Ikaruga for Android

[yosai]

It plays like you would expect, ie not great. The ship movement is fine but the touch screen colour switching seems to be a bit unresponsive. At least it has sound though, Nexus 4, Android 4.2.1.

Luckily the extra data only took 5 minutes to download so I was able to get a refund. Not something I would want to spend a whole lot of time playing. (And I clocked the DC version may, many times)

[Necronom]

So I took a plunge, mainly because I always wanted a portable Ika. Just like yosai I'm using a Nexus 4. I'm not the greatest Ika player but I did clock in many hours on DC and XBLA.
First things first, don't expect to play this one just like you do on consoles. The (customizable) controls are fine - didn't have any problems with polarity switching - sound is good too and graphics can be adjusted via four settings. The game lets you switch autofire on/off at any time so theoretically it's possible to chain just like on a console but in reality this is very hard to do. Playing on a tablet might help slightly.
On the plus side though practisinig dot eater rounds is good fun and you can select any stage from the get-go.
Most definitely this is no replacement for the the console versions but I find it a good way to practise enemy placement on the go. Too bad they didn't implement a smartphone-mode where the game would switch polarity for you so you could only concentrate on shooting...*avoids bricks thrown by purists*
Overall, I would say it's a nice experiment. The game looks gorgeous on the Nexus 4 (using graphics setting 'direct') and runs what looks/feels like around 50 fps (tried the first 3 stages). I enjoy my dot eater rounds and boss fights so I don't regret buying it.
...and yeah, it does have sound on 4.2.1...really hope they fix this on esp galuda and dodon because those two are still the best imho.

[yosai]

I found out later the unresponsiveness was due to the 'triple tap to zoom' setting in the Android accessibility menu. When disabled it works peachy, although the shot/swap controls are still a tad awkward.

I think my main beef with this game is the price. It's a 10 year old port with little added and they want £6 for the privilege.

[Temia Eszteri]

What are the odds of successfully getting the Dot Eater rank on this thing? Because somehow I imagine they're pretty slim, and it wouldn't really be fair to do a port that makes some features of the original game virtually impossible. Then again, that disqualifies pretty much everything that gives incentive for not holding fire constantly, so...

Honestly, I wish more new shmup properties would hit the smartphone market instead. It'd offer better odds of finding a design that works with the touchpad control scheme and perhaps make it more viable in the eyes of the community. Oldies are goodies and all, but only in moderation and only if they actually work - stuff like this won't help throw off the stagnancy plaguing the genre!

[mice]

Looked at some youtube movies and it seems to run really well.
But I can't get over the fact that the ship speed is dynamic, and that touch device users seems to embrace it.

[gs68]

I guess it's the charm of analog controls combined with portability. I myself can't stand analog controls in shooting games, especially touch controls. I say this having awkwarded myself to death many times in Shogun and Danmaku Death.

[Vetus]

Many years before the smartphones era my younger brother was teasing me "Ikaruga. Now on mobile phones too." (java phones era back then) since he knew how much I liked Ikaruga on Dreamcast. Little did he knew that years later I would tell me "Ikaruga now on mobile phones...for real.". Buuuuuuut...Ikaruga isn't compatible on Samsung Galaxy Ace 2. That's right: the all mighty smartphones that overpower 3DS and PS Vita can't play a Dreamcast shmup. Well...not big loss since I can enjoy it on my Xbox360 on HD resolution, on a big screen and with an actual joypad...but it would be a nice show off to my friends. And of course to play it on the go (even with not so good controls).

[Oniros]

I found out later the unresponsiveness was due to the 'triple tap to zoom' setting in the Android accessibility menu. When disabled it works peachy, although the shot/swap controls are still a tad awkward.

I think my main beef with this game is the price. It's a 10 year old port with little added and they want £6 for the privilege.

Whoa whoa whoa, I need to check this out! I've been enjoying this port quite a bit but if changing this setting makes it more responsive you're a genius.

[spadgy]

Anybody tried this with a MOGA like device? On some games they work OK. Could be here, if it is compatible, that 1+1= -2.