Between the Beautiful and the Grotesque

— The Invention Called R-Type

I like beautiful things.
Things that are orderly, colorful, and structured.

Well, I suppose most people do.
But in my case, I like them enough to say with confidence that I like them more than the average person.

However, there is another thing I like, which is a bit of a problem.

Grotesque things.

The instinct of morbid curiosity

Take movies, for example.

SAW When I watch it, I usually say things like this.
(*Footnote: SAW movie series)

“Ouch, ouch, ouch... oh no... I definitely wouldn't want that to happen to me...
There's no way they're getting out of this one... this is bad...
Ah, well, that's how it goes. Yeah, that's just how it is.”

And while saying that, I watch it to the end.
If you don't like pain, you really shouldn't watch it.

Hellraiser When I watch it, it's like this.
(*Footnote: Hellraiser movie series)

“Ah, gross... ah, here comes something nasty... it's coming...
Ah, ouch, if someone did that to me, it would hurt.
And what is that Rubik's Cube-looking thing anyway?”

And while saying that,I've already watched it many times.

And the ultimate example isAlien.
(*Footnote: Alien movie series)
Even my mother, who would never watch this kind of movie, was made to say,
“Oh, it ate through the stomach and something came out,”
referring to the scene where the larva? appears.
In Aliens, the feeling of despair when they are surrounded despite being heavily armed,
or the scene with the people who were taken into the nest.

Normally, once would be enough,
but for some reason, I keep watching them over and over.

It seems humans have

a “morbid curiosity”
or a “fascination with the grotesque”

some kind of mysterious instinct.

Psychologically speaking, this might be a case of “the coexistence of disgust and curiosity.”
Something about paying attention to disgusting stimuli in order to learn about danger.

But to be honest, my conclusion is a bit simpler.

Perhaps I am a masochist.

The World of Giger

There is someone who took this sense of a "mixture of beauty and disgust" to the level of art.

H. R. Giger.
(※Footnote: Giger)

He is the painter famous for his design of the Alien.

A long time ago, Giger Cafe I went to.
(I wonder if it still exists.)

The interior is filled with

• organism-like

• machine-like

• skeleton-like

• womb-like

structures that are hard to describe.

I was struck by a strange sensation there.

It's disgusting.

And yet,

somehow, I feel at ease.

It's like having my subconscious gouged out, or perhaps an
amniotic fluid experience, a feeling of "I want to be absorbed into this organic machine and sleep."

…Maybe I really am a masochist.

A work that turned that sensation into a game

This "mixture of beauty and disgust" is something I probably first experienced in a game with this.

R-Type.

An arcade game by Irem from 1987.

My first impression when I saw it was simple.

"What is this?"

The enemies are

• organic-looking,

• mechanical-looking,

• bio-weapon-looking,

all strange entities.

The stage backgrounds also feature structures that look somewhat like the inside of a living organism,
exposing a Giger-esque worldview.

And the player thinks,

"Ugh, how gross..."

But the next moment,

"I wonder what kind of gross thing will appear next?"

they are looking forward to it.

It is puremorbid curiosity.

The game mechanics R-Type instilled

However, what makes R-Type amazing is not just its worldview.

Its game mechanics also
feature inventions that had a major influence on later shooting games.

The Force

First, there is that mysterious module.

Commonly known as Force.

It is a round, inexplicable object that

• the front of the craft

• the back of the craft

can be attached to either side.

Moreover, it becomes an invincible shield.

By switching this between the front and back,

• frontal defense

• rear defense

can be used tactically.

In other words, R-Type introduced

the concept of a "position-manipulating weapon"

to the shooter genre.

However, I have one question.

If this invincible material technology exists, why not just build the craft out of it?

So, in my mind, I have established this setting.

This is the same super-material as the

Droplet
that appears in the novel "The Three-Body Problem" (*Footnote: The novel "The Three-Body Problem"). It seems it is bound by a nuclear force stronger than electromagnetic force, and there is nothing on Earth that can destroy it.

A material that transcends human understanding.

That is why it cannot be used for the craft.

……Let's just leave it at that.

Charge Shot (Wave Cannon)

Another invention was the charge shot.

Holding down the button charges energy, and
releasing it fires a powerful projectile.

This shattered the common wisdom of shooting games at the time.

The theory up until then was basically

“rapid fire is justice”

.

However, R-Type says this:

It introduced
rhythm and
a pause for judgment to shooting games.

The design philosophy of a memorization game

R-Type is a fairly difficult game.

But it is not unreasonable.

Enemies basically
appear in the same patterns.

In other words, this is what is known as

a memorization game

.

You fail many times.

And then you learn.

"Force here, behind"
"Charge shot here"
"Squeeze through here at the last second"

That is how you gradually build up a strategy.

As a result, the player thinks:

"I've gotten better at this."

In reality, they are just being guided by the game designer.

The shock of the giant battleship

And one thing we must not forget is:

The giant battleship stage.

An enemy of a size that doesn't fit on the screen.

While this is a common presentation now,
it was truly shocking at the time.

When I first saw it at the arcade,

"Wait, is this...
all one enemy?"

I genuinely thought that.

It was the moment the sense of scale in shooting games
was raised to the next level.

For those who haven't played it, here is a video explaining the game mechanics and appeal of R-Type (English commentary)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2r6wqwn3mk

R-Type as a textbook

Unfortunately,
Irem
has now withdrawn from the game business.
They have shifted their focus to amusement machines and the film industry.

But when a student tells me they are applying to this company,
I can't help but say this.

"To accept Irem and not know R-Type is
a disgrace to creators."

Though, of course, that is half in jest.

Nowadays, the internet has
walkthroughs for every stage.

But that is not what you should really be learning.

It is the design of the process of exploring the strategy itself.

Fail,
observe,
understand,
and break through.

Even the user's experiences of failure and success
are designed down to the millimeter.

The beautiful and the grotesque

I love beautiful things.

But just as much,
I love grotesque things too.

When those two mix,
human curiosity is stimulated in a strange way.

R-Type might have been

a work that turned that sensation into a game

.

The player says,

"Ugh, how gross..."

But they insert a coin.

And then they advance to the next stage.

Humans are truly mysterious creatures.

...Or perhaps,
they are just masochists.

References

R-Type
A side-scrolling shooter released for arcades by Irem in 1987. Players control the R-9 "Arrowhead" fighter to stand against the "Bydo Empire," an enemy force where machines and organisms have fused. It is considered a monumental work in the shooter genre due to its high difficulty, strategic game design, and original artistic expression.

SAW Film Series
The American horror film series "SAW" is a long-running franchise that began with the 2004 film of the same name, directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannell. Characterized by psychological warfare under extreme conditions and cruel trap devices, it later established a subgenre known as "torture porn." Due to its commercial success, over ten sequels and spin-offs have been produced, with the series' total box office revenue exceeding 1 billion USD.

Hellraiser Film Series
The "Hellraiser" film series, based on the work of and directed by Clive Barker, is a British-American horror film series that began in 1987. Centered on the torturers known as "Cenobites" who appear from another dimension and the puzzle box "Lemarchand's Box" used to summon them, it depicts a cruel world where sensuality and torture are intertwined.

Alien Film Series
Released in 1979, "Alien" is a sci-fi horror film directed by Ridley Scott. It tells the story of the crew of the commercial spaceship Nostromo who encounter an unknown extraterrestrial life form and lose their lives one after another. It had a major impact on the history of sci-fi and horror films due to its innovative art and visual expression, as well as the character of the female protagonist Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver.

H. R. Giger
A Swiss surrealist painter and sculptor (1940–2014). His real name was Hans Rudolf (Ruedi) Giger. He is known for his "biomechanical" style, which fuses machines and organisms, and he gained worldwide fame for his design work on the film "Alien." He left a strong influence on a wide range of fields, from fantastic art to science fiction films.

The Three-Body Problem (Novel)
A science fiction novel by Chinese author Liu Cixin, and the first volume of the "Remembrance of Earth’s Past" trilogy. The original was published in 2008, and the English version was published in 2014 in a translation by Ken Liu. It depicts the contact between humanity and an extraterrestrial civilization, and it garnered international attention as the first Chinese-language science fiction work to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2015.