Star Soldier R is one of several video games released exclusively as WiiWare through the Wii Shop Channel.

Aside from regular scrolling-shooter gameplay, the game also has a Fast Shot mode which measures how quickly the player can press the fire button.

Red power-up capsules enhance the offensive ability of the player's ship, eventually resulting in a five-way shot.

[6] IGN lauded the quality of the game's core design and top-down shooter gameplay, but criticized the time limitations and repetition with the levels as "thin and ultimately cheap for most gamers".

[11] 1Up.com praised the game as "fun and addictive", but noted that the price of 800 Wii points may be somewhat high for the casual gamer to accept.