I played a couple of hours of R-Type Final tonight. I didn't play at all last night, and I was lucky to get any gaming in at all on Sunday. And I might not play at all tomorrow, either. But, anyway, I've been playing on "Bydo" difficulty (there's one higher: "R-Typer") and so far I've only made it to the stage 4 boss. I'll probably turn the game off soon.
Anyway...

(Spoilers)The main interesting thing that happened tonight was that I found, on Bydo, there's an extra level between 3 and 4 (since the note section keeps track of when you first reached and beat any stage, the gap between 3 and 4 there might have suggested this. But it also could have just suggested a variation on stage 3, as stage 2 has a few variations). It sort of takes place at the end of R-Type Delta, and in fact [SUPER SPOILER] the boss of this stage is the R-13 from Delta's "bad ending". Some of the enemies in this stage shoot bullets that your Force cannot block. Consequently, I thought a particular part at the end would be really, really tough [SUPER SPOILER] but there's a safe spot there. Anyway, beating that stage unlocked the R-13T ship. Uh... it seems to totally suck compared to the R-13 in Delta. The lighting beam weapon is weak, and it doesn't even home in on enemies. And while the Force is tethered to your ship by a chain, the Force itself no longer bites into bosses. It just floats along. I wonder if there are other R-13 ships to unlock in this game.

It seems to me that bullets have been moving faster on this difficulty... at least in stage 4.
I LOOOOOOVE Flying Omelette!!
Crawl and 1000