In space, nobody can hear you spend one turn screaming

Slower-paced, tactical gameplay seems to lend itself to portable systems, at least from what we have been told by the video game industry. The assumption by developers must be that handheld gamers will be enjoying their product while using the rest of their attention to do something else: driving, operating heavy machinery, running from the police, and so on. Irem Software is working on a new title for gamers who like to play their PSP while literally on the go, and like other tactical games available for the system, their choice of source material leaves us scratching our heads.

The screenshots that have been released so far for R-type Tactics have not done much to alleviate our confusion. It appears as if players will be able to select units from a menu and deploy them onscreen to participate in turn-based battle. While the game certainly looks pretty, it is unclear whether it will capture the mass appeal that a more straightforward R-Type game might have. What do you think? Are you willing to give a tactical side-scrolling space shooter a chance?

Screenshots added June 29, 2007: