The thing that earned R-Type much of its praise is actually not my cup of tea. Rote memorization isn't nearly as entertaining to me as twitch gameplay in this genre. I prefer the chaos to the tactical positioning of your ship in just the perfect place. I do still appreciate it for the visuals (Alien was influencing games 8 years after its release), the music, and the fact that the game did make you think in order to get better at playing it.