PS2 Ibara Impressions

[NTSC-J]

Watashitachi, kirei ni shite ageru", if you want to get picky about romanizations.

There's actually a -ga in there after 'watashitachi'.

I was about to agree with you, but I just noticed on the back of the box it says the phrase in katakana with a wa.

Anyways...

It looks like the roses do affect the medal values, but after the 10k mark I guess they're useless.

[EOJ]

Watashitachi, kirei ni shite ageru", if you want to get picky about romanizations.

There's actually a -ga in there after 'watashitachi'.

I was about to agree with you, but I just noticed on the back of the box it says the phrase in katakana with a wa.

On the back of the box it says "watashi-tachi wa kirei". Meaning 'we (are) beautiful'. At the start of stage 1 they say "watashi-tachi-ga kirei ni shite ageru". They are two different phrases, and the one in the game definitely has a 'ga'. Just listen. This is not about 'agreeing' with me, it's about hearing the difference between a /g/ and a /w/.

[zakk]

Watashitachi, kirei ni shite ageru", if you want to get picky about romanizations.

There's actually a -ga in there after 'watashitachi'.

I was about to agree with you, but I just noticed on the back of the box it says the phrase in katakana with a wa.

Anyways...

It looks like the roses do affect the medal values, but after the 10k mark I guess they're useless.

Err? No, the roses have no affect on medal values at all. The medals just increase in value in a set order until they max out. I think the roses have some sort of increasing value type deal too, but they only really appear when you cancel bullets.

[NTSC-J]

On the back of the box it says "watashi-tachi wa kirei". Meaning 'we (are) beautiful'. At the start of stage 1 they say "watashi-tachi-ga kirei ni shite ageru". They are two different phrases, and the one in the game definitely has a 'ga'. Just listen. This is not about 'agreeing' with me, it's about hearing the difference between a /g/ and a /w/.

Heh ok.

It looked like when I bombed and grabbed roses with the medals the medal values went up faster, but I guess that was just grabbing the medals faster. The roses bounce off of explosions and increase, but I've never seen them go beyond 800 pts. The bombing spots that shoot off a fountain of medals fuck me up more times than they help, too.

[zakk]

Place yourself directly over them and then bomb. All the medals will be collected then. If you bomb when you aren't directly over them, yeah, it pretty much runs a high chance of totally screwing your medal chain. It does mean you need to be somewhat careful with the bombs, of course.

[Icarus]

Err? No, the roses have no affect on medal values at all. The medals just increase in value in a set order until they max out. I think the roses have some sort of increasing value type deal too, but they only really appear when you cancel bullets.

Rose Medal values depend on the size of the bullet being cancelled. The 800pt Rose Medals (the highest value) appear when huge bullets are cancelled, such as the sword and javelin-shaped ones.

[Ord]

Well mine came in the post this morning, along with the soundtrack and I have to say that i'm pretty dissapointed with the port. Yes the filtered graphics are annoying (although not as painful as Mushihimesamma).

However because of the filtering i'm having trouble making out some of the enemy bullets. This wasn't a problem for me on the pcb. The Nonsesical loading times are just weird and the lack of slowdown is a pain in the arse.
It seems to be a lot more difficult in this version than it does with the PCB original too.
I've still to play the arrange mode with any real depth, and to tell the truth that and practise mode is the only ones i'm going to be playing on this. I'll stick to the PCB original for the arcade mode, and hope to Hell Arika do a port of Espgaluda II.
Very dissapointing.

[Metal Gear Okt]

This should probably go in the other thread, but running it on a 16:9 CRT HDTV through component, it looks great at the original 4:3ish ratio, but somewhat less so when stretched to fill the screen. My TV has an additional mode (panorama) that stretches is more at the edges than in the middle, but that's goddamn unplayable.

[SuperPang]

Just had a bash on the PS2 version.

Sorry Ord but imo Ibara actually looks closer to the arcade port in Yoko than Mushihimesama does! (Yes the PCB is THAT pretty). Tate is horribly over filtered though. Bring back Arika. I find the colours more vibrant on the arcade version too.

Shame about the loading but that aside it's not a bad conversion. More options than Mushi and a better arrange mode. Still a must buy PS2 shmup.

Is arrange mode Black Label then? Well, NO!

Differences I noticed:

- No fighter type select screen. You can only select between A,B,C,D in the config menu and strangely it's in the arcade mode too when it shouldn't be. This is a bit lame really as on the screen in BL it tells you speed/power differences with an icon showing what the bomb looks like.

- No straight/wide shot setting like on the fighter type screen before you select A,B,C,D.

- There is no formation button in Black Label!

- The ranking and weapon type bars are laid out differently.

- There's no halo around your ship showing your bonus points as you buzz bullets. I can't figure out if you still get the points though.

- Hitbox doesn't glow.

- You cant suck items in by releasing fire.

[it290]

No formation button? Are you sure it's not just something you have to configure in the options? That sucks if there really isn't one.

[SuperPang]

Would be a bit odd to have it turned off by default.

[GaijinPunch]

SuperPang -- doesn't the overall feel of BL differ from Arrange? I only played Black Label once, but I remember it being harder than Arrange.

[Naiera]

I received my copy from Play Asia today. No booklet. Fuckers.

But much, much faster than Mishihime-sama. I had chosen only economy air box, but they shipped it on the 21st and receiving it today came as no big surprise, albeit a pleasant one

I've only had a short go at it due to homework, but it seems really nice. I always liked Battle Garegga, even after falling for Cave's uniqueness and overall awesomeness, but I could never really get into Batrider, although I had the PCB for a while and tried. This feels more like "it". I'll look forward to the weekend where I'll definitely be giving it a proper go.

[lawnspic]

I like the art and the fact everything blow up just great, but before i got this i was playing Espgaluda. Now evrything i learned there just went ou the window, this game if very intense and can kick your butt. I did not have the problem with the hidden bullets(though i did have to be a little more aware) ,but this game does move quick and the scoring is interesting. This game is tough, but Garegga is still one of the hardest shmups i played since R-Type

[Zweihander]

Well, I finally got my copy in the mail today. I'm going to state the obvious:

Ibara > Raiden III.

This game's giving me shootergasms left and right. I dare to be so bold as to say...

Ibara > Raiden PERIOD.

[cigsthecat]

So those of you that have the game now, let's get some scores posted! It'd be nice to get a good competition going.

[Bingo]

I fear we're all still way to busy collecting the pieces of our repeatedly kicked behinds to offer any worthwhile scores cigs . I know I am. Plus, I looked at my scores and realized if you want any decent pointage, the learning curve is much steeper (rank, bombs and medals, memorize) than mere survival. Maybe one day I can hope to attack the last position in the score table...if it has enough positions.

[EOJ]

So those of you that have the game now, let's get some scores posted! It'd be nice to get a good competition going.

I'll definitely take part. I have a score in the 2.4 mil range (stage 2) but once I get something over 3 mil and into stage 3 I'll post it up. Just been really busy these past few days. Maybe this weekend I can devote some time to the game (I really love it).

[ptoing]

Got it yesterday and i really love it this far. Gameplay is tight, presentation is awesome. I love the music.

And Arrange Mode is really nice as it plays completely different.

I also love all the graphical details, like how the explosion craters look like dried roses

[sammaza]

Well, I finally got my copy in the mail today. I'm going to state the obvious:

Ibara > Raiden III.

This game's giving me shootergasms left and right. I dare to be so bold as to say...

Ibara > Raiden PERIOD.

You must be a fan of the Raizing style...Try some of thier games...

[SuperPang]

SuperPang -- doesn't the overall feel of BL differ from Arrange? I only played Black Label once, but I remember it being harder than Arrange.

I think I covered every difference between the two in my last post but yes, you're right, somehow I much prefer BL, even without the formation button. That's just a step too far imo and it upsets the balance. I'd rather have the buzz system, and the Cave style visible hitbox and item sucking.

It feels like Arrange and BL were worked on at the same time rather than BL finished then ported.

[Neon]

Well mine came in the post this morning, along with the soundtrack and I have to say that i'm pretty dissapointed with the port. Yes the filtered graphics are annoying (although not as painful as Mushihimesamma).

However because of the filtering i'm having trouble making out some of the enemy bullets. This wasn't a problem for me on the pcb. The Nonsesical loading times are just weird and the lack of slowdown is a pain in the arse.
It seems to be a lot more difficult in this version than it does with the PCB original too.
I've still to play the arrange mode with any real depth, and to tell the truth that and practise mode is the only ones i'm going to be playing on this. I'll stick to the PCB original for the arcade mode, and hope to Hell Arika do a port of Espgaluda II.
Very dissapointing.

I dunno if disappointed is the right word there Ord. Scaling/filtering, differences in slowdown, loads were pretty much a given.

Has yet to be seen whether they're so horrible as to warrant hundreds extra on a PCB purchase, as I won't get to play my copy till the 11th (shipped to wrong address).

I fear we're all still way to busy collecting the pieces of our repeatedly kicked behinds to offer any worthwhile scores cigs Embarassed . I know I am. Plus, I looked at my scores and realized if you want any decent pointage, the learning curve is much steeper (rank, bombs and medals, memorize) than mere survival.

You can do decently well if you're willing to put a few hours in/check out the discussion in the strategy forum, regardless of natural suckiness. Usually the scoreboards on shmups, if they have an unlimited number of spots, have scores from people who played the game once, submitted the score, and never touch it again. So you're at least pretty much guaranteed a cheap spot in the middle

[tekneekz]

well since arrange and arcade mode has been summarized. Whats extended mode all bout. im wondering whats diff bout it, any feedback?

[cigsthecat]

It has a loop. I only played it briefly, but it seems to be the same otherwise.

[ZeroOfLunar]

Extended is Ibara with a second lap. Colors of light blue bullets are turned to red, and the high score defaults are higher. If you want a good experience of the second lap, it's roughly harder mode.

-Edit: Sorry, I said Arrange but I meant Extended. Sorry.

[SuperPang]

SuperPang -- doesn't the overall feel of BL differ from Arrange? I only played Black Label once, but I remember it being harder than Arrange.

Played arrange more and it's definitely easier.
BL is easier than Ibara but this is something else. I think the bullets are slower.

Also, the formations are a novelty you get over after about 5 minutes. Largely useless. BL is fixed to "Search" anyway.

Black Label > Arrange

[ptoing]

Black Label > Arrange

Black Label is also more expensive that Arrange

[SuperPang]

Just a bit, like 35X

[Zweihander]

Was going to mention earlier-- I deem this game unplayable on YOKO. When I first played it, I'd just woken up half an hour before picking it up at the post office, and was too lazy to TATE my TV. I did a credit-feeding practice run, my first time playing, on YOKO. I literally had a headache by the end, having had to squint half the time. Also lost many continues from cheap deaths, induced by things that were 2 or 3 pixels tall on the screen.

Ibara on TATE = pure heaven.

[lazydazy]

Seriously the ranking system is SO vicious
No wonder Ibara did not do too well in the arcades;
1. You need to know how to score= You Need alll the extend lives!
2. Big hitbox
3. Evil bosses ; without hadou cannon it's hell