Irem Software Engineering announced in Japan this week that a sequel to portable strategy game R-Type Command is in the works. The wondrously-titled R-Type Tactics II: Operation Bitter Chocolate is due out for the PSP in Japan on October 29 for 5040 yen; no US release details have been announced.
Previous R-Type titles have chronicled the battle between the human race and the mysterious Bydo aliens. This one takes a detour by depicting a war between two human factions -- the people of Earth, who have continued to develop the Bydo weapons they've seized from the enemy, and the Granzela Revolutionary Army, who resist Bydo-tech and instead have worked on their own weapon tree.

The gameplay of R-Type Tactics 2 will be largely the same as before -- the battlefield is a chunk of side-view space, and you move units around and issue orders in order to defeat the enemy fleet. There are over 200 units in this game, double what was available in Command, and you'll have a few extra abilities up your sleeve, like the power to seize enemy ships and send jamming signals to confuse enemy squadrons.

More as it comes.