Radirgy Noir Massive for Xbox 360.

[Elixir]

How does Death Mode work, exactly? I don't know why the gauge keeps dropping, I'm pretty sure the mode keeps going so long as you're keeping it up.

[Hydeux]

In Radirgy Noa Wii, Expand Mode was unlocked with a code posted on their website (←←→→↓↑↓↑↓↑ at the title screen IIRC?) so it may just be a matter of waiting for Milestone.

What ?
What ?
Whaaaat ?

Never heard of such a thing, could you give us some more info about that mate ? (this code doesn't seem to work anyway...)

@Elixir : the gauge goes down when enemies fly away doen't it ? (but, I haven't the game so far, I've read that on http://www.shmupemall.com )

[StarCreator]

The expand code for Massive was already given in the Strategy forum. For reference, it's ←←→→←→←←→→←←→←→→.

[Hydeux]

And indeed it does work on Wii !
Thx !

[stryc9]

I'm having an issue unlocking Expand mode. Do you do the code listed here on the Menu Screen? Also, is Ivello on the disc?

[Kiken]

I'm having an issue unlocking Expand mode. Do you do the code listed here on the Menu Screen? Also, is Ivello on the disc?

Make sure you have first loaded your save file (in other words, you can't do the code the very first time the title screen appears). Load your file, then exit out of the main menu back to the title screen. Now you can enter the code.

Illvelo is not on the disc.

[stryc9]

Right. Thanks buddy much appreciated. Is it my understanding that Illvelo is on the Wii version? What do you think of the changeable powerups? It seems to screw with my strategy if the icon is floating near a horde of enemies cos I'm trying to take them out (shot and sword at the same time) whilst constantly turning up the colours I don't want (red and yellow). Fun game though, Iv'e always loved scoring in Radilgy.

P.S. actually it only seems to be a problem in arcade mode...

[Kiken]

Right. Thanks buddy much appreciated. Is it my understanding that Illvelo is on the Wii version? What do you think of the changeable powerups? It seems to screw with my strategy if the icon is floating near a horde of enemies cos I'm trying to take them out (shot and sword at the same time) whilst constantly turning up the colours I don't want (red and yellow). Fun game though, Iv'e always loved scoring in Radilgy.

P.S. actually it only seems to be a problem in arcade mode...

Part of the game's scoring revolves around knowing when to stop using sword to allow it to charge for the extra 2x multiplier. Item pickups always cycle in the same order, and actually, you should take red as early as possible (it's the strongest weapon and covers the most area of the playfield).

The Wii port of Radirgy Noa included an arrange version of Illvelo called Illvelo Calories Off (which swapped out the ship/character from the original Illvelo for the mech from Radirgy).

[stryc9]

Right, I'm just used to going spastic with sword + shot cos I used to in the first one. Must admit, I'm concentrating on Classic at the moment. I think I posted a rank of 136 on the Leaderboards as Katbizkitz, would be interested to know where a few other members sit so I can gauge my performance. Oh, and thanks for the tips.

[Phellan Wolf]

It looks like the game has performed pretty poorly isn't even on the top 50 japanese sales of the last week. I am still curious on how many copies have been sold.
I hope it doesn't disencourage Milestone from porting their other games.

[KisakiProject]

It looks like the game has performed pretty poorly isn't even on the top 50 japanese sales of the last week. I am still curious on how many copies have been sold.
I hope it doesn't disencourage Milestone from porting their other games.

Wow that is awful. That's probably sub 1500 or 1000 copies. That's unfortunate. I guess Milestone stands out more on WII where there aren't many shooters versus 360 which is shmup utopia.

[Kiken]

It looks like the game has performed pretty poorly isn't even on the top 50 japanese sales of the last week. I am still curious on how many copies have been sold.
I hope it doesn't disencourage Milestone from porting their other games.

Wow that is awful. That's probably sub 1500 or 1000 copies. That's unfortunate. I guess Milestone stands out more on WII where there aren't many shooters versus 360 which is shmup utopia.

MileStone's games have never sold boatloads... hell, they're normally printed in rather small allotments to begin with. Chances are though that they sold more 360 copies than they did Wii copies.

[KisakiProject]

Isn't MS minimum print run in japan 7,000 copies? That's a lot of copies still in stores heading to the discount booth.

[Elixir]

How many copies did this shmup sell for? Did it sell more in America than it did in Japan? Will it be outsourced to Europe and sell even more copies? Will it sell enough to warrant a Platinum Collection release in the future? Is this going to influence Milestone's future projects? Find out this and more, tonight, on shmupsforum.

[StarCreator]

I might tune in if the news anchor is hot enough.

[MachineAres 1CC]

Someone already asked a while ago, but has anyone really figured out how Death mode works? I know shooting the large ships with 2 long guns on the front depletes the bar at the top of the screen, and it seems as soon as that bar is gone, your run ends. I've gotten like, 75mil on it and the goal they set for the achievement is 200mil, so I'm not even close. And one time I think I died from just getting hit too many times. They don't give much explanation for this, but its been bugging me.

[Kiken]

Someone already asked a while ago, but has anyone really figured out how Death mode works? I know shooting the large ships with 2 long guns on the front depletes the bar at the top of the screen, and it seems as soon as that bar is gone, your run ends. I've gotten like, 75mil on it and the goal they set for the achievement is 200mil, so I'm not even close. And one time I think I died from just getting hit too many times. They don't give much explanation for this, but its been bugging me.

In Death Mode, you are supposed to protect Tadayo's workshop (the grey building at the bottom of the screen) for as long as possible. The bar at the top of screen is the building's 'life meter'. The building is damaged every time you allow an enemy to perform a full movement pattern and leave the screen. The building can be healed twice (by reaching the two Arcade extend values), each time will refill about 25% of the bar. There is no limit to the number of times the player can be hit, but each time you're hit, your ship becomes frozen for a couple of seconds (allowing enemies to easily slip by).

So basically, try not to get hit and destroy everything that you possibly can.

[bcass]

In case anyone didn't see me mention this already in the "Guide to owning a Japanese 360" thread in the Hardware forum:

People with JPN consoles might be interested to know that Radirgy NOA MASSIVE on the HK Marketplace is not IP locked so you can purchase the GoD release via the Marketplace using your linked paypal a/c or an Asian points card. Price came to £17, which is far cheaper than you'll find it 2nd hand.

[professor ganson]

I recall playing Radirgy in tate on the DC back in the day. So is this yoko format inferior or is that not an issue? Still on the fence about getting this game so many years after its release.

[M.Knight]

I don't really know about the 360 exclusive modes (Death, Massive and Classic) beacuse I play the game on a Wii but as far as the Arcade mode goes, Radirgy Noa is not as good as Radirgy and is also the weakest Milestone game IMO. KAI not liking the game also says a lot about it I guess.
The game mechanics are a bit different and revolve around using the ABSNet to increase your multiplier and not letting too much time pass bewteen two ABSNet uses. There is no more a frontal shield if you stop shooting and you can't move over aerial ennemies anymore (aside from the Dreamer09, a recurring mid-boss).

The problem lies in the fact that the game throws a lot of bullets at you and expects you to cancel them as with all Milestone shmups but you only have the ABSnet to do that. You can't do some shield counterattacks like in Karous or Illvelo. And as the ABSNet recharges rather quickly, you spend most of the time invincible, trying to shoot and slash enough stuff to trigger another ABSNet once the current one wears off.
Dodging is not really an option, stuff gets way too crazy, especially in the later stages. Furthermore, there are a few spots where you will have to memorise when to use the ABSNet becuase if your timing is off, you are guaranteed to lose a life because the bullets are far too numerous and the patterns are too hectic. It is too hard if you can't cancel bullets but if you can, it can be too easy.
As for playing for score, defeating bosses with the max multiplier is possibily the only thing that look kinda appealing but maybe the caravan mode in the 360 version can make it fun.

I don't know if it's because of the constant invincibility or just a sound design issue, but I also feel that destroying ennemies is less um...visceral than in Radirgy/Karous/Illvelo. When I slash a bunch of ennemies and refill my ABSNet jauge in Radirgy, it feels good. When I can unleash the devastating 3-hit sword combo in Karous, it is fun. When I position my options over big foes and shoot in Illvelo, the "BRRRRR" sound it makes is amazing. But I find Radirgy Noa not as exciting.

That said, the game has a few good ideas : there is a mid-boss named the Dreamer09 you'll fight four times during the game in dedicated short stages. Your objective will be to destroy it progressively, piece by piece, and if you can kill it before the end of the last stage it appears in, you can gain a lot of points. There is also a mechanic where if you stop slashing for a while, your sword will glow blue and you can earn a x2 multiplier on your next hit that can be stacked with the ABSNet multiplier for a maximum multiplier of x32.
Those ideas are not enough to make the game shine, but they are there. The music is very good, as always with Milestone shoot'em ups. My favorite track is the second-to-last stage theme "The Tongue of the Woman".

Despite what I just said about it and even though I am not a huge fan of this game, I am still strangely compelled to 1CC it. The last stage's madness is interesting in a way and I feel like I am not unable to defeat the last boss, so that creates some motivation.

I hope those impressions were helpful. Oh, wait, I forgot about the whole YOKO thing.
Hum...The format is one of the reasons bullets are nearly impossible to dodge and it is also probably why the ship speed is fixed to a slower speed than the Radirgy max speed, but I think that the game has even bigger issues than the YOKO vs TATE topic.

[professor ganson]

This is super helpful-- thanks! Your remarks help explain why there's been virtually no discussion of this game (at least in this thread) for so long. (Btw, your English is pretty amazing for someone in France!)

[M.Knight]

I am glad to have been helpful.
And thanks for your comment about my English. Actually, I studied quite a bit of English at the university and even before, so I have some experience. ^^
Joining this forum is also an opportunity for me to practice my skills and not get rusty.

[stryc9]

Just to counterbalance a bit against the first response: Radirgy Noa is still excellent in itself, despite the weird square ratio and changes to the system from the first game. It's still interesting enough to warrant the purchase, although I spent most of my time on Classic mode, which is fantastic IMO, and I managed to do OK on the leaderboards with this mode too.

Death and massive modes are also great bonuses.

[Oniros]

Radirgy NOA MASSIVE on the HK Marketplace is not IP locked.

Waaaait a minute. So, can I play this on a NTSC console then?

[HydrogLox]

Radirgy NOA MASSIVE on the HK Marketplace is not IP locked.

Waaaait a minute. So, can I play this on a NTSC console then?

NTSC-J yes - NTSC-U/C no. The title is still region-locked. IP-locking is an additional measure to ensure that the region-locked console is connected to the network within it's own region (you need to connect via a region-based proxy to get around the IP-lock). So as the downloadable Radirgy Noa Massive is region-locked but not IP-locked it can be (downloaded and) played on an NTSC-J console anywhere in the world (without the use of a proxy) - just like the Radirgy Noa Massive disc.