nce you get past the initial strangeness of the R-Type universe being mined for a tactics-based strategy game, you’re left with a solid title with a refreshingly different setting. We’ve all marched magic-wielding armies through fantasy worlds or pitted tanks against soldiers in contemporary landscapes time and time again, but you don’t often get the chance to see how a side-scrolling arcade shooter makes the transition to methodical turn-based gameplay. We played through the first few hours of the PSP game, and we have to say it works pretty darned well. While the game is about as different from its predecessors as you can imagine, R-Type Command is a solid tactics game that feels like it belongs to the family.

Something that the game is surprisingly successful at is conveying the action of the other games while completely deconstructing the pacing. R-Type, as with just about every other arcade shoot-em-up out there, was all about controlling a ship through a maze of bullets and enemies—all at breakneck speeds. Even though the joystick-melting elements are gone in R-Type Command, players still navigate through 2D landscapes, from left to right. In the first few levels, we spied a ton of familiar elements. Players can blow up boulders and other debris to reveal narrow passageways, which can allow them to get the jump on the nefarious Bydo Empire. Some enemy types—including the screen-filling Dobkeratops—are back, and they’re even more deadly than before.

Before you get to see that fun stuff, though, you have to go through a couple of quick tutorial missions. Here, players take command of their fleet against other AI-controlled “human” opponents. Enemy ships are similar to the player’s, providing a glimpse at how effective the ships are both defense and offense.

Each level begins with the commander (player) placing their units onto the playfield. As expected in a tactics game, units have their own abilities, including strengths and weaknesses. A.WA.C.S. ships are great at scouting out enemy positions, cutting through the game’s fog of war and revealing them, though they’re less-than-optimal when the actual battles begin. Fighters are the bread-and-butter of the armada, balancing range and firepower. Then there are the support vehicles, which can capture neutral bases and mine resources. All told, there are more than 80 different units to unlock through R&D.