Support NeoGAF

[Tain]

Played for a little bit.

Man, this game is so stunning. Great music, great visuals, awesome backgrounds, goddamn. As always. Maybe the chaining will grow on me someday, lol. Ikaruga mode sounds like more fun, but I haven't tried it yet.

Might play some more today, but I've gotta check out Trackmania 2 and beat Akumajou Densetsu.

 

[MechaX]

On the fence about picking this up. On one hand, it is classic shooter action.

On the other hand, fuck MS for having the only real option to get the amount of points I need cost $19.99 when I'm not even going to use the rest in the near future.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

On the fence about picking this up. On one hand, it is classic shooter action.

On the other hand, fuck MS for having the only real option to get the amount of points I need cost $19.99 when I'm not even going to use the rest in the near future.

You can buy in increments of 800 and 400.

 

[Barkley's Justice]

On the fence about picking this up. On one hand, it is classic shooter action.

On the other hand, fuck MS for having the only real option to get the amount of points I need cost $19.99 when I'm not even going to use the rest in the near future.

you tell em!

 

[Daigoro]

in the original Saturn port wasnt there a page that had all of your stats?

that's not in this version, huh?

 

[Mike M]

in the original Saturn port wasnt there a page that had all of your stats?

that's not in this version, huh?

I don't remember anything like that...

 

[Sixfortyfive]

I remember it, but I forgot what it included.

 

[LiK]

the music reminds me of Tactics Ogre...lol. i dunno why.

 

[sixteen-bit]

the music reminds me of Tactics Ogre...lol. i dunno why.

Same composer.

 

[kaioshade]

Played for a little bit.

Man, this game is so stunning. Great music, great visuals, awesome backgrounds, goddamn. As always. Maybe the chaining will grow on me someday, lol. Ikaruga mode sounds like more fun, but I haven't tried it yet.

Might play some more today, but I've gotta check out Trackmania 2 and beat Akumajou Densetsu.

Ikaruga chaining is definitely a lot more fun than the original chaining system, but max chain only goes to 25,600, just like ikaruga. So for the 100k chain achievement you need to use original. But its fairly easy to get on 4B anyway.

 

[LiK]

Same composer.

*mindblown*

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

Good to hear about the life/continue unlocking system.

If I don't hear anything by Friday I'll just buy the game and get on with the review.

 

[ghibli99]

This is just... wonderful. Looks and sounds amazing and plays beautifully (using a RAP EX-SE). What did 360 owners do to be blessed with such an amazing array of shooters?! Thank you, Treasure! A better $15 will probably not be spent on XBL this year for me. This is gonna carry me for a while.

 

[Daigoro]

I remember it, but I forgot what it included.

pretty sure it had hours played and several other stats. its been a while since ive seen it though.

would've been nice to include it here.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

Goddamn bullet colors are all over the place sometimes. Can't see shit.

Grinding up weapon levels to make achievement whoring easier. I'm so noob.

 

[∀ Narayan]

I really love this game, but... fuck! I totally forgot how to chain properly, and I can't remember the Merry Dog locations for the life of me.

Looks like I have a lot of relearning to do.

 

[Muchi Muchi Pink]

I've heard elsewhere that you get continues faster in arcade mode than in story mode. You start with 3 continues in arcade mode and can adjust lives/extend settings. You start with no continues in story mode and can't adjust those settings.

Totally true. I only got 6 lives in story mode.

 

[Wired]

Crap... I used to be somewhat good at this game (not great or anything) but now I can't remember a single thing about how I used to play it. I mean fine I haven't touched the Saturn game in what...six or seven years but I thought I would remember at least something ffs

 

[Daigoro]

Goddamn bullet colors are all over the place sometimes. Can't see shit.

Grinding up weapon levels to make achievement whoring easier. I'm so noob.

yeah between the multiple enemy bullet types, your own bullet types, and other shit on the screen... it makes dodging difficult.

my vulcan shot was preventing me from seeing enemy fire when i was playing earlier. :/

 

[d0c_zaius]

Total Play Count
Arcade Mode 0
Story Mode 16

Total Play Time
Arcade 0H00M00S
Story 1H12M02S

Merry
Arcade Mode 0/11
Story Mode 5/30

loving the game...again. but hate the 3rd boss.

to new players, don't forget to go for 100% destruction bonuses against bosses!

 

[AC!D]

loving the game...again. but hate the 3rd boss.

Arghhhh the R-type one? Absoloute bitch. There is a safe spot in the top left you can abuse, but I usually take it on using the electricity lazer things.

Played nothing but Arcade Mode for about an hour last night, my first few goes were spent getting re acquainted with my old friend pain. By the end I'd made it to the last boss of the first stage. Forgot how addictive it is refining your strategies on each run.

Quick question: Is there a reliable way to get 100% destruction rate on the very first boss, every time? Seems to be very hit and miss when finishing it off with the radiant sword attack. (It self destructs if I try breaking it apart with the normal weapons).

 

[Galdelico]

Whoa, this port is so brilliant... Loving it.

 

[Mike M]

Why oh WHY is the default option after a game over in story mode not to save? Button mashing through the high score screen has caused me much grief.

I'm having a beast of a time finding a comfortable control scheme. I'm fumbling all over with my arcade stick (So many buttons for a shoot-em-up! Used to just be "fire" and "bomb!"), the 360 controller is less than ideal... Reeeeeeeally missing the Saturn pad right about now.

Maybe I just need to suck it up and get used to using only the three buttons like the actual arcade...

 

[snorggy]

I did some hyper sword attack but wasn't sure how... can anyone explain that? I'm such a n00b. I THINK it was from blocking a certain amount of bullets with the sword...

 

[kaioshade]

I did some hyper sword attack but wasn't sure how... can anyone explain that? I'm such a n00b. I THINK it was from blocking a certain amount of bullets with the sword...

When you absorb ten pink bullets with the radiant sword it will fill your meter. (top left)
you are also invunerable during this and for about a second after the move completes.

 

[Mike M]

Goddamn bullet colors are all over the place sometimes. Can't see shit.

Yeah, some of the bullet designs are... Questionable... (I.e. I seem to recall the final boss bombards you with bullets that look like flowers at some point...)

 

[Llyranor]

I'm having a beast of a time finding a comfortable control scheme. I'm fumbling all over with my arcade stick (So many buttons for a shoot-em-up! Used to just be "fire" and "bomb!"), the 360 controller is less than ideal... Reeeeeeeally missing the Saturn pad right about now.

Maybe I just need to suck it up and get used to using only the three buttons like the actual arcade...

I find it's actually pretty simple with the 3-button setup. It's probably easier to memorize than having 7 separate buttons.

Played about an hour on story mode so far, unlocked an extra life, whee! Still can't get pass the final boss of 3 with that, but I'm getting there.

I think the game would be better if it didn't have a leveling system depending on chaining. I guess it's not so much of an issue with story mode, but the mid-boss of 3 is almost too easy now that my weapons take it down fairly quickly.

 

[orion434]

Ikaruga chaining is definitely a lot more fun than the original chaining system, but max chain only goes to 25,600, just like ikaruga. So for the 100k chain achievement you need to use original. But its fairly easy to get on 4B anyway.

This was exactly what I was looking for, couldn't find this info anywhere.

 

[Tain]

Quick question: Is there a reliable way to get 100% destruction rate on the very first boss, every time? Seems to be very hit and miss when finishing it off with the radiant sword attack. (It self destructs if I try breaking it apart with the normal weapons).

Been wondering this myself. I've only done it a few times.

 

[d0c_zaius]

Been wondering this myself. I've only done it a few times.

I got 100% each time by destroying the man cannon first, then the left side, then the right side.

I think the problem comes when shooting while moving side to side, you are more likely to destroy the middle part before the side pieces.

And the leveling system is not entirely dependent on chaining. You can level up the weapons by beating bosses, especially with Perfect ratings.

 

[Curufinwe]

On the fence about picking this up. On one hand, it is classic shooter action.

On the other hand, fuck MS for having the only real option to get the amount of points I need cost $19.99 when I'm not even going to use the rest in the near future.

I feel like I pimp this too much perhaps, but if you live in the US it's easy to get a steady stream of free points thru Bing Rewards by using Bing for a couple of minutes every day. I've earned 2500 free MS Points in less than a year.

 

[SOME-MIST]

the no 4:3 mode is sort of depressing, but I can make due without it - I have an hdtv anyways, but I wanted to play it on the shmup setup/crt.

There do seem to be some differences when comparing the 360 port to the sega saturn version..which sort of break the scoring system..but at least the game is still fun.

 

[galvatron]

Quick question: Is there a reliable way to get 100% destruction rate on the very first boss, every time? Seems to be very hit and miss when finishing it off with the radiant sword attack. (It self destructs if I try breaking it apart with the normal weapons).

I use the spread gun and just let the explosions do most of the work. Trying to play it 3 buttons style, so I'm not using the sword a lot.

 

[aktham]

the no 4:3 mode is sort of depressing, but I can make due without it - I have an hdtv anyways, but I wanted to play it on the shmup setup/crt.

There do seem to be some differences when comparing the 360 port to the sega saturn version..which sort of break the scoring system..but at least the game is still fun.

I played it on my CRT. Seemed to work just fine. I use the CRT for fighters and shmups.

 

[xemumanic]

the no 4:3 mode is sort of depressing, but I can make due without it - I have an hdtv anyways, but I wanted to play it on the shmup setup/crt.

There do seem to be some differences when comparing the 360 port to the sega saturn version..which sort of break the scoring system..but at least the game is still fun.

Did you try setting the 360 not to output widescreen , or try disabling the wallpapers? I dunno if the latter is even possible, but I guess you could try that.

 

[ghibli99]

Playing this in original low-res w/ the fakie mesh transparencies is so wonderfully nostalgic...

 

[kaioshade]

I kill the two sides, and when the boss flips when it is firing the fireball, take out the bottom part. it seems the middle has two parts to it. Once i see another explosion in the middle, finish it with the radiant sword.

 

[SmokedMeat]

I feel like I pimp this too much perhaps, but if you live in the US it's easy to get a steady stream of free points thru Bing Rewards by using Bing for a couple of minutes every day. I've earned 2500 free MS Points in less than a year.

Is that still going on? I've got to reup, as I earned about 6000 points, and then it all came to an end for me.
In fact 'll be using leftover Bing points to buy this as well.

 

[SOME-MIST]

I played it on my CRT. Seemed to work just fine. I use the CRT for fighters and shmups.

Did you try setting the 360 not to output widescreen , or try disabling the wallpapers? I dunno if the latter is even possible, but I guess you could try that.

it has borders (much like in deathsmiles IIX). I'd like it for the playing area to take up 100% of the screen.

haven't tried disabling wallpapers..but I don't have it set to output widescreen since 99% of the games I play, I play in 4:3 resolution anyways. like I said, it isn't that big of a deal since I can just hook it up to my HDTV or play it with borders, but I almost ALWAYS have my 360 hooked up to the CRT and my ps3 on the HDTV/LED monitor.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Wait so this game has that dumb pre-patch XBLA Guwange letterboxed shit 4:3?

 

[SOME-MIST]

Wait so this game has that dumb pre-patch XBLA Guwange letterboxed shit 4:3?

originally I thought so, but there might be some options to alter it the way I want. I'll have to wait till I get home to see. Now I'm hoping I was just being an idiot!

 

[giggas]

Is that still going on? I've got to reup, as I earned about 6000 points, and then it all came to an end for me.
In fact 'll be using leftover Bing points to buy this as well.

I actually used the last set of Bing points I had on this so I only ended up spending 10 dollars to get it, which is cool.

Anyway, the Bing thing still works/exists, but getting points is much harder now. They don't give them out like they used to. They used to have links every other day to earn credits quickly, now it's just one link every other day and it's only worth about 3 credits. It takes forever to earn the points now. I haven't been keeping up with it in a while because of that.

Anyway, the game is great. I'm so glad to finally be able to play it. So by playing on Story mode you slowly unlock more credits and what not? I only tried it once and when I saw that I got a game over for good after my lives ran out I decided to just go back into Arcade.

I'll probably never get good at this game, but I'd like to at least see all the stages. Hoping it's like Ikaruga on Gamecube where you can essentially earn infinite lives after playing for a long time.

 

[G0523]

I really don't understand all the bitching over the wallpapers. Ikaruga's screen is much smaller than Radiant Silvergun's. Just stretch the image if you must, otherwise shut up and play the game.

 

[djtiesto]

This game makes me miss STGs which have more of a focus on environmental obstacles... as much as I love the Cave games, I really wished we got a new Gradius or R-TYPE (rip Irem ) game this gen

 

[sixteen-bit]

I really don't understand all the bitching over the wallpapers. Ikaruga's screen is much smaller than Radiant Silvergun's. Just stretch the image if you must, otherwise shut up and play the game.

It's moronic to have a game letterboxed on a 4:3 CRT if it was made for 4:3 CRTs to begin with.

 

[Tain]

This game makes me miss STGs which have more of a focus on environmental obstacles... as much as I love the Cave games, I really wished we got a new Gradius or R-TYPE (rip Irem ) game this gen

Have you played Strania? It has a good amount of that stuff.

It's moronic to have a game letterboxed on a 4:3 CRT if it was made for 4:3 CRTs to begin with.

For sure. And it happens all the time. Pretty inexcusable.

 

[aktham]

it has borders (much like in deathsmiles IIX). I'd like it for the playing area to take up 100% of the screen.

haven't tried disabling wallpapers..but I don't have it set to output widescreen since 99% of the games I play, I play in 4:3 resolution anyways. like I said, it isn't that big of a deal since I can just hook it up to my HDTV or play it with borders, but I almost ALWAYS have my 360 hooked up to the CRT and my ps3 on the HDTV/LED monitor.

You have the option to zoom in and out. You have to make the adjustments in most Shumps like Guwange and Deathsmiles.

 

[Wonko_C]

Bought the game yesterday and it was my first time playing it and it seems so overwhelmingly confusing for a shooter, so here comes the barrage of noob questions:

Why does the game start on Stage 3? 3A, 3B, etc. what does it all mean? Where is stage 1?

How do I unlock Ikaruga mode? It just doesn't show up on my game and my friend tells me his was unlocked from the start. What am I missing here?

Any basic tips on weapon usage? There are just too many and I've been using mostly the default cannon (A button), the others seem too unwieldy or seem to do less damage.

I've been enjoying this game immensely (with my SFIV fightpad emulating the Saturn's button layout even though I have never seen one, I just guessed the button order and after checking online I was spot on, how cool is that?) but I feel like I'm missing out half of it, I went in not really knowing what to expect. I was counting on the How to Play section but it's very basic.

 

[SOME-MIST]

I really don't understand all the bitching over the wallpapers. Ikaruga's screen is much smaller than Radiant Silvergun's. Just stretch the image if you must, otherwise shut up and play the game.

It's not a problem with the wallpapers, it's a problem with the playing area. I'm going to voice my opinion whether you like it or not, and worst case scenario I'll just play the saturn version without my EX-SE - tho I was very excited to use my stick. as I stated, it's not that big of a deal...but it was disappointing. I'll just have to mess with the options.

you're right that ikaruga has a much smaller playing area, but much like cave co., ltd.'s vertical danmakus you can make it fit by rotating the display.

You have the option to zoom in and out. You have to make the adjustments in most Shumps like Guwange and Deathsmiles.

I'll have to wait to see if I can mess around with it when I get home. I originally posted while at break on work, but yesterday I put about 5 minutes of effort into trying to find the right options before I decided to just play it as-is since I was too excited/antsy. If there is an option to stretch both the X and Y axis separately then my minor problem will be solved

 

[Marco1]

This is how you do arcade conversions for live arcade similar to how they did final fight and r-type.