Kyotokei, polarity-based shmup for Wiiware 8/11

[Mad Mage]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFu_LH1hSoQ

If anyone gets this, let me know what they think

[Moniker]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFu_LH1hSoQ

If anyone gets this, let me know what they think

It's rubbish. I coulda spent that $5 on a bunch of reese's cups...

It's not terrible, just rather boring - a simple ikaruga clone, sans good graphics, good music, and good level design. I suppose if you're an ikaruga fanatic you might find something in there. All the mechanics are exactly the same -- chains, seeking laser, &c. In the game's defense, the player's ship looks pretty decent...

[MathU]

I wonder what game "inspired" that. Really looks like something I'd expect from the PC freeware scene.

Speaking of WiiWare, where's my damn Phalanx remake US localization already?

[Mad Mage]

Did you get far? The later part of the video looked a little more intense and interesting. But yeah, of course it's going to fail in every comparison to Ikaruga.

[Moniker]

Did you get far? The later part of the video looked a little more intense and interesting. But yeah, of course it's going to fail in every comparison to Ikaruga.

I have to admit I lost patience about halfway through stage 2 -- the bit in the video where the people start dashing at you. Another thing I neglected to mention is that classic controller isn't compatible, despite contrary claims on the purchase page. It'll only accept buttons 1 & 2, so I'm guessing GCN controllers are out as well (though I'd have to dig one out and try it to be sure). Horizontal wiimote FTW. The later stages in the video look basically akin to what I experienced. Truthfully, the bullet patterns remind me more of the xbla platformer Outland than ikaruga. Maybe it's the colors. YMMV.

But yeah, it's basically a mediocre doujin. If for whatever reason you can't play ikaruga and are dying to try it, you could do worse.

[Mad Mage]

Well based on how it looks, your review seems quite plausible But I'd really like to hear from someone who's actually played most of the game.

And it'd be good to know if you can use GC controllers, because if so, I can use converters and play with my PS2 Joystick

[Moniker]

GCN controller works -- I just confirmed it.

[Mad Mage]

thx. Now I just have to decide if I wanna waste five bucks on it

[Observer]

I think you are better off paying $2usd for Yar's Revenge at Gamersgate... Or getting the Ground Control series for $5 (if you like nice RTS).

edit: I echo what others say. There are even some free games that kind of look better (and sound better! Just listen to Genetos final songs) than this. It indeed copies Ikaruga's colour switching mechanic but it looks a bit "clumsy" in said implementation. eXceed2nd did a better job at being an Ikaruga clone. Plus it's vertical.

[StevenM]

Bahaha, those opening graphics. Oh wow. The ingame sprites don't look that bad, actually, and the gameplay itself seems competent enough (if a bit uninspired - what can we do with the foundation Ikaruga lays down...?).

I have to ask, how hard is it to program for WiiWare anyway? I'm not sure if I'd invest in it unless they're carrying it over to the Wii U.

[Vetus]

From the screenshots and trailer I said "It doesn't look so bad". Boy, I was so wrong when I played it. Even for an indie game the graphics are totally dull and uninspirited and the same goes for the sound and the gameplay. It seems the developers were either lazy or sleepy when they were making it. At the very least it looks more like something a first year student in a video games school would make as an exercise. And speaking for the character design is so laughable that even ZUN's design looks like a masterpiece (putting jokes aside, ZUN's design is not as bad as most people say). But then again what would you expect from the creators of the "cult classic" Enjoy Your Massage ( http://www.enjoyyourmassage.com/ ) ? The biggest shame is that Nintendo gave the OK for releasing this game for WiiWare. And I thought XBLA was full of "indie" garbages.

OK, let's see a review for this game:
http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/118/1187369p1.html
7,5/10? WTF? This game deserves at least 5/10.

Another thing I neglected to mention is that classic controller isn't compatible, despite contrary claims on the purchase page. It'll only accept buttons 1 & 2, so I'm guessing GCN controllers are out as well (though I'd have to dig one out and try it to be sure).

The Classic Controller works fine. The problem with the game's control is that it has no pause. No pause. NO PAUSE. WTF? Is this an Atari game?

If for whatever reason you can't play ikaruga and are dying to try it, you could do worse.

Even if you don't own a Dreamcast/XBox360 and you don't have a strong PC to play Dreamcast emulator, Ikaruga was released for Gamecube as well. And Wii can play Gamecube games. At worst case there's plenty of great Ikaruga clones on PC like eXceed 2nd (which is a dreamy combination of Ikaruga and Touhou).

[Ganelon]

Someone needs to change the topic title to reflect the game's proper spelling. Anyway, looks like the track record for non-JP shooters continues...

[MathU]

How did this get past WiiWare quality assurance when the La-Mulana remake has been in limbo for more than half a year now?

[Elixir]

How did this get past WiiWare quality assurance when the La-Mulana remake has been in limbo for more than half a year now?

They're not going to release a game sooner just because it's a good game. Come on dude, you should know how this works by now. Maybe if they waved some money at Nintendo it would change things, I doubt it though.

[Ghegs]

Went and got 10 million in this.

Going against the grain here, but I had a fun time with the game. Yes, it's on the easy side and the chains aren't nowhere near Ikaruga's complexity but I still enjoyed practicing them. It could be thought of as an extended tutorial for the whole polarity switching thing. Some of the chains are a bit odd though, it's like the game was designed for two-player co-op. Often some enemies just have to be left alive for the chain to be kept.

Outside the creepy opening graphics I'd say the game looks just fine, it's a cute'em-up that way. There aren't that many enemy types or different music tracks, and the final boss (well, all bosses) is a joke, but I felt I got my 500 Nintendopoints worth.

Bonus points to the game for being a hori. My brain just works better with those and it's one of the reasons I haven't really gotten into Ikaruga. Damn shame they removed that "tate the screen but keep the horizontal controls"-option from the XBLA port.

[GrantWindsor]

How did this get past WiiWare quality assurance when the La-Mulana remake has been in limbo for more than half a year now?

Rubbish like this just highlights the problems with current-day Nintendo. There is not a lot of great WiiWare software out there, but I can't understand why both Phalanx and La Mulana haven't made the trip from Japan. I'm to the point of just giving in and purchasing Japanese Wii points to grab those two and Phelios on Virtual Arcade. And don't get me started on the Virtual Console and how anemic it is compared to its Japanese counterpart. I understand that third parties are involved, but Nintendo should have been pushing a bit harder to beef it up. Then again, I'm not certain if the average Wii user is apt to purchase a non-translated Japanese game, even if the language has no bearing on your ability to play the game. And although I know that Nintendo isn't at fault for the non-localization of Wii games like Earth Seeker and Tales of Graces which I've had to import, I can't even begin to comprehend what went wrong with the six Nintendo-published Wii no-shows on my shelf, especially when the Wii is drowning in garbage in the US. Then again, maybe there's no market for these games in the US with that average Wii user, despite the noise made by Nintendo fanboys and their petitions. I certainly don't have much hope for the US Wii U, outside of the usual Nintendo properties. After importing for 20 years already, I'm pretty certain that will be status quo for me with the next generation of consoles as well.

[beatsgo]

...Some of the chains are a bit odd though, it's like the game was designed for two-player co-op. Often some enemies just have to be left alive for the chain to be kept.

That's how I felt when I played the demo by myself and co-op with a friend. Some of the enemy pathways and attack patterns seemed force to shoot down only one type of color, not my cup of tea. Personally I'm not a big fan of Ikaruga style chaining so maybe I'm not use to it.

The only peeve I find annoying is with 2 player, your character can't share spaces, rather your characters crash into each other making it look like both are trying to fight a spot.
You do have a interesting concept that I haven't seen in shmups that much: co-op levels-- though two player gameplay in general definitely helps make survival so much easier making co-op levels irrelevant.

[BulletMagnet]

The only peeve I find annoying is with 2 player, your character can't share spaces, rather your characters crash into each other making it look like both are trying to fight a spot.

Maybe my memory's rusty, but didn't Ikaruga also do that?

You do have a interesting concept that I haven't seen in shmups that much: co-op levels-- though two player gameplay in general definitely helps make survival so much easier.

I do find it notable that, while many genres nowadays are offering separately-tailored single- and multiplayer stuff to avoid one negatively impacting the other, shmups have yet to get in on this trend, and most often leave us struggling to find a game in which inviting a friend over (especially a non-shmupping one) isn't pretty much guaranteed to screw the game flow up beyond recognition. That said, it's a good deal of work just to create a well-tuned single-player experience by itself, but it's still kind of a shame imo.

[beatsgo]

The only peeve I find annoying is with 2 player, your character can't share spaces, rather your characters crash into each other making it look like both are trying to fight a spot.

Maybe my memory's rusty, but didn't Ikaruga also do that?

Funny thing I haven't played Ikaruga with another player in it yet so I really have no idea if this happens.

[Rozyrg]

Outside the creepy opening graphics I'd say the game looks just fine, it's a cute'em-up that way.

Agree completely.... I thought it was pretty fun and easy on the eyes, too. To be honest, though, if I was going to spend 500 Wii points, I'd probably be more likely to spend them on the cool little Top Gear/Lotus-ish racing game by the same company (3D Pixel Racers?).

[nZero]

Maybe my memory's rusty, but didn't Ikaruga also do that?

Yeah it was exactly the same way, Ikaruga had some pretty solid PvP

[Moniker]

I do find it notable that, while many genres nowadays are offering separately-tailored single- and multiplayer stuff to avoid one negatively impacting the other, shmups have yet to get in on this trend, and most often leave us struggling to find a game in which inviting a friend over (especially a non-shmupping one) isn't pretty much guaranteed to screw the game flow up beyond recognition. That said, it's a good deal of work just to create a well-tuned single-player experience by itself, but it's still kind of a shame imo.

Yeah, outside of FPSes I've had trouble finding separated multiplayer modes worth playing. It was a major selling point in Ms Splosion Man, but trying to time jumping and having to figure out how to proceed in a level + discussion to keep the other player on the same page, it just got frustrating. Same with Portal 2 and Outland. I guess dungeon crawls are pretty good multiplayer, but they aren't separate and don't really fit the criteria. This is apart from Nintendo, which seems to be able to do it effortlessly.