Myth boasts outstanding artwork, no doubt, but as programming feat is average at best. Levels too short for their size (and not only level data, but practically the same (!) code is multiloaded every time, albeit in a new place), and there are even a few obvious bugs in original release. Same about Rex which, i've been told, has a lot of memory wasted (it could be much bigger/longer). Speaking strictly of great "programming" example on arcade/action games i'd choose Astro Marine Corps - the game itself isn't excellent, just plain good, but i was instantly amazed how the authors crammed so much graphics and animation into the damn 40K - minus AY sound (useless on 48K machine) and shadow screen, that is! The only downside was poor randomizer to blame for strange bonus/powerup distribution. R-Type is well coded also, but levels are still too short for my liking (or were they about the same in arcade original?)
I think Rex is just about the right length - there's no point in filling memory just for the sake of it. It still stands as a technical marvel because of all the things going on on-screen most of the time. And yes, the levels in arcade R-Type were quite short too.
Thanatos still has some attribute artifacts that i'm sure aren't that hard to fix (could be faster too). And i'm certain more variety in graphics would be appreciated in Rex - imho 2nd part is too short and has ugly color scheme (but i heard there is slightly improved remake somewhere on the net).
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