I just bought GC Ikaruga...

[SteevTee]

...preowned for £15, which is pretty good as I have not seen it anywhere for ages. However, a slight problem was that I did not actually own a Gamecube to play it on. So, 30 minutes later I bought a GC for £35, again preowned.

I got all this mainly based on what I read on these forums...

This game is fantastic, very tough (is just me?) but fair - I can nearly always see a way through. The premise of polarities brilliant and used very well. I have been able to beat the first stage without dying with a chain of like 12, but subsequently stuffed thereafter.

Anyway, I do have a question too - if, like me you have a widescreen TV and cannot rotate it, do you play the game as a vert (thus only using about 50% of the TV) or rotated 90 degrees and play as a hori (using all the screen)?

[SAM]

...preowned for £15, which is pretty good as I have not seen it anywhere for ages. However, a slight problem was that I did not actually own a Gamecube to play it on. So, 30 minutes later I bought a GC for £35, again preowned.

Well, it you were not already own a GC, you should bought the DC version instead. Even if you also does not already own a DC, since there are much more good shmups on DC. And all GC shmups got a DC release minus Star Soldier.

Anyway, I do have a question too - if, like me you have a widescreen TV and cannot rotate it, do you play the game as a vert (thus only using about 50% of the TV) or rotated 90 degrees and play as a hori (using all the screen)?

All vertical screen shmups are made to play on a Tated screen.

You should rotated if and only if your TV still got free warrenty. Since not all TVs could be operated in rotated position, you risk damage it by doing so.

Otherwise, you should do this only if you know your TV is tate safe (i.e. you have done it before).

I actually use a blend new TV for this purpose, knowing well that I could got an exchange or return for full refund if I damage it this way. You could always do this, if the TV is broken on the day you bought it. Make sure you rotated it back to normal position before you call for support. (And don't tell anyone I tell you this...)

[SteevTee]

...preowned for £15, which is pretty good as I have not seen it anywhere for ages. However, a slight problem was that I did not actually own a Gamecube to play it on. So, 30 minutes later I bought a GC for £35, again preowned.

Well, it you were not already own a GC, you should bought the DC version instead. Even if you also does not already own a DC, since there are much more good shmups on DC. And all GC shmups got a DC release minus Star Soldier.

Agreed, although I really bought this on impulse. It's would involve a bit of hasstle for me to get a DC, chip it then import Iky as I'm in the UK, but I am a lazy person and would probably never get around to doing this

What other shooters should I look out for on GC?

[theevilfunkster]

There are no other PAL shmups and the only other shmups available are Shikigami No Shiro II and Star Soldier.

[SAM]

What other shooters should I look out for on GC?

If you GC could play Japanese game, I got new, sealed copies of Chaos Field for sale. (USD25.5 Shipped)

There are others Japanese GC games avaliable in my sale thread.

[Platypus[gEc]]

freeloader + shiki + soldier + chaos = all that's left for GC

since ikaruga is the only PAL shmup (as stated above)

freeloader messes up chaos, so you might really want to remove any memory cards from your GC when playing it (your memcards will get formatted ... trust me, it happend to me )

[professor ganson]

What other shooters should I look out for on GC?

I like Shikigami no Shiro II better than Ikaruga. I would recommend it highly. The GC version looks terrific, and the game offers endless hours of amusement. You will need a Freeloader to play this import title.

[superhitachi4]

Yeah, Shikigami 2's a great game. I highly recommend that as well. Glad to hear you're enjoying Ikaruga by the way. Excellent game. If you can find Chaos Field at a reasonable price, you might like that too. There's also a vertical shooter called Star Soldier (Japanese only), but I haven't played it.

[FRO]

I have the new release of Chaos Field: Expanded (US release) - anyone know if it can be played on Japanese & PAL systems w/ Freeloader?