Having fallen into heavy financial difficulties and being weary of the current console game market, Irem proposed that Kujo and staff create a collection of early R-Type games as a way to test the market if a sequel was suitable.

[1] In both games, the player controls a starship named the R-9 that must eradicate the Bydo, a powerful extraterrestrial race bent on the destruction of mankind.

The R-9 can perform a charge shot by holding down the fire button, which when released disperses a blast that cuts through enemies.

[2] Destroying small "POW Armor" enemies causes them to leave behind a power-up item, which grants the player one of several unique abilities when collected.

[7] Shortly after the release of R-Type III: The Third Lightning for the SNES, Irem closed all of its video game production lines in 1994 to focus on restructuring itself and becoming more stable.

[7] In an interview with Retro Gamer magazine, Kujo remembers Irem executives being very hesitant towards the idea, saying they felt the shoot’em up genre was a niche market.

[7] After several discussions, Irem proposed that Kujo and other employees create a compilation of early R-Type games as a way to test the market and see if a new sequel would be profitable.

[10][11] R-Types was digitally re-released for the PlayStation Network service on December 21, 2006 in Japan,[12][8] later released on April 24, 2008 in Europe and North America;[13] due to Sony's license with Irem expiring, this version of the game was removed from the storefront.

[7] Original copies have greatly risen in price over the years, and is seen as a collector's piece among R-Type fans.

"[5] In 2007, IGN re-reviewed R-Types for its "Retro Roundup" segment of articles, describing it as "a perfectly cool pairing of some very classic shooters".

[17] They liked the collection for its graphics, precise controls and spot-on emulation quality, saying that it makes for one of the best PSone Classic releases yet.