Espgaluda 2 iphone - its out

[angrycoder]

Just spent 30 minutes with this on my iPad and I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed. It looks and sounds great. Levels and enemy placement are all recognizable from the 360 version, although I haven't spent enough time with either to know if they are exact. Bullet patterns are obviously simplified and slowed down, but it still feels like a Cave game. I am really glad they didn't go with the shitty 'virtual joystick' control scheme.

Good as the real thing? Probably not. Good for 5 bucks? Indeed. Makes Ketsui Death Label look pretty sad.

[captpain]

What's that like on an iPad? Seems like it'd be pretty great to control a real shmup with your finger, especially on that big screen.

[hermosaguy]

Dammit only on 3GS

[HeLGeN-X]

Fucking stupid apple and their damn 3GS and 3G bullshit.

Now I can't play this. Fuck Crapple.

[kccttzj]

I remembered about an hour ago that this was out today. I haven't played it too much yet (playing on my iPhone), but I'm pleasantly surprised with how well it controls. I'm not too sure I'm a fan of the iPhone mode yet, but I'll have to spend some more time on it. The most noticeable difference to me is the character speed, but that's to be expected. Definitely worth the $5 imo though.

[Wooph]

3GS

Damn.

[chempop]

Going to get this tomorrow for my iPad, but I'm using a 3G iPhone so out of luck there.
Definitely pissed about how OS4 will only fully work on the 3GS, but if this game needs it to run I guess that is saying something about how it really does have more power.

Overall people are too uptight about apple's hardware limitations, but it is understandable to be frustrated with the 3G/3GS debacle. I try to look at it this way, if you want all the latest features and software you might want to stay current with the newest hardware... Otherwise disappointment will ensue.

Anyway, I'll post some feedback later about iEspG2 it'd it does indeed work with the iPad.

[MDY]

WTF?? They list the 72hr deal and UK prices on the site, but it's still not up on the UK iTunes.. was up on the US site 11 hours ago and the Japanese site 20 hours ago
What's taking so long!!!???

[Jockel]

I've seen it in the German iTunes just now.
I'll try and install it on my first gen iPhone for the lulz
Edit: Shows Cave splashscreen then quits ^_~

[alastair jack]

This must feel horrible without a joystick.

[General Martok]

I'd imagine that a nice lagless touch control could work out great .
At least the guy in the promo video was very good at it.

[GaijinPunch]

Fucking stupid apple and their damn 3GS and 3G bullshit.

Now I can't play this. Fuck Crapple.

Yeah, how dare they upgrade it.

This must feel horrible without a joystick.

It's actually not bad, and I hate mobile phone games. This will be my SECOND game every to load on my iPhone.

[genjuro]

So since I only spent 200 dollars on my Touch instead of 300 or 400 dollars, I can't play this.

Ugh. What a joke.

Why even bother making a game for this "platform" if it can't be compatible with more versions of the hardware?

[genjuro]

Not that I would even be able to play it with a 32gb/64gb Touch right now anyway, since it's broken and won't even install for Touch users.

[dmauro]

Why even bother making a game for this "platform" if it can't be compatible with more versions of the hardware?

Because they will still make money and because they aren't doing this for your benefit.

I'm not seeing this showing up in the store yet. (ahh, apparently they fucked up and it doesn't actually support iPod Touch 3rd Gen yet, so I'll be waiting for an update).

[StarCreator]

It was posted in the main thread that the older iPhone/iPod Touch models don't have enough available RAM to run the game. Honestly, it's amazing they were able to get it to work as well as they did with the 3GS in the first place - from the videos it looks amazing based on it running on something that wasn't really designed for this kind of gaming in the first place.

[dmzach]

Not that I would even be able to play it with a 32gb/64gb Touch right now anyway, since it's broken and won't even install for Touch users.

I was able to install it on mine just fine.

[TastySoil]

I've played it for a little while and I have to say it's awesome. I can't believe it plays on a device I can hold in my hand without slowdown. I'm having a lotta fun with it!

[chempop]

Well folks, I've just spend an hour with the game and thought a few of you would like to know some first impressions. Keep in mind that I've only played on the iPad.

Graphics are amazing, even x2 pixels to maximize the screen still looks great because it is so detailed in the first place. The game is definitely not a crap Cave cellphone game, it looks almost exactly like the real thing. It is fast as can be, on hard mode the speed is very fast, not a wink of slowdown either.

Sound is very accurate, haven't tried with headphones yet but you can adjust music, sound effects, and voice in the options settings.

Control is surprisingly good. I'm no pro at the xbox port but on my second attempt of Arcade mode on Normal difficulty I made it to stage6 boss on the iPad. Basically it felt very natural and smooth to move around (which you can do much faster that in the original game). There are three control schemes, I used the expert which gives you 4 buttons - turn auto shot on/off, kakusei on/off, guard barrier, and shot type switch (doesn't seem to effect character speed). You can control movement by pressing anywhere on the screen, although there is a small border of dead zone on the iPad when zoomed which was a little troublesome. You can also set up the controls to have the buttons on either side of the screen.

Options and Game Modes - the Arcade mode is basically just like the xbox port except that you can move extremely fast and your weapon type doesn't effect your speed. iPhone mode is a little twist where kakusei holts your movement and you can tap bullets to cancel them, gold collecting is a bit different here too. Only tried it once though but it seems like a nice variation. Like I said, there are three control mode, three difficulty mode, screen and sound adjustments, and the Feint leader boards and whatnot (I'm Chempop there as well, so friend me if you want).

If you think shmups on a touch screen are worthless, ESPGaluda 2 will certainly change you mind, thins is by far the best portable shmup Ive ever played, bee praying that Cave releases more, and stop complaining if your iTouch or 3G can't run it, I'd rather a great version that maximizes hardware than a mediocre version that everyone can play, selfish old me.

[dorakyura]

This must feel horrible without a joystick.

It's actually not bad

I'd even go as far as saying that it's actually quite good – I was surprised how precise it controls.

I have to start laughing every time Apple brags about how the “games” on their platform outnumber DS/PSP titles by orders of magnitude. If there were more titles like this one I would stop laughing.

[chempop]

I have to start laughing every time Apple brags about how the “games” on their platform outnumber DS/PSP titles by orders of magnitude. If there were more titles like this one I would stop laughing.

ITA, if there were more games like this, plants vs zombies, mirrors edge, people at nintendo and sony would start crying...
...give it time though, I have a feeling iPhone/Pad controller cases with d-pad and buttons are not too far away, maybe even by this summer when they launch their gaming network. Maybeeeeeeee...

[dmauro]

Not that I would even be able to play it with a 32gb/64gb Touch right now anyway, since it's broken and won't even install for Touch users.

I was able to install it on mine just fine.

Which one do you have? I have a 32MB 3rd gen and it told me it was not compatible when I tried to install it from iTunes (I couldn't find it in the app store on the phone).

[dmzach]

Not that I would even be able to play it with a 32gb/64gb Touch right now anyway, since it's broken and won't even install for Touch users.

I was able to install it on mine just fine.

Which one do you have? I have a 32MB 3rd gen and it told me it was not compatible when I tried to install it from iTunes (I couldn't find it in the app store on the phone).

yea I have a 32 3rd gen. the model is MC008LL if you care

[AKRATEN]

thanks for the post, very fun!

[dmauro]

Hmmm, my 32GB 3rd gen is A1318 EMC2310. This probably has something to do with them not working, maybe they only have it working for the one model even though the one I have is supposedly also a 3rd gen.

(If I go into settings to check my model number instead of looking on the back it also says MC008LL)

Did you somehow download from the App store directly to the iPod or sync via iTunes?

[chempop]

In case anyone is wondering the iTunes user reviews for this game are nearly flawless...

5 star - 40 votes
4 star - 1 vote
3 star - 0 votes
2 star - 1 vote
1 star - 1 vote

I have a feeling the low ratings were due to compatibility... I hope this gets some attention from the other devs to see what is really capable when you know what the heck you're doing. iPhone/Pad games need a serious boost in quality, let Cave raise the bar and the rest will catch up, or at least hopefully try to catch up.

[dpful]

Mine won't work! I have an iphone 3Gs, and the program quits after the cave splash screen!
What can I do? does anyone else have this problem? I've re-downloaded it over and over, I've turned it off and on, I've got plenty of memory.

Aaaargh

edit* Give me a fucking break. It just worked. I went to options- didn't change anything, but ticked and un-ticked everything. now it works.

[adversity1]

There's an issue with the installer for iPod touch talked about here, including some work-arounds. But it's probably best just to wait for a patch:

http://toucharcade.com/2010/04/10/japan ... i-arrives/

[GaijinPunch]

Why even bother making a game for this "platform" if it can't be compatible with more versions of the hardware?

The same reason Cave chose the SH3 over the Mega Drive.

I'd even go as far as saying that it's actually quite good – I was surprised how precise it controls.

Well, I only got to play the alpha version since I'm the majority share holder at Cave. So, had to reserve judgement.

[dpful]

Wow this game rules. I'd pay 6$ for something like this a hundred times- I hope they make more!
Closest thing to normal shmup on an iphone, definitely.