IGN reviewer can't play or pronounce Ikaruga

[jpj]

yeah, there was nothing wrong with your post kozo
and yeah, i think iuchi did a great job on ikaruga's soundtrack

[kozo]

Thanks guys. Just wanted to throw some thoughts out there, I definitely don't want a flame/opinion war. There are some cool people on here who I enjoy whether they agree with me or not.

[Ed Oscuro]

I should be more careful with my posts!

[kozo]

What for? You're fine! As are most everyone here. I don't have any bones to pick with anyone. Just always scared I'm stepping on someone's toes on accident, but I shouldn't.

[Ed Oscuro]

Ahh, you're too kind

[Rob]

This page needs icy.

[gameoverDude]

Their shmups aren't bad, but are overrated indeed. Both RSG and Ikaruga are pretty good, but waaaaay overrated (I dislike RSG, but I can see why people like it so much. I do enjoy Ikaruga, though I suck at chaining). Gradius V is AWESOME though, and actually I find it to be underrated.... maybe the lack of a score system made possible for them to design the levels with more freedom, and they made a masterpiece. Silpheed: The Lost Planet is garbage. People say its more due to gamearts controlling the development of the game, but it seems they didn't had any idea of what made the original Silpheed so enjoable.

Ikaruga is very good, but I have to admit its particular chaining system just isn't my favorite (though better IMO than Radiant Silvergun's 3 colors). That said, I admire Treasure's decision to make it something different. You have to cool it on the trigger at times, sometimes quickly tapping the button for snipe shots to avoid accidentally shooting an enemy with opposite color to your current chain- it's like the Silent Scope of shmups.

The soundtrack is one of the most epic, especially the Stage 1 BGM. Mix Star Wars style orchestra with a bit of techno, and it'd sound a tad like this.

[kozo]

This page needs icy.

It got all Mushi in here. My bad.

[Ed Oscuro]

This page needs icy.

It got all Mushi in here. My bad. :P

That's icky.

[spadgy]

Ikuraga and RSG are like the joint Citizen Kanes of the shoot em up genre.

I'm still waiting for a shmup based on film noir or an old black and white movie!

On the subject of Treasure games, I loved them all at the time I got them, and I think their epic feel and unusual take on shooting games is great, but want I don’t like is the fact that they’re hard to go back to. (Excluding Gradius V, which I love to dip into every now and then and loose myself too immediately).

It’s probably the memorizer thing, but unlike other games I’ve since ‘finished’ dedicated time with, you can’t just pick up RSG and Ika for a quick nostalgic blast, and I think that tarnishes the memory for me.

Of course I’ve never truly ‘finished’ with any shooter, but those two Treasure games make me feel I’m done with them for good, even though I’d love to return to them...

[Rob]

or an old black and white movie!

Zing Zing Zip has something.

[spadgy]

or an old black and white movie!

Zing Zing Zip has something.

Yeah! That was in the ongoing Macaw Tourny, but I never got that far!

[Ed Oscuro]

or an old black and white movie!

Zing Zing Zip has something.

Eye lasers?

Needs more German angles.

[Shatterhand]

Radiant Silvergun's problem is that it is painfully hard to get into. Like, if you're just starting, its going to murder you. But once you get it, its amazing. Everything about is just top notch. Once you start playing RS for score and understand the levels, then it really does become the best shmup ever made.

But I don't think very many people have put the time into RS to fully appreciate it. And thats its main flaw: You HAVE to put in time to be able to play it. You HAVE to score well to get anywhere with it. Otherwise the bosses take forever and will murder you.

And that's basically my problem with RSG, I must say. When I got the game and begun playing, I really felt overwhelmed by it. I don't remember any other shmup kicking my ass as badly as RSG. With some practice I could manage to get a little better at the game, but it just didn't feel that much fun.

[Acid King]

There's nothing overrated about Ikaruga, it's a masterpiece.

Just because it's a masterpiece doesn't mean it's not overrated.

[it290]

And that's basically my problem with RSG, I must say. When I got the game and begun playing, I really felt overwhelmed by it. I don't remember any other shmup kicking my ass as badly as RSG. With some practice I could manage to get a little better at the game, but it just didn't feel that much fun.

Most Treasure games are like that though, really-not just their shmups. It's just their style.

[jpj]

And that's basically my problem with RSG, I must say. When I got the game and begun playing, I really felt overwhelmed by it. I don't remember any other shmup kicking my ass as badly as RSG. With some practice I could manage to get a little better at the game, but it just didn't feel that much fun.

Most Treasure games are like that though, really-not just their shmups. It's just their style.

in one of the translations on gamengai iuchi talks about the difficulty of silvergun and how there's quite a lot to learn in order to play it well. it was a deliberate design choice because he wanted to make a shooter for the hardest of the hardcore, because those fans were the ones keeping 2D shooters alive

[jp]

And that's basically my problem with RSG, I must say. When I got the game and begun playing, I really felt overwhelmed by it. I don't remember any other shmup kicking my ass as badly as RSG. With some practice I could manage to get a little better at the game, but it just didn't feel that much fun.

Most Treasure games are like that though, really-not just their shmups. It's just their style.

in one of the translations on gamengai iuchi talks about the difficulty of silvergun and how there's quite a lot to learn in order to play it well. it was a deliberate design choice because he wanted to make a shooter for the hardest of the hardcore, because those fans were the ones keeping 2D shooters alive

They even make mention of this in the game (Saturn Mode, Stage 5, when they play out the whole people talking in the background thing).

[-Roufuss-]

I don't mean to revive a dead topic or anything, but I lurked this thread the whole time it was going on, and wanted to contribute my two cents.

Whether the reviewer knows how to play Ikaruga, or even pronounce it, or that IGN hangs all over this game constantly doesn't matter, at least to me... the fact they gave this game a high mark, and the fact there a ton of people out there who takes IGN's word as gospel means there are many more people who are going to check out Ikaruga, and possibly shmups for their first time ever.

While many of them will probably be put off by the game, there may be a few who will really like it, and want to dig more into the genre, and shouldn't that always be encouraged? It might also mean that high sales of this game might encourage a smaller company, like Atlus or Agetec, to port over more shmups, such as Raider Fighters or the upcoming Cave games.

Just my two cents, I know a few people who really dug Ikaruga and wanted to know what else is out there already, who only got Ikaruga because of the praise heaped on it by places like IGN.

[kengou]

The very first I heard about Ikaruga was actually from Maddox
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=ikaruga

And his review was more influential to me than a lot of game sites. I'm betting his article contributed a lot to its fame. I mean, well over a million people read it according to the hit counter.

[Arvandor]

A review from a casual group of gamers who love the game, the genre, and while they can't necessarily play it (they have an error about how the chaining system works, but oh well), at least they can pronounce it properly ^_^ They even say it better than I do. I thought it was a rather well-done review.

http://teamfremont.com/newforums/index.php?topic=4520.0

Download link in the first post, review at 18:00 if you don't want to listen to the rest. And while there's a warning in that same first post, i'll reiterate it here. Not safe for work.

[Shatterhand]

And that's basically my problem with RSG, I must say. When I got the game and begun playing, I really felt overwhelmed by it. I don't remember any other shmup kicking my ass as badly as RSG. With some practice I could manage to get a little better at the game, but it just didn't feel that much fun.

Most Treasure games are like that though, really-not just their shmups. It's just their style.

I 1cc Gunstar Heroes with 3 days of playing it (I remember getting the game on a friday evening, finishing the game on monday morning). Alien Soldier took just a little longer, surely no more than a couple of weeks (Damn level 20 ). Of course, that's all on defaults, Hard mode of Gunstar Heroes took a little longer, while Superhard on Alien Soldier remains unbeaten thanks to Seven Force

Oh yeah ,McDonald's Treasure Land: Finished it on my first go at the game... that was ridiculously easy


Maybe it has something to do with the fact that RSG was an arcade game (Like Ikaruga also was).


A cool think about Alien Soldier is that the first time I played it, it was a cartridge from a classmate when I was on 8th grade. He must have lend the cartridge to everyone on the class who owned a Mega-Drive, and NO ONE managed to beat the dreadful level 20 (On Supereasy nonetheless). I was the first (and only) guy to actually beat the game

[lgb]

To be a jerk, it's Five Force. Well, Six Force. And the song is called 7th Force, so that's a bit of a confuser.

I still can't beat level 20. Grr.

Edit: Wait, you said this was 8th grade? 5, 6, 7, 8- *plays random song*

[JoshF]

This page needs icy.

Check his latest article for a posthumous pwn.

[Twiddle]

self-pwn

I like how anyone with dissenting opinions on his forums are banned that's hilarious

[Ed Oscuro]

a funny thing happened on the way to the forum

icy became an emperor!

[Damocles]

a funny thing happened on the way to the forum

icy became an emperor!

Nonono...Jesus.

[szycag]

He bitched about us in his blog!

[shoe-sama]

Shmups.com
with a capital S

HOLY SHIT

[Ed Oscuro]

He bitched about us in his blog!

I skimmed his "does anybody h8 anything anymore" article, and was saddened to see he didn't name names.