my perpetually inferior shooter skills, Tactics has taken over as my touchstone for the R-Type series so whether it gets a North American release or not it’s just heartwarming to see these games get some love again.
Oh yeah, R-Type Final 2 is getting a PlayStation 5 port with some added touches as well, and awkwardly being released as R-Type Final 3 Evolved. Not a full sequel, just a confusingly named update.
