Irem Collection Volume 1

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As you probably guessed by the name, Irem Collection Volume 1 is the first of five planned volumes of re-released titles from the iconic Japanese developer behind beloved classics like R-Type, Ninja Spirit, and Vigilante. It’s a catalog that skews more to the hardcore set, with a distinctive art style and penchant for, shall we say, extreme difficulties that border on abuse. But as we’ve seen with the popularity of Soulslike games like Elden Ring and Lords of the Fallen, a lot of you love a challenge,

There are several ways to pick these volumes up, a la carte or bundled in handsome slipcases with their own bonus goodies and extras, but our reviews will focus solely on what counts: the games! Volume 1 includes three titles (and their variants): Image Fight, Image Fight II, and X-Multiply, three decent arcade-style shooters that offer an extreme challenge, great visuals, and interesting mechanics. None are quite as refined as R-Type, easily Irem’s most popular game, but all are still worth your attention. If you’re a seasoned arcade shmup vet, anyway.

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1988’s Image Fight is clearly the collection’s standout as it offers the most ports (included are both world and Japanese arcade versions, NES/Famicom, and PC Engine versions). It’s a vertical shooter offering a punishingly difficult, often frustrating experience that either excites purists or has lesser gamers running for the hills. It’s a very particular flavor of shooter the likes we almost never anymore, and R-Type fans will feel right at home.

Also memorable is the game’s story, which is BONKERS, though you’ll have to do some hunting to learn the whole thing as it involves alien invaders from the (no joke) Boondoggle Galaxy that blow up the moon and attack with vegetation. More hilarious is the box cover featuring soldiers with guns, which never happens in the game.

The basic gameplay of Image Fight remains consistent throughout all the versions; you’ll blast a never-ending onslaught of enemies as you try to achieve at least a 90% success rate on each of the “simulation levels” (did I mention half the game takes place is a holodeck?). Failure means having to complete a penalty level before progressing to the real challenge.

The basic gameplay is familiar. You’ll gain extra weapons (called ‘forces’) by blasting containers open (which can kill if you don’t), but there’s a catch. You can’t easily change weapons as you’ll need to run into an enemy to destroy your attached weapon first, which is cumbersome and never really feels natural. At least you can change your ship’s speed without fearing death.

The real gimmick are the two-colored orbs, blue and red, which can add extra shots (blue) or multidirectional shots (red). You can have up to three, mixing both colors, but there’s only one you’ll want. The blue orbs are…pretty useless as they only fire straight ahead. Red orbs fire in the opposite direction you’re facing, which makes them vastly more useful and fun in battle. Because many enemies’ patterns and attacks come at you horizontally or from below, using red orbs are often the only way you’re able to attack them. The orbs also have a secondary function as you can slingshot them for a quick attack, which is the same whether blue or red.

The available ports of Image Fight fare about as well as you’d expect. The arcade versions are pixel-perfect with the option to change the display area from scrunched pillarbox to full-sized landscape). As I mentioned the game is intensely difficult and appropriate for an arcade game designed to eat both your quarters and tears. Everything and anything will kill you, and often. Almost nothing is “fair” and often the only way through is to keep playing until you memorize every pattern and level design – which you’ll need to as there are fakeouts that also lead to a prolonged death.

The NES/Famicom versions are the least impressive, of course, as the insane challenge of the arcade is gone, as are most of the enemies and powerups. Worse is the grating soundtrack that’s more high-pitched noise than melodic, which is probably the worst thing about the port given the console’s ability to churn out memorable tunes. While it’s interesting to see this port (handled by Irem themselves) approximate some of the original game’s levels and playstyles, it remains an early effort on the hardware that’s best known to fans for fleshing out the game’s crazy storyline in its instruction manual.

The PC Engine version is surprisingly playable and quite fun, despite the zoomed-in play area, and does a remarkable job capturing the spirit – and difficulty – of the arcade original. So much so that the PC Engine Super CD-ROM would become the exclusive home of its sequel, Image Fight II (full name Image Fight II: Operation Deepstriker), released in 1992 only in Japan. Both versions look and play about the same, though the screen can chug mightily due to slowdown during the more intense battles, and the sequel is chockfull of classic PC Engine CD cutscenes and voiceovers (only in Japanese, of course).

All versions include the ability to use the controller’s second analog stick to aim the red orb’s fire, effectively making this a twinstick shooter. Ironically, this addition makes the game MUCH easier, yet somehow more fun for gamers who lack the dexterity (or patience) to learn how to survive the often frustratingly cheap enemy patterns. Purists need not apply, but everyone else might give these controls a chance if they want to see the full game.

Also included is 1989’s X-Multiply, a side-scrolling shooter that has much more in common with R-Type than Image Fight, and an even crazier storyline involving microscopic aliens invading the bodies of colonists. Now it’s up to you, ala Fantastic Voyage, to also shrink down and enter the body to blast your way to victory. It’s a strange setup as absolutely nothing in the game looks or feels like you’re inside a human body, but there are worse setups to justify a shooter.

X-Multiply is considerably less challenging than Image Fight, though rather than colored orbs the big gimmick here are the colored tentacles which can attach to your ship, each color allowing a different attack. The tentacles reposition as you move your ship, meaning you’ll have to think twice before deciding where you want both your ship – and tentacles – to be. It’s an awkward system that never felt as intuitive as you wish it were.

Also unlike Image Fight is how your ship changes speed, which isn’t automatic but handled via ‘S’ pickups that speed you up or slow you down. It’s a clunky system that’s often frustrating as having a faster ship in tight spaces means instant death when you smash into walls or tunnels. Like Image Fight, the controller’s second analog stick can be used to maneuver your tentacles around, which helps to make things immeasurably easier and more fun.

It’s one thing to objectively look at the actual games in a collection like this, it’s another to look at the backend emulator powering these Irem collections. Good news – it’s totally fine and has everything you’ll need. There are 6 different save states per game, specific challenges and cheats if any are available, options to change the background wallpaper (limited, but it’s there), colors (RGB, B&W, BGR, BRG), shades (CRT, Vengeful CRT, Arcade Glow, Sameboy LCD), scale filters, and credits. Nothing extraordinary, but the games appear to run as intended (or in the case of the PC Engine, maybe a little too faithfully) and the interface is easy to navigate.

Conclusion

Honestly, as much fun as Image Fight, its sequel, and X-Multiply often are, none can honestly be considered true classics in the shmup genre. As quarter-devouring arcade classics, however, they definitely fit the bill, and considering how difficult snagging good copies of them (outside Japan) has been over the years something like the Irem Collection Volume 1 makes it almost too easy. Unlike the actual games, which are as hard as granite. But you Irem fans already knew that, didn’t you?