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IKARUGA XBLA is 400pts this week...

soldat7 said:
Space Invaders Extreme for 360 just isn't as fun as either handheld version. The d-pad is terrible (as usual), the music wasn't remixed to be 5.1, and the new backgrounds are not nearly as good as the backgrounds from the handhelds. It just works better as a handheld game and, in any case, should never be compared with Ikaruga which is a vastly different game.

Seems like nitpicking. You say this as if the PSP or DS are in 5.1 :lol

Furthermore, d-pad bitching over Space Invaders? Seriously? You move left or fucking right. I think that is managable on a 360 pad.
 
Sixfortyfive said:
Ikaruga is deserving of every bit of praise it has received, does not deserve to be lumped in with the likes of RSG, and should not be maligned just because other niche titles of comparable quality have been overlooked by the powers that be. (Lookin' at you, Tain. :P)

I'm not maligning anything.
All I'm saying is that if your sole experience with 2D shooters is Ikaruga you're not getting enough out of the genre.

It'd be like if the only FPS you played was...um...well one of the best ones. That's all well and good but if that FPS is designed in a way that you find yourself not appreciating it the entire rest of the genre risks getting written off cause hey you played the best and you didn't like it, so if everything else is worse why bother? Sure there are a lot of memorization elements and almost puzzle-like aspects to 2D shooters(especially newer ones with their more intricate scoring systems) but with Ikaruga it's black & white. Either you know where to stand and when to shoot or else your score sucks, you're eating suicide bullets by the boatloads, and probably not having much fun. If you don't like Ikaruga there are still other shooters worth checking out that cater to different interests.

I only lumped it in with RSG in that at around the end of the Saturn's life Radiant Silvergun was held up as the standard for 2D shooters. I didn't even hear about games like Battle Garegga or Dodonpachi until several years later(and that was through MAME). At least when Ikaruga was all anyone talked about they got the bright idea to discuss the gameplay every now and again. Half the time when I read about RS back in the day it was about the graphics, the cool weapon system, and the ability to keep your weapon strength like some kind of RPG. It took so long to develop any critical thought about the game that it feels that only recently did people realize it isn't all that great.

Like every other genre out there I can't think of a single game that deserves to be played above all else. In fact I can think of around 50 or so that should be prioritized. Ikaruga is one of those without a doubt but it never hurts to have 49 others to choose from.

Oh certainly there are plenty of shooters that are around Ikaruga's difficulty or harder. Many of these titles don't have scoring systems to divert the player's attention either. They're just out to kill people:
-Tatsujin(Truxton) 2
-Gradius III Arcade
-R-Type 2
-Image Fight
-Last Resort
-Pulstar
-Viewpoint
 
I suck but went for it. Only 8 hours of hell before I get unlimited continues.

I can get to the Stage 3 boss on Easy, but that's about as far as I will likely get for awhile. Depressing that I only went through 45 minutes of game time; felt like 2 hours. I must die at least once every 30 seconds on Stage 3.

Downloaded the #1 ranked replay for Campaign on Hard. Beautiful to watch.
 
Arpharmd B said:
Furthermore, d-pad bitching over Space Invaders? Seriously? You move left or fucking right. I think that is managable on a 360 pad.
As you said, you only go left or right. Why even bother with the dpad at all? The analog stick works perfectly.
 
I bought Ikaruga at 800 points simply to support such an thoroughly well-done port of such a niche title at such a decent price. I rarely do that, because rarely does one "wallet vote" make a difference, but in this case I did. I haven't touched it since the first weeks it came out, but that's OK. It's too hard for me, but Treasure did a superb job with the port. I'd really hoped it would make shit-shovelers like Backbone and SNK hang their head and pick up their game, but no.
 
RadarScope1 said:
I bought Ikaruga at 800 points simply to support such an thoroughly well-done port of such a niche title at such a decent price. I rarely do that, because rarely does one "wallet vote" make a difference, but in this case I did. I haven't touched it since the first weeks it came out, but that's OK. It's too hard for me, but Treasure did a superb job with the port. I'd really hoped it would make shit-shovelers like Backbone and SNK hang their head and pick up their game, but no.
I don't know about that. The port really isn't that great, disregarding the game content itself. There are a bunch of small differences between the XBLA and Naomi/DC versions to give arcade goers fits (which isn't much of an issue for the rest of us, but still), the netcode sucks (input lag in twitch shooter = no dice), there are a few small features from other versions of the game missing in this one (conquest mode, rotated controls in TATE mode), and there are occasional glitches (if your Live connection is dropped during gameplay, then your game is abruptly cut off at the end of your current stage) that may or may not have been patched.

Not a single one of these flaws is a dealbreaker, the game is a steal at 800 points, and the added features (leaderboards, replay upload) more than make up for its shortcomings IMO, but I'm only giving credit where it's due.
 
Shig said:
Shooters always benefit from a good stick to play them on, they accommodate slight movements much better than a d-pad could.

Didn't think about that. I have a SFIV SE stick modded with a Seimitsu stick, will have to try it out in this game.

What other shmups are there on XBLA that are of the same quality but maybe a little bit easier?
 
Man, you guys talk about how much you hate level 3, but level 4 is a nightmare. That's the one that always does me in. At least the last one is just a chain of boss fights.

This game also has some great music, especially the end credits.
 
shit, i can't partake in this. my gold account is a euro account and since i no longer live in europe, i use a silver US account to purchase all of my shit :(
 
PepsimanVsJoe said:
Oh certainly there are plenty of shooters that are around Ikaruga's difficulty or harder. Many of these titles don't have scoring systems to divert the player's attention either. They're just out to kill people:
-Tatsujin(Truxton) 2
-Gradius III Arcade
-R-Type 2
-Image Fight
-Last Resort
-Pulstar
-Viewpoint
I played most of those in the arcades, and I distinctly recall Viewpoint being pure evil.
 
help me clarify something with XBLA DRM. if i login to my account on my roomate's 360 to buy it, will that cause problems when i want to download/play it on my 360?
 
dfyb said:
help me clarify something with XBLA DRM. if i login to my account on my roomate's 360 to buy it, will that cause problems when i want to download/play it on my 360?
Why not just buy it on Xbox.com?
 
dfyb said:
help me clarify something with XBLA DRM. if i login to my account on my roomate's 360 to buy it, will that cause problems when i want to download/play it on my 360?
Probably in the long run. When you buy a game on the marketplace, you get 2 licenses: one for your gamertag, and one for the console on which the game was purchased.

If you want to play the game on a console other than the one it was purchased for, then your gamertag has to be signed into Live in order to do so. So, if your internet connection kicks out, or if you have a friend over who wants to sign in with his gamertag for whatever reason, you'd only have access to the demo in either of these circumstances.

Best to just buy it on your console.
 
Sixfortyfive said:
Probably in the long run. When you buy a game on the marketplace, you get 2 licenses: one for your gamertag, and one for the console on which the game was purchased.

If you want to play the game on a console other than the one it was purchased for, then your gamertag has to be signed into Live in order to do so. So, if your internet connection kicks out, or if you have a friend over who wants to sign in with his gamertag for whatever reason, you'd only have access to the demo in either of these circumstances.

Best to just buy it on your console.
thanks

what happens if i buy it on xbox.com?
 
Picked this up earlier. Good game, but hard as hell. I was watching the replay of the guy with the top score on the leader board and it is crazy what he can do. Im guessing he has played the game since it came out and practices a lot.

Can you hit some targets with your ship and destroy them if they are the same polarity? If so exactly how does it work? I was playing a section in chapter 3 I think it was, and there is ships coming from the front and the back in a small corridor. You shoot the ones ahead of you, but the ones coming from behind ram you and you dont die. Not sure why I dont die.
 
dfyb said:
thanks

what happens if i buy it on xbox.com?
use your gamertag on xbox.com, add it to download que and the first xbox you turn on with your gamertag on will become the main machine for the drm.
 
Zertez said:
Can you hit some targets with your ship and destroy them if they are the same polarity? If so exactly how does it work? I was playing a section in chapter 3 I think it was, and there is ships coming from the front and the back in a small corridor. You shoot the ones ahead of you, but the ones coming from behind ram you and you dont die. Not sure why I dont die.
The ship's hitbox is small. As long as nothing touches the very center of your ship, you won't die. It's possible to beat the entire game without ever firing a single shot.
 
I didn't like Ikaruga that much as a "just try to beat it" type of SHMUP but I really liked it as a "maximise your chains" type of shooter. It really shines when you want to absolutely master different segments and levels. If you're into that kind of stuff Ikaruga is a must buy, and if the gameplay is intact this looks to be the definitive version of the game, good stuff!
 
Arpharmd B said:
3 enemies of the same color = 1 chain.

Rinse, repeat.

Really? I thought there was more to it than that (it has been a while)

but I thought you had to also alternate the colours for big chaining so 9 black enemies didn't = 3 chains.

or something. I'm probably just wrong. But yeah, once it got busy I could never track that stuff anyway and just shot everything I could
 
catfish said:
Really? I thought there was more to it than that (it has been a while)

but I thought you had to also alternate the colours for big chaining so 9 black enemies didn't = 3 chains.

or something. I'm probably just wrong. But yeah, once it got busy I could never track that stuff anyway and just shot everything I could
alternating doesn't matter. this isn't RSG
 
Model 500 said:
I didn't like Ikaruga that much as a "just try to beat it" type of SHMUP but I really liked it as a "maximise your chains" type of shooter. It really shines when you want to absolutely master different segments and levels. If you're into that kind of stuff Ikaruga is a must buy, and if the gameplay is intact this looks to be the definitive version of the game, good stuff!

Actually, the audio is over compressed, really low bitrate...
 
memecomplex said:
Actually, the audio is over compressed, really low bitrate...
Pretty sure the audio is sequenced in every version. It was in the DC version (which is why it was ~36 MB total). I don't think it can be "overcompressed."
 
Arpharmd B said:
Seems like nitpicking. You say this as if the PSP or DS are in 5.1 :lol

Furthermore, d-pad bitching over Space Invaders? Seriously? You move left or fucking right. I think that is managable on a 360 pad.

Sadly, it's not so manageable on the 360 pad and the music does sound much better with headphones so use those if you have them. And I'm not trying to knock your purchase of the 360 version, just know that you didn't buy the best one. :D
 
poserdonut said:
Didn't think about that. I have a SFIV SE stick modded with a Seimitsu stick, will have to try it out in this game.

What other shmups are there on XBLA that are of the same quality but maybe a little bit easier?
Well, I wouldn't say R-Type Dimensions is "easier", but the difficulty ramps up from level to level at a more even pace.
 
Hoping MS continues this trend of 50% off XBLA games rather than the 33% off BS they were pulling before.

I'd love to have Rez HD for 400 pts.
 
Me too! I am way more likely to buy a game for 5 bucks than for 10. Especially if it's a game I wouldn't have really considered before, like Ikaruga and N+ before it.
 
I would be all over this (and this is coming from some one who has played the hell out of the GC version), but Microsoft screwed the pooch with the "Gold Members only!" line.

Hell, I have 400 left over points anyway. What is the smallest amount of points I can even buy (or can I just pay for the exact value instead of "Start at 800/1000, can't remember, and work your way up")?
 
Sold! I was waiting for a good time to buy this. I've gotten Alien Hominid, Bionic Commando Rearmed, and Ikaruga as DOTW's now. My $30 subscription is quickly paying for itself!
 
Well worth the 400 points. I suck at modern shumps so getting it at a low price doesn't make me feel bad that I'll probably never get good enough at it to beat it. >_<
 
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