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Ikaruga Comments by Kristan Reed

17 June, 2003

The hardest game you'll play all year.

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Comments: 1-50 of 65 in total | next 50 »

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disc
17/06/03 @ 13:06
#1
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hmff... to buy or not to buy... that is the question...

Hard games are about as big a turnon as a nice looking brunette model with a tight body...


damn... excuse my language...
Alastair
17/06/03 @ 13:09
#2
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It's now 12:58

EDIT: Your system clock is fast!
Edited 1 times, most recently on 17/06/03 @ 14:10
FWB
17/06/03 @ 13:10
#3
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12.59 by my count.
FWB
17/06/03 @ 13:10
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Now its 13.00.
Alastair
17/06/03 @ 13:22
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'Also, with the release of the legendary action replay for gamecube, don't expect the online score rankings to bear any truth of real skill. '

Expect to see Otto's name at the top of the listing any time soon!

;o)
Razz
17/06/03 @ 13:23
#6
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I picked this up for the Dreamcast. Is it any reason why I should get it fro the GC too?
Eldritch
17/06/03 @ 13:24
#7
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This was an essential and instant buy for me. After all, I spent months on Thunder Force III on the Mega Drive. (C;

Play it in horizontal, anamorphic mode on a widescreen telly and you'll have a blast. Or two.
Eldritch
17/06/03 @ 13:32
#8
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"Anyone really interested in it will have already imported it on Dreamcast (which incidentally isn’t very rare at all, £40-£50 from a lot of online retailers)."

Mine was 45 Euros, by the way...
st3ph3n
17/06/03 @ 13:33
#9
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Hehe, the Naughties. More people need to be using that.

I might buy this, now that i'm no longer studenting, and are now claiming free holiday pay/job seekers allowance from the job centre.
Eldritch
17/06/03 @ 13:39
#10
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Way to go st3ph3n. Nothing better than to burn 40 bob on this one!
disc
17/06/03 @ 14:13
#11
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still dont get why they didnt do this for the ps2...

I mean, I dont mind now that I have the cube myself... but ... well... ngrn
rare uk
17/06/03 @ 14:14
#12
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I got this last week, haven't played it much yet due to my lost save games problem, coupled with the fact that Burnout 2 is taking all of my GC time. But I did manage to play it for about 1 hour and found it well hard, and it looks and plays beautifully. I managed to beat the first boss.
shirubagan
17/06/03 @ 14:15
#13
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"Play it in horizontal, anamorphic mode on a widescreen telly and you'll have a blast. Or two. "

Pah. Turn your telly on it's side, THEN you'll know how great this game is.

Buy it, buy it, buy it!
Cyhwuhx
17/06/03 @ 14:19
#14
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.::: I'm in the free play zone although I still have to 'complete' it. usually I keep track of the amount of credits and quit at 9. Unlimited is too cheap. :P
Eldritch
17/06/03 @ 14:24
#15
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"Turn your telly on its side"

I would, but I'm kinda scared. You know, I still have this day job and bills to pay. Oh, and the telly might not like it either. (C;
LaundroMat
17/06/03 @ 14:33
#16
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Ikaruga was heavily warez0red and imported at the time of its DC release. I wonder how many GC owners have
a) a DC
b) a copy (beit legit or not) of the game on their DC

Substract this number from the number of potential buyers, and I fear there's not a lot left.
lost_soul
17/06/03 @ 14:52
#17
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Think I'll wait for this to appear in a sale before I buy, £40 on an old skool shooter just seems too expensive.

How does it compare against Capcoms more recent shooters? (such as Mars Matrix, Gigawing, 194x)
Killerbee
17/06/03 @ 15:10
#18
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If you do fancy more of this kind of thing you can download Xenon 2000: Project PCF from the Bitmap Brothers website here - and it's free!
Tricky
17/06/03 @ 15:11
#19
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"Turn your telly on its side"

Not a good idea - a few people have knackered their tellys doing this. Unless the tube is designed to be orientated that way, it will break.
Pirotic
17/06/03 @ 15:18
#20
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no mention of the awful pal conversion i see,

basically if you want this game, get it imported with freeloader for the same price, the PAL version doesn't suffer to badly from borders - but the frameskip is ugly, basically instead of speeding everything up so the PAL (50hz only) version matchs the 60hz game, they've just hacked it so it doesn't display every 6th frame, this makes the game 'jump' along and is sadly very noticeable

(exactly the same as what happens when you try to play halo with the dash set to 60hz, displays at 50hz but jumps frames to speed it up)

dont get!
krudster [mod]
17/06/03 @ 15:25
#21
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Ah here we go, the old PAL conversion moans. It's a fine game, PAL 50 or not. Sure, by all means go to the hassle of importing, but it's by no means a bad port, and certainly isn't noticeable.
Eldritch
17/06/03 @ 15:31
#22
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"awful pal conversion", "the frameskip is ugly", "they've just hacked it so it doesn't display every 6th frame, this makes the game 'jump' along and is sadly very noticeable", "dont get!"

I didn't notice anything of that kind at all. Call me low-tech, but this game is utterly playable as it is sold over here in Germany.

It's just like complaining about "missing lines" in US DVDs. Sure, technically that may be true, but how many people actually do notice these things?

Don't miss such a fine game, just because some things you may not even notice may be missing.
Edited 2 times, most recently on 17/06/03 @ 16:33
Nemesis
17/06/03 @ 15:38
#23
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Bloody hell, look at all you lot vying for hardcore status in the Ik' thread! Bless ;-)

I stink at this sort of game, years of Xenon/1942 and R-Type confirmed the fact. Like to play it, but have to be realistic. Maybe I can nick someone else's copy when they get pissed off with it and realise they ain't that hardcore after all. /gets ready to email Alastair
Pirotic
17/06/03 @ 15:42
#24
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wasn't slating the review, just letting people know.. while most gamers dont even remember the borders on final fantasy im sure a few of us would be pretty let down with the conversion, i've had the jap version to compare it to and the FMV at the start, and the ingame action is awfully jumpy. either that or my cube is playing up :P
Eldritch
17/06/03 @ 15:49
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"either that or my cube is playing up"

I never noticed any slowdowns in the entire game or the FMV except for the boss explosions (but let's mercifully assume that this was a conscious decision on part of the developers... (C;).

Come to think of it, the FMV intro of Extreme G-3 is very choppy indeed...
Eldritch
17/06/03 @ 15:52
#26
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"european gamers should be chuffed that they are getting the game at all"

I'm glad they released it over here at all. So sue me. (C:
disc
17/06/03 @ 15:52
#27
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I remember the borders on ffx... cant say that I care much though...
and I cant really tell the difference between 50 or 60 in zelda and mario...


but in this game I might...
Edited 1 times, most recently on 17/06/03 @ 16:53
Pirotic
17/06/03 @ 15:56
#28
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that was sorta my point :) its a great game and im glad they've decided to release it - and im not against 50hz, if done properly 50hz is perfect, slightly lower frame-rate but sharper picture. my problem is that it skips every 6th frame which means anything moving appears to suddenly jerk.

but then again, if you cannot notice it there is nothing to worry about. just figured ppl might want to know certain sites are doing a deal where you get the US version AND freeloader for £5 less than the english RRP.
Eldritch
17/06/03 @ 15:57
#29
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"why not include this?"

Maybe, on a niche title such as this one, they can't be arsed?
Pirotic
17/06/03 @ 16:08
#30
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well, i suppose the main question is can anybody else notice it? i thought it was pretty apparent, but then again hardly anybody noticed the 60hz halo fault until i posted about it. (xbox magazine still deny it, dispite bungie actually issuing an public apology)

what i dont want is a big 60/50/moan/debate thing, we've been there too often,
krudster [mod]
17/06/03 @ 16:08
#31
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By all means bitch and moan if it is a dodgy conversion, but this really isn't even a noticeable issue. I agree publishers should include 60Hz, but in this case it's such a niche game they probably realised it wasn't worth it.
Eldritch
17/06/03 @ 16:10
#32
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Well, I second that motion, no doubt.

People in Germany buy German release DVDs which lack extra features and look like shit. 'cos they don't have a choice.

Importing things is still something many people won't do or are unaware of.

I think the more games are sold over here in Europe the sooner we will have proper versions of them.

In the meantime, I'm grateful for every playable shooter I can get.
But I appreciate people having strong views about this. In the long run, that will improve things for sure.

Have a look at Driver 2. Now that's a fucked-up game and it wasn't even a 60 Hz/PAL/can't be arsed issue. (C;
Eldritch
17/06/03 @ 16:11
#33
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"what i dont want is a big 60/50/moan/debate thing, we've been there too often"

Too late, I guess. (C:
Blerk
17/06/03 @ 16:12
#34
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I agree publishers should include 60Hz, but in this case it's such a niche game they probably realised it wasn't worth it.

The trouble is, this is a niche game. And the type of people who would buy such a title are exactly the type of people who would make a big fuss about the lack of a 60hz mode. They should have known better.
Pirotic
17/06/03 @ 16:14
#35
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i can't really get my head around it, i could understand if they had rushed it out, and sold it cheaper so maybe the casual gamer may pick up a game which would probably get overlooked otherwise. but releasing a hardcore game, without advertising, and a dodgy conversion, for more money, why not just put a few posters up saying "Import it Now!" or something.

they'll end up just bitching about how the sales are crap and then not bother releasing the big-guns as they are too 'japanese'
Eldritch
17/06/03 @ 16:17
#36
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Maybe they know that their target audience would buy it anyway, be it an import or a retail version. Shooters are few and far between these days. You want one, you buy what's there.

*sigh*
Eldritch
17/06/03 @ 16:20
#37
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"If developers and publishers don't take pride in their games they don't deserve to be in the industry."

Wrong, I fear. They're here to make money with the least amount of trouble and work.

Idealism rarely pays these days.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 17/06/03 @ 17:20
Pirotic
17/06/03 @ 16:23
#38
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now lets start complainig about the measly 4 levels!

just kidding ;) bloody cool game. Treasure have a knack of making games unique - well, apart from Wario which looks pretty bollocks.

i'd like to be a git however and annouce this ISNT the hardest shooter ever, i have somewhere this NeoGeo game, its like a horizontal shooter and its bloody impossible!.. and you can't even get a ActionReply for the CDZ :(

am i the only person who didnt like the whole Black/White gameplay system? i think its a bit gimicky (for the record i think Silvergun is the better game)
Eldritch
17/06/03 @ 16:26
#39
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NeoGeo: Last Resort?

I agree, the b/w system is somewhat gimmicky. I prefer old school systems (Gradius, R-Type, Parodius etc.). Still, it's a refreshing change in a world bereft of innovations. (C;
Eldritch
17/06/03 @ 16:41
#40
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I like the idea of being able to absorb the enemies' fire, even the fire of those capital ships - and then being able to switch and give them a taste of their own medicine. (C:
gravity0
17/06/03 @ 16:43
#41
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Pirotic: Pulstar? That wasn't too hard. Viewpoint - now there was a rock hard game.

As for Ikaruga, I imported the DC version last year, and never really clicked with the rigid gameplay system. There seemed to be a perfect way to beat a level, and once you've figured out the correct route, that was it. In that respect, the game is alot more like a puzzler than a shmup.

Personally, I prefer the more traditional shooters with a little more freedom in the way you approach a level. DoDonPachi Dai-Ou-Jou on the PS2 is a good example. What a game!
Eldritch
17/06/03 @ 16:48
#42
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"DoDonPachi Dai-Ou-Jou"

Is there an English, less vowel-heavy name for that one?
Eldritch
17/06/03 @ 16:49
#43
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Just found it. Looks nice. (C:
gravity0
17/06/03 @ 16:59
#44
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It's an absolutely incredible game - I'm totally hooked on it at the mo'.

If you like your Japanese manic shmups, and you own a JPN/chipped PS2, you *have* to get this.
Eldritch
17/06/03 @ 17:02
#45
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I don't have a PS2, but I'll keep it in mind for the PSP. (C:
Alastair
17/06/03 @ 17:02
#46
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'Maybe I can nick someone else's copy when they get pissed off with it and realise they ain't that hardcore after all. /gets ready to email Alastair '

Watch it, Shorty!

I'm hardcore enough to know that I'm not *that* hardcore. And even if I wasn't, do you think I'd let you lot know about it.
Eldritch
17/06/03 @ 18:14
#47
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In other nerdism news:

http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=271
ray
17/06/03 @ 18:27
#48
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gravity0: "Pirotic: Pulstar? That wasn't too hard. Viewpoint - now there was a rock hard game. "

Try blazing Star (the Pulstar's sequel). It is DESIGNED so you can't play it. Shame, cos it looks so superb.

I always had difficulties with Viewpoint mainly because of controls. I could never figure out how am I supposed to avoid bullets. Looks nice, though.
ssuellid
17/06/03 @ 18:38
#49
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I reckon that the 50hz version has been hacked up purely for the online stats - not really fair for us Europeans to be playing at a slowed down 50hz. Still not an excuse for the lack of a true 60hz mode tho - but from reading various reviews the juddering is not supposed to be that noticable except in the non shooting parts - i.e ship swooping etc.
[$mooth] EcToX
17/06/03 @ 18:59
#50
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amazin game on da dc i think im gonna have to get it!

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