Ibara BlackLabel location test in akihabara Feb 3

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 7:01 pm

Any specific thoughts on the rank-o-meter in action? I know rank works differently here than in the original Ibara, but overall how does it fit into the rest of the gameplay?

cigsthecat · Post by **cigsthecat** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 9:07 pm

ResOGlas wrote:Ibara is a great game, Ibara Black Label is a classic.

So they just turned it into a Cave game, right?

Randorama · Post by **Randorama** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 10:44 pm

cigsthecat wrote:
ResOGlas wrote:Ibara is a great game, Ibara Black Label is a classic.
So they just turned it into a Cave game, right?

And turned the difficult to "very hard".

Dandy J · Post by **Dandy J** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 11:55 pm

cigsthecat wrote:So they just turned it into a Cave game, right?

Same thing.

Valgar · Post by **Valgar** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 12:09 am

Randorama wrote:
cigsthecat wrote:
ResOGlas wrote:Ibara is a great game, Ibara Black Label is a classic.
So they just turned it into a Cave game, right?
And turned the difficult to "very hard".

And there is now a new ship with wide shot.

the allett · Post by **the allett** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 2:19 am

Hi all,

Check this out

http://www.insomnia.ac/japan/ibara_black_label.php

mark

zakk · Post by **zakk** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 2:25 am

That player one comment is both perplexing and hilarious at the same time.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 3:05 pm

so.. whitey (zak?).. gotten yours yet? supposedly should have been released friday?

hows bout a couple of pics

SuperPang · Post by **SuperPang** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 3:48 pm

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 3:56 pm

man, caves pcbs keep getting cuter and cuter. i think they should try and print "pink sweets" on a pink pc board...

SuperPang · Post by **SuperPang** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 4:07 pm

The poster was just another Ibara one as expected btw.

Oh and for future reference the strip is not a sticker but merely glossy paper. Thought I'd point that one out as a copy would not be as easy to spot as usual. A bit cheap on AMI/Cave's part but everything else has a feel of quality and DOJ BL didn't have its own strip anyway.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 4:35 pm

SuperPang wrote:

any sign of "limited release" info? ie 12/100 ??

i dont mean to diss your purchase (im proper jealous actually!) but for supposedly a limited and exclusive release that looks kinda weak

ill6 · Post by **ill6** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 4:48 pm

What he said; whats the serial?

zlk · Post by **zlk** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 4:56 pm

The strip is very flimsy. I am kind of surprised that it looks and feels this way.

My pcb has sticker with a number on it and the number is less than 100. Its the sticker on the upper left part of the pcb in superpang's picture.

whitey · Post by **whitey** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 12:28 am

mine is number IB-127

Post by **Dave_K.** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 6:10 am

Does it allow you to play both regular Ibara and Ibara Black Label?

whitey · Post by **whitey** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 7:56 am

Dave_K. wrote:Does it allow you to play both regular Ibara and Ibara Black Label?

No it does not.

Also, the character is not selectable. The characters are fixed to the start button that is pressed, same as the first.

ill6 · Post by **ill6** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 9:31 am

You don't get both games; that makes the PS2 version good value!

Is it any good?

SuperPang · Post by **SuperPang** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 4:56 pm

Quick impressions after a few credits so forgive me if I miss anything or am wrong on anything...

- 1P/2P craft aren't selectable but you get two variations of standard forward firing patterns plus 4 other variations that alter speed and the mini-bomb type/power.
- First fire button now has very rapid fire when you hold it down and it slows your craft cave stylee. The old fire button is still there if you prefer.

- Hitbox now visible as you'd expect with the above.

- You also attract power-ups when you release fire.

- Weapon selects with button 4. You only need to pick one up.
A very cool option this as we can ignore machine guns at last and not have to worry too much about options.

- Rank meter is there so you know where you're at, not that you get chance to look when it's near full because....

- More bullets! Coupled with the new tweaks above makes for a more typical Cave pace and more close dodging and

- Traditional Cave score multipliers I haven't totally figured out yet.

- Overall it's easier. How could it not be with rapid fire and selectable weapons. Get 5-way or Rocket powered up and you're off. The special lock-on power up seems more freely introduced too. Possibly always on.

- Music is very slightly re-arranged such as verses missing to introduce the more frantic music earlier. L1 has that great Ibara end theme I mentioned in another thread, which is nice.

Overall I'm enjoying it so far. It's Ibara but with more manic familiar Cave elements added, meaning it's perhaps not a replacement for Ibara as it loses it's retro Raizing shmup balance. What it is however is an awesome piece of fan service for any Ibara lover, more so than DOJ BL even.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:08 pm

Hmm...with the added bullets, is the hitbox any smaller than it was in the original (as far as you can tell), or is the visibility when in "slow mode" the only difference there?

Dandy J · Post by **Dandy J** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:26 pm

Thanks for the impressions, the game sounds great.

ill6 · Post by **ill6** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:39 pm

Lets try and get down to some business here with two simple questions.

As someone who has most Cave PCBs is this:

A) Something that I am going to need? I.e. is it good enough to justif buying both this AND Ibara (or should I skip Ibara??? I really like Raizing too though!).
B) Something I should buy now or wait until it goes down (or up!)?

All help appreciated.

Or should I buy a car!?

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 10:43 pm

ill6 wrote:Lets try and get down to some business here with two simple questions.

As someone who has most Cave PCBs is this:

A) Something that I am going to need? I.e. is it good enough to justif buying both this AND Ibara (or should I skip Ibara??? I really like Raizing too though!).
B) Something I should buy now or wait until it goes down (or up!)?

All help appreciated.

Or should I buy a car!?

car>ibara black label.
Buy a car and the PS2 version. You'll be happy.

ill6 · Post by **ill6** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:18 am

It was hypothetical as I can't actually drive (and if I did would spend more than $2000)!!!

SuperPang · Post by **SuperPang** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 12:47 pm

You know, a couple of times I've thought maybe the hitbox is a tad smaller but I'm not sure yet. It doesn't really look it from Ibara hitbox pics I've seen. It may well be that the slow movement and glowing hitbox just makes dodging easier (a la Mushi).

The only other thing I'll say Re Ibara VS Ibara BL is that in my opinion BL in the PS2 version should be an unlockable. Why? Because giving players the choice from the get-go would result in a lot of people missing the point with Ibara, perhaps skipping it in favour of the more manic BL and not putting the time in to appreciate its old school addictive qualities, its depth and to learn its subtleties, even if it is a tad flawed.

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 2:06 pm

SuperPang wrote:The only other thing I'll say Re Ibara VS Ibara BL is that in my opinion BL in the PS2 version should be an unlockable. Why? Because giving players the choice from the get-go would result in a lot of people missing the point with Ibara, perhaps skipping it in favour of the more manic BL and not putting the time in to appreciate its old school addictive qualities, its depth and to learn its subtleties, even if it is a tad flawed.

than i say let the sheep graze, it'll make me feel even cooler (somehow

) to spend most of my time with the game in the trenches, right where we all belong.

SuperPang · Post by **SuperPang** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 6:11 pm

Almost forgot to mention something important.

There's now a buzz style multiplier. Whenever bullets get within a certain Halo you get a "+xx" depending on how close they are and for how long. Buzz a few rows of bullets and your rank ups big time.
Coupled with the rank meter this makes rank much easier to control.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 9:58 am

Taken from here

Black Label is out, and they've got it playable at Hey!

Basically, it's Ibara. I really don't know the mechanics behind the original, so obviously suck at this one (I got to the 3rd boss on 1 credit), but being able to see the rank meter does help. It goes up a lot faster than I thought it would. Apparently flowers are the only way to get it down (other than dying). I was never able to get it down more than halfway w/ the bomb->flower method.

The changeable weapon system is a much needed addition IMHO. No more flying across the stage only to put your weapon on the wrong side of your ship. O_o

One thing I will mention about the packaging. The pop they have at Hey! is noticeably larger than standard Cave pops. Plus, it's not folded. It is likely they have access to high res images and printed their own, but who knows. I'd be interested to see what everyone else who ordered it got.

thesuperkillerxxx · Post by **thesuperkillerxxx** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 2:22 pm

http://www.cave.co.jp/gcommerce/ibara_info/figure.html

Can I get a translation? please?

I am dying for the Kasumi Figure!!!!!!

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 5:06 pm

Our fans said they wanted figures of the Ibara sisters, so we made them. #1 sold out (w/ sound tracks), 2 and 3 to be announced soon, 4-6 dates undecided.