Ikaruga FAQ (Dreamcast / Gamecube) Copyright 2003 Pierre "Saffran" Bancov Version 1.20 (30th of June 2003) This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. SUMMARY I) About this FAQ II) The basics III) Chapter 1 IV) Chapter 2 V) Chapter 3 VI) Chapter 4 VII) Final Chapter VIII) Extra Inning IX) Chain Grid X) Credits HISTORY: 7th of June 2003: Ver 1.00: Made the general outlines and gave theoretical indications about chains for all chapters. My best score at the time is 24,693,840. 30th of June 2003: Ver 1.20: Made a few spelling corrections and noticed a few errors in the walkthough, changed the style of the FAQ. Gave practical tips about how to make chains or survive some difficult parts. Added the Chain Grid. Changed the word "ennemies" to the actual names of the Hitekkai. Ever since I've met SIN, I have to estimate anew the numbers of chains one can achieve. You are awesome, man. My best score right now is 28,562,460. I) About this FAQ I'm writing this FAQ because Ikaruga is so much fun that is worth explanations. Most gamers will play this shooter until they clear it (which means about 2 hours), but even considering some might try to get better scores, the majority of the gamers will stop playing this game way too soon for my tastes. Rank S++ is not the end but the BEGINNING. That said, keep in mind that I am not the God of Shooting Games (I fancy myself as being one of the top 20 players worldwide at this game, though). I am myself barely achieving Rank S++ on every stage, and I still die occasionnaly. If a little help in achieving 30 Millions is OK with you, then read on... MAPPING: 1) w are small white ennemies. 2) b are small black ennemies 3) I'll make out the big ennemies with W's and B's BB BBBB or WWW BB 4) Your ship will be noted (w) or (b). 5) I will sometimes include the edge of the screen, like this: ------------ (more or less long, depending on the place I need) Every other thing should be obvious enough. II) The basics The most basic concept of this game concerns the colors. Each color represents an attack polarity. There are black ennemies and white ennemies. Your ship is one of the very few ones that can successfully change between the polarities. Moreover, it has an absorbing system. If you are of the white polarity, it will absorb white bullets and lasers and convert them into raw energy. Black bullets would however destroy your ship. Change your color to black and you are then able to absorb black bullets and lasers and whatnots, but white shots are now lethal to you. Last but not least, attacking black ennemies with the black polarity will inflict normal damage upon the ennemy, but if you attack with white, it deals double damage. The reverse is true as well: white shots will inflict normal damage to white ennemies, while black shots deal double damage. Now for some advanced little things: 1) Your ship is very, VERY small. As in about 4 pixels long and 1 pixel large. 2) Don't underestimate the points you can do only absorbing ennemy shots. To give you an example, over the first few ennemies of the first chapter, you can earn over 30000 points only absorbing the residual shots. Your high score in Easy over the first section of the game is 385420 points, in Normal you want over 413020 points. My best is 416720 points. And that's only the difference over 22 chains. 3) The Practice Mode is your best friend. To access a chapter in the Practice Mode, you must survive until the desired chapter without making any credits. For example, if you made a credit at Chapter 3 in Easy Mode, it will open you Chapter 1, 2 and 3 in the Easy Section of the Practice mode. 4) Don't watch the Ikaruga DVD yet. It's only going to make you realize how uncapable you are at shooting games. ;) It also will indicate you the ultimate conquest methods, and you're going to "imitate" the better players instead of actually getting better. 5) All the ennemies in Ikaruga have names. Follows a description, for I included them in the shoot-through. a) Utatsugumi: Round, weak ennemies. b) Toratsugumi: Very small, they never shoot. Come in sets of 3. Weak. c) Renjaku: They look a little like you. Some shoot, some don't. d) Torafuzuku: Big. Shoot bullets or laser beams. Resist 12 homing lasers. e) Ajisashi: The big cruisers of Chapter 1. Resistant. f) Isuka: Triangular ships, their moves are erratic. Are suicidal. g) Misosazai: Only appear in Chapter 2. Shoot lasers straight down. h) Toki: Slighly bigger, they shoot as fast as you. Resist 2 homing lasers. i) Chougenbou: The lords of Chapter 5. Resist 24 homing lasers. III) Chapter 1 Difficulty: Easy Boss: Eboshidori Rank S achieved at 3,000,000 Rank S++ achieved at 3,400,000 Max score : approx. 4,240,000 "I am not alive nor can I die. I won't give up even if my Ideal isn't fulfilled. My will, just as my regrets, won't ever die" The game starts with 6 white Utatsugumi from the right, then 6 black ones from the left. In Easy Mode, you don't need to think long about it, in Normal and Hard Mode, just shoot them down with the appropriate color and absorb all their residual shots. After that another 6 white Utatsugumi appear from the right, then another 6 black ones from the left. This time however they move slightly differently. No problems here. If you have absorbed all residual shots until now you should hear "Energy Max!". That's the spirit. Then come 36 Toratsugumi. Wait a moment before shooting or you're bount to break the chain. 18 white ships to your left, 18 black ones to the right. See : --------------- www bbb www bbb www bbb www bbb www bbb www bbb --> <-- Start with one color, at the center of the screen (3rd column if white, 4th if black). In Easy Mode, you don't need to care, but in Normal Mode, do it with the same color. Absorb most shots (you'll need to move your ship a little higher on the screen as you kill the ennemies) then change the color, go quicly back down and shoot down the rest. You should release your power. If you've been fast enough, 3 extra Toratsugumi come right then 3 others left. You have made (max) 22 chains and have 385420 points in Easy Mode, or around 410020 in Normal and Hard Mode. IDEAL "Alas, the Ikaruga departs. What could make those people move, Who were secluded against their will? This is probably none other than The very basic will to live" 3 white Renjaku from the left, then from the right. Shoot them down either with your black shot (in Easy Mode) or shoot the first 3 with white, absorb, then release the power on the next 3 (and absorb) in Normal and Hard Mode. 3 black Renjaku from the right, then from the left. No problems there. 3 white Renjaku from the left, then 3 black ones from the right. Decide yourself on one color. In Hard mode, don't forget to evade the bullets, or change color in between. 3 white Renjaku that stay at the left, then 3 black ones that stay at the right. They start shooting after a few seconds. In Easy Mode, no problem whatsoever. You may want to absorb the black shots though. (or at least part of it). In Normal and Hard Mode, turn white, kill the white ennemies and absorb, turn black and repeat. Now come 6 Renjaku at the same time: (they stay at the top of the screen) ------------ b w b w b w You'll be most certainly starting black at the very right, so -stay- black, kill the two whites at the right edge, then -stop- shooting until you get in front of the last white. If you're fast enough, you will destroy all 3 whites before they start shooting. Since you're black, you can then calmly kill the black ones, and absorb their shots. (and their residual shots in Normal Mode). In Hard Mode, apply the same method, but don't stay too close to the ennemies or you won't be able to dodge the residual white shots. Now the patterns get a little more complicated. 3 white Renjaku will appear : one at the right, one at the left, then another one at the left. Turn white because they will start shooting. (same method in every Mode) Then another 3 white Renjaku will appear : two at the right then one at the left. HOWEVER, before the last white ship has appeared, a single black Renjaku will scroll slalomming down. Which means that you have to pay attention to his shots, and that you can't simply keep shooting blindly. Once you have killed the last white ship, several black Renjaku will scroll down the screen. Ultimately, it will look out like this : ----------- b8 b9 b7 b5 b6 b4 b2 b3 b1 ----------- The best would be to kill b1, b2 and b5, then to wait for b8 and b9 to appear, then release the power of your gage. However, in Easy Mode, your gage won't be full. That's why you have to turn white before releasing the power. But in Normal and Hard Mode, your gage -will- be full. Stay Black and after killing b1, b2 and b5 empty your gage. If you have been fast enough, you will be rewarded with 3 white Renjaku (they shoot!) coming down fast from the left, and then short after that 3 black ones (they also shoot) coming down fast from the right. If you think ahead, you'll kill the white ones with your black shot, so that you can move fast enough to the left (thus evading the white shots) and kill the black ones with your black shot too (since they shoot). Immediately after, you will disappear through the clouds for a second. If you haven't killed the black ships by now, they will turn invulnerable! You will have to wait for black ennemies again to complete the chain before attacking white ennemies again. This leads to a huge point loss. At this point of the game, you should have 39 chains. (maximum) Try to get 890,000 at this time of the game. This will force you to learn how to absorb effectively ennemy shots. Once you reappear from the clouds, immediately 3 white Toratsugumi appear at the upper right corner, then 3 black ones at the upper left. It shouldn't be a problem. Now it gets tricky. 24 Utatsugumi appear at the same time, then start moving. They start in this position: ------------ ------------ bwbw wbwb bwbwbwbw wbwbwbwb bwbwbwbw then move to wbwbwbwb bwbw wbwb (12345678) BEWARE!!! (21436587) ------------ ------------ They keep switching between both positions. It doesn't look hard, but if you want to make a big score, you will have to attack fast. VERY fast. Once they've appeared, they won't move for one second. During that time, you have to kill one column of two and one column of four ennemies (6 ennemies : 2 chains). Each time they move, one color will shoot, which adds to the difficulty. First color that shoots is white. That's why I prefer starting with them. This is how I kill them : I am black and kill column 2 and 4. Since column 3 is moving to get in place of column 4, I stay where I am and kill column 3, absorb the residual shots, and go the left to kill column 1. The ennemies move once again, I stay black because the black ennemies have shot. I move right to kill column 5, then more to the right and kill column 7. Now, the following is important: if I have been fast enough, the ennemies haven't moved again yet. I either kill the last ennemies (column 6 and 8) with black or turn white and empty my gage. Please note however that this is only possible in Normal Mode. If you don't feel too confident about this, just kill all Utatsugumi of one color first. You won't then have to worry about shots of another color than yours. If you're in Normal and Hard Mode, you will have absorbed enough residual shots to have a full gage, so change color and use it. Have you been fast? One set of 3 white Toratsugumi should appear from the upper left, then one set of 3 black ones from the upper right, and if you've been REALLY fast another white set should appear from the upper left. Alternative method: Shoot in order columns 3-1-2-4-5-7-8-6. This new method should help you get 3 extra chains. HOWEVER, these "Bonus Ennemies" only try to remove your attention from BIG ennemies that now come up in the screen. Look at the situation: ------------ ------------ b BB WW w b BB WW w BBBBbwWWWW BBBBbwWWWW BB WW BB WW If you have w --> been fast w --> w --> ------------ ------------ The Torafuzuku count for one in the chain. So killing them + the two Utatsugumi around makes exactly one chain. Check your gage : if you play in Easy, it's probably empty. If you play in Normal or Hard Mode, it's either full in case you didn't use it against the ennemies before, or half-filled if you used it and absorbed what you could. If you play in Easy Mode, put yourself just in front of one of the big ships, take the same color, and kill it with its two little satelites. Pay attention to the other shots from the side. Once you've killed the Torafuzuku, the Utatsugumi will flee (if they're still alive, so be sure to shoot them down) and let another Torafuzuku appear (complete with two Utatsugumi, makes another chain). You won't be able to damage it for one second (while it enters the screen and takes its place). Then go kill the other ones. You can alternate between the two: first start with white, then go kill the black while the second white appears, then go kill the second white while the second black appears, then the second black. It makes 4 chains. If you play in Normal or Hard Mode : check your gage. Is it full? Use it on the big ennemy of the SAME color as yours (say, on the white if you're white). It IS better to start with white, because the white Torafuzuku shoots first. It will explode and liberate 50 residual shots, that's about half your gage. Absorb them, then immediately empty your gage again (still white!), move to the other side, change color. The black one should be weak but still alive, deliver the killing blow (you are now both the same color), you'll get once again 50 residual shots! Empty your gage immediately again (you are black, the homing lasers all try to destroy the second white Torafuzuku), change your color to white, move to the left, destroy it, absorb, empty your gage (still white!), turn to black, move to the right and destroy the last few black ennemies. It isn't easy to explain, because that makes a lot of steps, but if you actually try that method, it's very easy to do. What can I say? Practice Mode! If you have been fast enough, more Bonus Ennemies (Toratsugumi) will be coming. CASE ONE CASE TWO ---------------- ---------------- b -> <- b b -> <- b b -> <- w w -> <- b w -> <- w w -> <- w the ennemies scroll down OR ---------------- ---------------- Consider this a set. Even considering you have been incredibly fast, the most you can get are 9 sets. That makes 18 chains, which are over 450000 points! (In 2P mode, I have seen 10 sets) The key to killing them is to place yourself in the middle, slightly to the left in case one and slightly to the right in case two. In Hard Mode, of course, things look grim. You can try changing color between each set, but that takes loads of training. I try to limit myself to one color. OK, let's check the chains: you should be somewhere between 53 chains and 74 chains. 74 chains being the maximum, if you can achieve them, you are really good. This should get you around 1,830,000. Next to come are 3 black Renjaku flying from the middle to the right, followed by 2 white ones flying from the middle to the left. The best method to kill them is to turn white, place yourself left, and shoot like mad while you move to the right. It looks like this: -------------- w-> w-> <-b <-b <-b (w)--------> After that comes another white Torafuzuku, it shoots after one second an enormous laser. In Easy Mode, you may want to absorb some of it for later use. In Normal or Hard Mode, your gage is already full (or almost full). You're white. As soon as you can hit it, release your power and absorb all you can from the residual shots. If you successfully destroy it, a ring of Utatsugumi will come up and move in a circle, quite fast. At the same time, mini-rows of Toratsugumi will appear. The faster you have been, the more ennemies appear. It looks like this -eventually- if you let them all appear: ------------- b w w b bww w w b w b b w b b w b b b b w b w w b w bww -------------- The best is to place yourself like the following. Notice that if you do it soon enough, only 2 or 3 mini-rows will have the time to appear before you can start shooting, letting you more space and time to plan your next moves. ------------- b w w b bww <-- the mini-rows have only gotten started! w w b b b (w)b b b w w w -------------- Once you're placed there, shoot away. The Utatsugumi will literally move into your line of fire, in a convenient order (3 whites, then 3 blacks, then 3 whites, then 3 blacks). You just have to pay attention as to WHEN you start firing. They move very fast. Once you've killed the ring of ennemies, slalom between the Toratsugumi and kill them in the right order so as to make more chains. I will give you my attack pattern: ------------ b 9 <-- After killing 9, release power! 8 b I have been white the whole time. b 7 6 b b 5 4 b b 3 2 b b 1 ------------ Already the next ennemies are coming to you and want to turn you into metal scrap. These are two Ajisashi with several cannons on them (each cannon is one unit in the chain, the big ship is worth one unit too). After a while 14 mini-rows of Toratsugumi will start appearing, this time moving differently. If you destroy the Ajisashi, two more will appear. But you will have to destroy all that in the right order, and fast enough to boot, to get Bonus Ennemies. Let's see. If you destroyed all the mini-rows, it looks like this: ------------------ bBBb BB <--- The black Ajisashi moves down, then right. bBBb I turn white and destroy all cannons, bBBb then I destroy it as fast as I can. BB bBBb wWWw WW wWWw<--- The white Ajisashi moves up, then left. wWWw It's already moving left as I'm done WW with the black one. I turn black wWWw and destroy all I can, fast. ------------------ But not TOO fast! Because then the next ones would appear at the SAME TIME, and believe me, unless you're playing in the 2 Players Mode, you DON'T WANT THIS! This is what happens when you destroy both ships too fast: ------------------ w w bBBb bb bBBb <--- Toratsugumi are coming down! w w bBBb bb bBBb I need to move carefully w w bBBb and to shoot precisely bb bBBb to go on with the chains!!! w w wWWw bb wWWw w w wWWw bb <--- The white Ajisashi shoots a lot. wWWw It will come in my way when I'll wWWw try to kill the mini-rows. wWWw This situation is not good. ------------------ This would be bad enough, but the worse is the moves of the Toratsugumi: the ones at the edge move to the center, and the ones at the center move to the edge, and they repeat that process endlessly. You have to shoot a single, precise shot right in the middle, when both ships of the same row are at the exact middle of the screen, in order to shoot them down in one shot. If you wait a little before killing the first white Ajisashi (you remember? Scroll a little up), the second black one will appear alone, and thus the second white one will appear later, at the upper right corner. Now look at all those ennemies. The Ajisashi are worth 13 ennemies ; that means that you MUST kill one mini-row of the same color to complete the chain. You may want to try limiting yourself to that for starters. Once you have gotten enough self-confidence, try shooting them all! This is how to proceed: The Toratsugumi should be appearing already when you are about to destroy the first white Ajisashi. Once you've destroyed it (not too early, remember), the second black one will appear. It looks then like this: ------------------ 7 bb bBBb 6 w w bBBb <--- The best is to start destroying the mini-rows 5 bb bBBb while the Ajisashi takes its place on the screen 4 w w bBBb (because you can't shoot it) so kill in order: 3 bb bBBb 1 then 3 then 5 (2 chains, black) 2 w w bBBb 1 bb ------------------ If you are fast enough killing 1-3-5, you will notice that for about half a second, there are only white ennemies in the middle of the screen : rows 2, 4 and 6. You can use your auto shot (Twin Shot) for half a second, thus killing 2-4-6 very fast. Turn white and go on with the twin shot : you'll need about 3 seconds to destroy 7 and all 13 targets of the Ajisashi. It IS possible to use the energy you have in your gage, but I'm not keen on using it there. I save it for later. But maybe that's why I'm too slow, so who knows? Try your own method to kill the ennemies. Once you've destroyed all that, another white Ajisashi appears : ------------------ 14 w w wWWw 13 bb wWWw <--- The order here is different: 12 w w wWWw start with 9-11-13 then release power! 11 bb wWWw Be sure to scroll down the screen 10 w w wWWw so as to not miss 8 9 bb wWWw 8 w w The timing here is crucial. If you tap the A Button three times -and only three times!- fast enough, you can destroy 9-11-13 blindingly fast. Turn black and shoot all out! (use your gage!) ------------------ You can of course apply the same order as with the black ship : 8-10-12 then 9-11-13 then Twin Shot + Special Attack for the rest. You have until now made between 77 and 110 chains. If you made 110c, you are allowed to be proud of yourself. If you have been fast, Bonus Ennemies (once again Toratsugumi) will appear. ----------------- b b b w w w b b b ---------> But if you have been so fast that several lines appear, beware! ----------------- b b b w w w b b b ---------> w w w b b b w w w <--------- b b b w w w b b b <---- You can get AFAIK up to 6 lines ---------> And so on and so forth ----------------- I'll let you guess how to make combos here. These are Bonus Ennemies, and the difference between an average player and a good player comes out precisely in this part of the stage. A hint though : if you kill the white ships of the first and second line, you will then have 3 or 4 lines with black ships in the middle of the screen, and once you've killed all the blacks ships 4 rows of white ships will be conveniently waiting for you to destroy them... and then 2 or 3 rows of black ships... and so on. It was believed for a very long time that 132 chains were the absolute maximum, but a few players achieved 133, even 134 chains. I have no idea how, though. I'm quite sure you can't get 10 sets of bonus Toratsugumi at mid chapter unless you're in 2P Mode. Anyway, your score should be between 2,800,000 (110c) and 3,450,000 (132c). "WARNING, the big ennemy is approaching at full throttle. You cannot escape" Now comes Eboshidori. This Boss has a white sword and a black shield. First it attacks you with the sword. Look: --------------- b WWWWW b <--- the black little satelites are useless. WWWWWWW They do shoot, but you should ignore them. WWWWW S (5-way shot) --------------- Absolutely no problems here. If you want to kill it faster, stay black. But don't release the power of your gage! Once the Sword has been destroyed, he uses the Shield. --------------- w WWWWW w WWWWWWW WWSSSS SS <---> --------------- The shield shoots black shots, quite a lot of them at that. But if you stay at the bottom of the screen, you can stay white and evade all the shots without major problems. However, you don't want to do this. What I do: as soon as the Black Shield starts shooting, I empty my gage (I'm white), then turn black and stay really close to the shield to absorb as much shots I can, all the while firing. I need one full white gage plus about 4 seconds to kill the shield, and get between 56% and 100% of my gage full. And THEN you can start damaging Eboshidori himself. He has a white satelite at the left and a black one at the right. Ignoring them is the key to killing the boss faster. I stay black. I empty my gage, and shoot all out. When Eboshidori throws the white grenades, I slowly retreat to the bottom of the screen (the closer you are, the faster they explode). All the while evading the shots, I scroll up the screen and wait for the black grenades. I stay on them and absorb. The whole process is repeated once, then I release the power in my gage and shoot him at blank point. He dies before firing the 5 way white shots. IF I see that he will have the time to shoot, I scroll fast down, then fast up between the shots. My record (for now) : 75 seconds left. In 2 Players Mode, one player can stay white and "cover" the other player while said other player uses the black shot. Then inverse the roles against the black shield. Then kill Eboshidori while being both black. He may have more energy, you are not only two, but you have probably two full gages. The extra life bar he has won't be much help to him. EXTRA NOTES CHAPTER 1 At the end: (the part with the 4 Ajisashi) One day I was thoroughly pissed at the game, I ignored the Toratsugumi and killed all the Ajisashi blindingly fast. And here they were: 6 lines of Bonus Ennemies. They did make up for the loss (121 chains) but I had to slalom between the black cruisader, the Toratsugumi and the white shots at the same time, and honestly I don't know how come I didn't die. I guess the Ikaruga IS smaller than even I think it is. If you can do this, well, why not. It's a good alternative method. IV) Chapter 2 Difficulty: Normal Boss: Buppousou Rank S achieved at 4,600,000 Rank S++ achieved at 5,000,000 Max score : approx. 6,260,000 The stage starts with Utatsugumi: 3 whites at the right. 3 blacks from the right 3 blacks from the left 3 whites from the right 6 whites from the left 6 blacks from the left It makes 8 chains. The faster you killed them, the more ennemies you'll get later. Next are Isuka. Those are a real pain, but once you are able to look through their moving and shooting patterns, this area becomes an exciting challenge. --------------- | | --|-> <-|-- v v ^ (w) ^ --|-> <-|-- | | --------------- Basically, Isuka come out from the corners of the screen, circle you once and fly away. Example: If they entered from above at the left, they will fly down, under you, move right, fly up, then left (they cross your fireline) and disappear at the left edge. You'll notice that at about the place where the directions cross on my ASCII map, you will regularly see 3 ships of the same color "meeting" for a brief moment. I'm sure there is a way to move between each of those spots and kill all Isuka appearing. Whenever I try to do this, I either die or break the chain. Right now I'm looking for the spots where I can safely destroy the Isuka that hover there. The upper left and lower right spots look best. After a while, two white ships (Misosazai) will shoot continous laser beams, while several Utatsugumi "parade" in front of you. Look: --------------- W w W b | w | w bb | w | ww bb | w | ww b | | w | | (w) | | --------------- Most of the time you will have made a chain with black Isuka just before those ennemies appear. If you missed 1 or 2 black Isuka to make a chain, complete your chain and ignore the rest of the black ships! If you made a complete chain just before those, start with the black Utatsugumi, then move to the right and kill the 6 white ones at the rightmost. Now new ships arrive: --------------- w WwwwW w w w |www| w w <-- The Isuka at the side arrive slightly later. |www| They also disappear very soon : release power! |bwb| |b b| |b b| |b b| <--- at about this height, they change direction! b|(w)|b Be sure to kill them before they escape you. b | | b ---------------- If you stay in the middle, you can shoot the black Toratsugumi with calculated Single Shots, then dispose of the rest of the white ennemies with your Twin Shot. Finally, when the white Isuka come at the sides, release the power in your gage (you had more than enough time to fill it thanks to those big lasers) Until now, you can safely have 22 chains, but if you tried to destroy the erraticly flying Isuka too, you should have between 38 and 44 chains. (44c should be the maximum. I said SHOULD.) Your score should be around 840,000 (38 chains) up to 1,000,000 and something. TRIAL "The more stubborn your own will is, The more Trials you will be blessed with. Of course, if you can avoid the Trials before your eyes, It is also possible for you to flee them. But the real purpose of a Trial Is to make your soul stronger." You're greeted with 2 rings of Utatsugumi. One of them moves clockwise, the other counterclockwise. --------------- b w b w b w w b <--- As you see, every two seconds, b b 4 ships of the same color will w w (w) w w be aligned. Place yourself down b b right in the middle and shoot! b w w b w b w b --------------- You start in the middle of these rings. Either stay there and shoot ennemies two by two, or try something cheeky : move down until you've moved under both rings, place yourself in the middle and shoot the 4 ennemies in front of you. (That's what I do) Depending on how fast you have defeated those, you will get bonus ennemies. These are "additional" rings that close down on you. Imagine them like inversed ripples : they come in a large circle and all move towards the center of the screen. The strategy here is to kill (with SINGLE SHOTS) a few of them so as to get a way out of the circle. I generally kill one chain then get out of the circle. Then I place myself just under the middle point of the screen, wait for the 9 Utatsugumi left to be concentrated in a single point, and shoot them all 9 with a single shot. --------------- b b w b b w w b <--- As you see, I take the ennemies down w w with the -same- color they are. b w bx9 w b This is important in Normal Mode, w (b) w and even more so in Hard Mode! b w w b b w b b --------------- The maximum you can get there are 5 circles. (w, b, w, b, w) Max 28 chains. Your score should be around 1,600,000. (66c) After the circles, you come to an area with big blocks seemingly glued one to another. This however isn't the case. Your ship CAN fly -between- the blocks. Useful to know if you want to tackle the Dot Eater Rank. --------------- WWWWWW WWWWWW XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX <--- Don't worry, this wall will open itself in due time. WWWWWWWWWWWWWWW <--- the white blocks shoot. XXXBBBXXXBBBXXX <---- the black blocks shoot. WWWXXXWWWXXXWWW when destroyed, two black Utatsugumi appear. <--WWW BBB WWWBBBWWWBBBWWW BBB WWW--> WWWXXXWWWXXXWWW --------------- This area is easy, but you need to be fast and precise if you want to achieve a lot of chains. I believe the max is 11 chains, but I could be wrong. After that, a few more blocks! This time with Utatsugumi dropping down the screen. It's easy, but you have to be fast to get all the chains. In Easy Mode, there aren't that many bullets on the screen. In Normal, you will have to switch fairly often. In Hard Mode, sometimes you won't dare killing the ennemies, because it would mean your certain death. After all that, you'll see two "Generators". These are "plants" that are mass-producing Toratsugumi. Of course, you don't want to kill the generators. Just stay in the middle and destroy as much as you can! --------------- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX GGGbbbb wwwwGGG XXXb wXXX b w XXXb wXXX b w XXXb wXXX (w) --------------- VERY IMPORTANT: When the second wall starts to open, you need to prepare for the next area. If you want many chains, you will have to prepare your chain status. You need to have killed 2 white ships before starting the next area. Once you are at the level of the last unbreakable blocks (the one before the Generators) finish your chain then kill two whites ennemies, then go up the screen and enter the next area. Within the whole blocks area, you should have done 11 + 19 Chains, and have killed 2 white ships. If you did more, you're very good! Your score should reach 2,500,000 soon if not already. Now comes an area that looks easy, but if you want to earn several chains you're going to sweat (espescially so in Hard Mode). At the side, unbreakable cannons shoot lots of bullets while turning around. Eventually, you'll notice that the shots form circles of bullets, the color is different each time. The first ennemies you'll see are Utatsugumi: --------------- XX XX <----WW wbw <-- those move. After a few seconds, b w b the white Torafuzuku comes XX XX b w b b w w (w) XXX XXX --------------- You start with the obligation to kill one white ennemy to complete your ongoing chain. I'd advise to kill one of the middle. Then kill the blacks and whites at the left and right sides, then the blacks in the middle. That leaves you with two little whites and one big white ennemy (exactly one chain, how very convenient) that you should destroy as fast as you can. (what I do is turn black and release the power of my gage). If you destroyed the Torafuzuku soon enough, 12 Utatsugumi appear at the sides of the screen (6 blacks at your left, 6 whites at your right). You should have enough time to kill them. Then two black Misosazai position themselves at the upper part of the screen and fire black lasers continuously. 12 white Utatsugumi are only waiting for you to destroy them. --------------- BB ------> <-- the black Torafuzuku comes later. Read on. XX B B XX ww | | ww ww | | ww ww | | ww XX | | XX once your gage is full, turn white. | | Place yourself in the middle, slightly down. (w) <--- Release! You should hit all 12 white ennemies. --------------- In Normal Mode, the residual shots from the white Utatsugumi give you enough energy to fire once again, you are still white! And thus destroy the black Misosazai. It summons 12 black Utatsugumi (they appear where the white ones were). Kill them all, then a black Torafuzuku will come from the left and shoot a huge laser beam. As soon as he enters the screen, turn white and release your gage at him. He dies, summoning yet another set of 12 ennemies. After those, you have made another 22 chains. You should be around 116-118 chains. If more, you're very good! You should also be over 3,000,000. After that come little walls and blocks and ennemies... and still cannons that shoot like mad at you. The usual. Here is the complete mapping of the section: BBBBBBXXXWWWWWW <-- those ennemies are "BB"s and "WW"s BBBBBBXXXWWWWWW 1 line means 3 ennemies, so 1 chain. WWW ww XX WWW ww bb WWW ww bb BBB XX bb BBB ww XX BBB ww bb WWW ww bb WWW XX bb WWW BBBBBBXXXWWWWWW <-- Line 2 BBBBBB WWWWWW <-- Line 1 Not really difficult. You need to remember two things: After killing line 1 and 2, you should see the 6 black Utatsugumi. Kill them as fast as possible, so that you can release your gage when there still only are the 3 white blocks in the middle (important!!!!). Then ignore for now the black blocks, wait for the 6 white Utatsugumi, kill'em fast and destroy the 3 black blocs in the middle, ignore the white blocks for now, wait for the 6 black Utatsugumi at the side, etc. Once you've destroyed the "WW"'s, there should be on the screen only the last 6 "BB"'s. If you have destroyed the ennemies very fast, these are the only ennemies you can reach with your full gage, so release it! And go immediately slightly over the indestructible bloc in the middle. The section brings you extra 19 chains. You should have between 135 and 140 chains. Which means your score is now over 3,500,000. You are coming to the next "Generators". This time around, you see 3 of them at your left and 3 of them at your right. --------------- (ennemies here) XXXXXX XXXXXX GbwbwbwbwbwbwbG The white Toratsugumi go ----> GbwbwbwbwbwbwbG The black Toratsugumi go <---- GbwbwbwbwbwbwbG <---Don't stay in the middle or you'll shoot (b) ennemies that belong to the next area!!! XXX --------------- I make 15 chains there before going. You can make more (22 I'm told), but it may be bad for the rest of the level. (you have to use your power gage, and that means most of the time that it will destroy an ennemy belonging to the next part and thus break your combo) The next ennemies are two rings of Utatsugumi that fly on the exact same course (which is why I can't make a little map, since b and w are on the same spots) HOWEVER, one ring turns clockwise, and the other counterclockwise. Which means that for a split second, the ennemies are one next to the other (and not one over the other, if you see what I mean. If you don't, play the game, you'll understand) 12 ennemies of each color in those rings, so all in all 8 chains. Then come two Torafuzuku: --------------- b BB WW w BBBB WWWW BBb /wWW \/ <----- They shoot big lasers at their opposite sides! (w) /\ When you destroyed one, a second one comes. / \ --------------- Destroy them as fast as you can! The faster you did, the more "Bonus ennemies" you'll encounter. Before tackling said Bonus ennemies, your score should have reached 4,300,000. Which means that even if you didn't get any, you would reach Rank S++ after the boss. Those Toratsugumi appear in rows, and slowly slalom down the screen. They start in Position 1 and arrive in Postition 2 one line after, and repeat the process endlessly. You can get (AFAIK) up to 10 lines. Maybe more if you are 2 players. --------------- w b w b w b w b <-- Position 1 (move -->) b w b w b w b w <-- Position 2 (move <--) w b w b w b w b b w b w b w b w w b w b w b w b Since they move in opposite directions, b w b w b w b w for a split second they will be aligned w b w b w b w b in colums of the same color. Shoot them! b w b w b w b w (of course, you can shoot them down w b w b w b w b each one separately, but it's slow) --------------- I generally get 6 lines and make 14 chains out of them. If you get 9 lines, try making 24 chains (26 should be the maximum). But it's very difficult. You should have around 170 chains now. I've seen 184 chains, but I think more are possible. I don't really know, I'm guessing 202-203 chains. That's a whole lot, I know. Repeat after me: "the Practice Mode is my best friend..." "Warning! The big ennemy is approaching at full throttle. You cannot escape" Meet Buppousou. He has a big body and only 4 sensitive areas. The two first are two red protective parts. One reacts to white shots, the other to black shots. The 2 next areas are just under those protective parts. Get the protective part to open with white shot, go past it, and turn black to hit the sensitive area. The other side needs a similar treatment : open the part with black shot, fly past it and hit the sensitive area with your white shot. Meanwhile, Buppousou will shoot at you. A lot. Espescially so in Hard Mode. Right from the start, shoot white on the left hatch. Open it completely, turn black, release your power, fly past the hatch and shoot all out in the white sensitive area. If you have released a full gage, don't worry about the closing hatch: you WILL destroy that sensitive part before the hatch closes down on you. You're black, move to the right, closest to Buppousou's right wing. It shoots white from the left, black from the right, then again white from the left, and again black from the right. You should be able to absorb most black shots. Open the hatch to half, turn white, release power, move left. The left wing starts shooting a whole lot of white bullets, you should be able to absorb more than a full gage. Empty your gage before the hatch closes, move right, turn black, open the hatch completely. Move right to absorb the black shots, fly in front of the sensitive area once you have slightly over half your gage full, turn white (this is dangerous, so beware!) and release. It should be enough to kill the boss. Time left over 77 seconds. My record is (for now) 80, but over 73 is OK. In Prototype Mode, I think 96 is possible. V) Chapter 3 Difficulty: Hard Boss: Shigi Uzura Rank S achieved at 5,000,000 Rank S++ achieved at 5,400,000 Max score : approx. 7,400,000 You may finish this level without loosing a single life and still get a lousy Rank B+, because the 3rd Chapter is the one of the most difficult to conquer. NOTICE : I mapped the stage as it appears in NORMAL MODE. In Easy Mode, some of the parts are a lot easier to do. This means however that you get less ennemies, hence less chains. From the very beginning, scroll up in the screen. (You absolutely need to do this.) About 2/3 up the screen is OK. Ennemies are divided into several units : b Mixed Units: wb bw (move continuously, ships of the same colors w meet in the middle. Wait for the right time!) Attack commandos: --------------- w w When they arrive w w where you are, w--> (w) <--w Kill the Isuka when they meet in mid-screen. Killing both the mixed units (Utatsugumi) AND the commandos (Isuka) is going to take some training. Eventually, you will get 22 chains. Now I will map the rest and write explanations when necessary. 21 XXXXXXXXX MU <-- means Mixed Unit 20 bbb www XX 19 XX www XX 18 XX www www 17 MU XXXXXXXXX 16 XX www bbb 15 XX www 3w <-- the 3w and 3b 14 www www 3b come later!!! 13 XXXXXXXXX MU 12 bbb XX <-- The XX are moving blocs. 11 XX XX They shot huge laser beams! 10 XX www 09 MU XXXXXXXXX 08 XX www bbb 07 XX www 06 www www 05 XXXXXXXXX MU 04 bbb XX 03 3w XX 02 3b www <-- the 3w and 3b 01 XXXXXXXXX come late!!!! This is how I make it: (Refer to the map, please) First destroy the MU Line 05. Go back to destroy the bbb Line 04. Wait for 3w and 3b (Toratsugumi). After destroying 3w and 3b, release power! As you empty the gage, it destroys L 02, L 06 (left www) and L 08 (bbb). Fill up your gage (not 100%! 75%) and release! Destroys 9w (L 06 07 08) Alternative method: (Requires some training) As soon as you've made the 22nd chain (just before the mapped part begins), release power. It should kill L 02 www. Fill up 3 blocks of your gage with the horizontal black laser, turn white, release immediately to kill L 04 bbb, fill your gage as much as you can and go quickly kill L 05 MU before going back and killing 3w and 3b. Release your gage to destroy L 06, 07, 08 www. Fill up 25% (3 blocks) and release to kill 08 bbb. Destroy L 09 MU, then L12 bbb, then L 13 MU. Release! Destroys L 10 and L 14 (left www). Fill up the gage and fire when you got 75%. Destroys L 14, 15 and 16 www. Fill up your gage 25% (3 blocks) and release to destroy L 16 bbb. Move in to destroy L 17 MU. Go back to destroy 3w and 3b. After destroying 3w and 3b, release IMMEDIATELY. Kills L 18 www right. Fill up 25% and release! Kills L 20 bbb. Fill up 75% and release! Kills 9w L 18, 19 and 20. Go in and destroy L 21 MU. XXXXXX XXXXXX W b w b w b w B <-- the W and B are W w b w b w b B actually 2 small W b w b w b w B cannons. Beware! Here is the order: (bigger map) XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX 30 22 20 23 14 11 13 24 <-- immediately after 24, release white power 29 6 and fill up to the maximum!!!!! 28 21 17 19 10 9 12 5 You can time this with the big white laser. 27 4 It takes a little practice. At first, 26 16 15 18 8 1 7 3 you should concentrate on 1 to 24. Don't 25 2 kill 25-30 until you're sure you can do it. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX <--- Moves up then left, shoots laser beams. After that, 2 rings of Utatsugumi. They exchange their position every second. This part is extremely easy when you have a full gage. While the ennemies place themselves on the screen, you can't touch them, which means that THEY can't touch YOU either. Fly until the middle of the ring. Wait for one color to circle you, and release! You should be of the same color as the ennemies. (this is very important!!!) Kill the rest with normal shots, as fast as possible. You may get Bonus Ennemies. Generally a few sets of 3 Toratsugumi. One left, one right, then another one left, another one right, etc. (well, I've never seen more than 4 when I'm playing alone) You have around 70 chains. 76 is OK. Which means you should be around 2,000,000 right now. FAITH "In this world there is nothing absolute, One may someday feel unsure And sometimes even feel lost. In order to overcome this One must have a strong Faith And know how to take action." Big white ships called Toki fall down the screen, shooting just like you. At first 6 whites, then 6 blacks, then 3 of each. It shouldn't be a problem killing them. Use your gage at the right moment to destroy them fast. Then come Isuka, ONE AFTER THE OTHER, 3 whites, 3 blacks, etc. These are Bonus Ennemies. You can get in 1P Mode up to 15 extra chains. Then you'll see laser beams coming from the walls. In the meanwhile you'll have to destroy a few Utatsugumi flying around. The white lasers come from the right, the black come from the left. In 2P Mode, the first player can stay all the time black and the 2P can stay all the time white (if you both stay on the same line, you'll absorb the laser beams and save each others) -------------- w w b b w w w w b b b w w w b b b b white laser <----------- <--(w) -------------- Then the inverse: --------------- w w b b w w w b b b b w w w w b b b black laser -----------> (b)--> --------------- Then white again: --------------- b b b b w b b w b b w w b b w b b w white laser <----------- <--- kill the black columns, turn black and release! <--(w) --------------- And then black again... --------------- b b b b b w b w b w b b w b w b w b black laser <-- Kill b left, then all the whites, then release! -----------> (b)--> --------------- Maximum 45 chains. (that's about another million points) Now the space where you can move gets smaller. White suicide ships (Isuka again) scroll down while black suicide ships scroll up. --------------- |w w w| | w w | <---- Piece of cake: kill as many as you want. | | | Remember to stop when you achieved a chain! | v | | | | (w) | | | | ^ | | | | |b b b| <---- When those are all up, slalom them down and release! | b b | In Easy mode, slalom down and shoot them 3 after 3. --------------- It goes like this for some time. I can release my gage twice. I couldn't say how many chains you should be doing here, but one thing is sure, once you know how to do this your score improves drastically. Try at least 14 chains. If you kill all ships, you can get 42 chains, but honestly I'am at a loss as to what attack pattern you then have... What I learned from intense playing sessions is that 95% of the time you black homing lasers will automatically go shoot black ennemies. Make 4 white chains (that's exactly 5 lines), release, make another 4 chains, release, etc. I'm myself trying to find out how much you can achieve with this attack pattern. Now you'll see shutters that close before you. You should be in the upper half of the screen to survive. Miss Shigi is on your tail... You should soon reach 4,000,000. As more shutters close (or seem to close), you'll encounters yet again a few Isuka. You'll find 4 groups of them. Between each of these groups, you'll have to destroy 3 white Utatsugumi that block your way in the shutters. First and second group : (try shooting only one column at first) --------------- w b w <---- In Hard Mode, the first ones will be all white. b w The second ones will be all black. b b But the third and fourth will have this form! w b w b w (w)-> --------------- Third and fourth group : --------------- w w w b b <--- If you stay exactly in the middle, you can use the Twin shot. b w Once you know how to do this, other gamers will stare in awe. w w The trick is to shoot black if the first ships are white, b b and of course white if the first ships are black. It works! b (w) --------------- Then 10 shutters will close really fast, while rows of ennemies block your way. This looks bad, but it's easy to survive. b w b w w b 9 b b w Here the order for 3 chains -> b 8 w b In case you missed 7 b b w a white ship along the way, b 6 w b you can use the last one 5 b b w to complete another chain. b 4 w b You can also simply 3 b b w stay in the middle and wait. b 2 w b 1 b Look carefully. Did you notice? Yes, you can make 4 chains in this part. But that takes yet another load of practice. (w chain, b chain, b chain, w chain) Then another 21 shutters will close at random. One Utatsugumi each shutter. Miss Shigi is close behind you and breaks the shutters as if they were mere twigs. (w chain, then b, w, b, w, b, w) Shigi will fly through the middle of the screen! (and open the way) Move to the left or the right to avoid her. Then you'll see this: --------------- Miss Shigi ______ ______ w w w w ______ ______ w w w w <---- in Normal and Hard Mode, be white and release power! ______ ______ in Easy Mode, ignore them. (your gage is empty anyway) w w w w ______ ______ (w) --------------- Then 6 white Utatsugumi will circle around Miss Shigi and the fight will start. --------------- B BW W BBWW W BW B <-- The separated W and B are extra canons that move around Miss Shigi and fire laser beams. (w) --------------- Funny little detail: Miss Shigi is actually counted as a normal ennemy, which means that you should make 2 chains with her parts. Well, what to say? You're going to have to change color very often (espescially in Hard Mode). Miss Shigi's parts give residual shots when they explode, which adds (at least in Hard Mode) to the difficulty. Of course, during the fight, it may happen that the space you're flying in gets smaller (generally from one side) so pay attention to the walls. What I do : I empty my gage on the first black cannon (I'm white) and start killing off all the black parts. Once I have made a chain with her black parts, I fill my gage and empty it as soon as I hear "Energy Max". I need 3 gages to kill her. Sometimes (if I have enough spare time) I turn black and release a black gage, but it's kinda hard to place. You are at around 170 chains. If more, you're very good. BTW, if you have destroyed everything possible, you should have reached the 5,000,000 mark by now. The faster you killed her, the more ennemies you get between her and Uzura. Those Bonus Ennemies are tricky. If you kill one, two will appear out of it. It goes on like this several times... The white ships fall from the upper left to the lower right AND REBOUND at the end of the screen and on the walls at the edges. The black ones fall from the upper right of the screen and rebound too. What I do is concentrate on one color until I've made about 12 chains, then change. Don't worry about dying: if you feel like there are too many ennemies on the screen, go all the way right or left. You can't touch the external walls, and if you're there the ennemies can't touch you either. But it's all the more difficult to make lots of chains form this spot. I always want a full gage at the start of the boss fight against Uzura, so after a while I just kill all I can and absorb the residual shots. Just so you know, the max score on this stage is about 7,400,000 points. Since there is so much to absorb lying around, I'd say roughly 6,000,000 points come from the chains. That means 230-something chains. Well. Good luck? "Warning! The big ennemy is approaching at full throttle. You cannot escape" Uzura... this boss is going to kill you so many lives it's not even funny. You will need serious practice to defeat him swiftly and without dying once. It looks like a ring of 14 towers shooting towards the center. It has 4 lines of blocks (North / South / East / West) and those lines happen to be in motion. In Easy Mode, the blocks on those lines don't move. In Normal and Hard Mode, they do. The ring of towers moves counterclockwise, then after 50 seconds clockwise. In Hard Mode, they move very fast and shoot a whole lot. 14 towers mean 7 white and 7 black towers. Defeat all of one color, and Uzura's very body will start shooting laser beams (2 blacks, 2 whites). My record (for now) is 73. In Prototype Mode, I did take her at 91, but with 8 full gages.... One hint: as soon as you can move, place yourself in front of the next black tower but quite down on the screen, and release your power (you're white) It will kill the black tower BEHIND you, which will be later of great use (you'll get a second and a half to take a break later on) W B B X W W B B X XXX X W W(w) B B X W W B VI) Chapter 4 Difficulty: Very Hard Boss: Misago (comes 3 times) Rank S achieved at 5,600,000 Rank S++ achieved at 6,000,000 Max score : approx. 7,720,000 OK, prepare yourself. This is a stage that I absolutely adore, because it's both beautiful and very hard. Plus it will make you understand very precisely how good or how bad you are at this game. It starts with 9w and 9b (Toratsugumi). The white ennemies start at the left, the black ones at the right. Either destroy the black ones first (stay white the whole time) or try to stay white in the middle and destroy all whites. I guess the first method is slightly easier, but I prefer the second method myself. Then come 3 white Toki at the upper left, followed by 3 black ones at the upper right. Since they shoot (and quite a lot at that) you MUST take them down with the same color. Then come 3 black Toki from the upper left, and 3 white ones from the lower right. Followed by 3 white ones from the upper left and 3 black ones from the lower right. It looks like this: --------------- B-> B-> B-> " (w) " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " <-W <-W <-W <-B --------------- Of course, you're not going to let them. Be black and kill the first 2 black Toki as soon as possible. Turn white and stay where I drew the ship on the map. Release the power. You have to make sure the third black Toki dies before your homing lasers shoot down the 3 white ships! You're white, the next 3 white ennemies come. Use exactly the same method, this time turning black and emptying a black gage. As soon as the black ennemy dies, more Toratsugumi come down the screen. --------------- www bb www www bb www These are Bonus Ennemies. Be fast... www bb www <-- stay black right in the middle. 8 extra chains. | | -> <- (b) --------------- If you have shot down every ship, you have 20 chains. That's the maximum. Your score should be around 384,040. REALITY "And then Reality reared it's ugly head. What did you seek... What did you see... What did you hear... What did you think... What did you do..." The cute little flying fortress you see in the background approaching far too fast for your tastes is sweet little Misago. She has a problem, namely you, and she's going to state her mind clearly. First, take a look at her: --------------------------- ___ ___ / \ / \ / XXX \ / XXXXX \ \ XXXXX / \ XXX / \ / \ ___ ___ / --------------------------- You will never see her in her entirety on the screen (except in the background) and the most impressive about her is the way she shoots. She has 6 cannons that shoot black counterclockwise, and 6 cannons that shoot white clockwise. She has a moving external wall that can squeeze you into scrap if you don't pay attention. She will show you her other secrets as you progress through the stage. First, move between her core and the external wall and destroy the 6 black Utatsugumi at the left. Then for a while will come only white ennemies (from both left and right). And then sweet Misago starts shooting. It's going to take a lot of practice to get used to this fire pattern, but you have to practice that stage up to the point where you do this automatically. Basically, you'll have to be black when you move upwards or to the right, and white when you move left or down. If you play in Easy Mode, the external walls will protect you from her shots. But in Normal / Hard Mode, extra ennemies will appear around her external wall, and they shoot, so you won't be secure there. It looks like this: --------------------------- ___ ___ / bww \ w / b bbbww \ b b ww wb w / XXX wwb \ b / XXXXX bbb \ w \ XXXXX bbw / b \ XXX bbw / w ww b \ wwb / w \ bb / b \___ ___/ --------------------------- The ennemies at the outside circle clockwise, but the ennemies within the walls don't have any set direction. It looks impressive? It is. And if you look at the stage description, you'll notice you can get almost 8,000,000 in this stage alone! This means killing all the ennemies inside and outside the wall. Start with getting used to the rythms of that boss. Inside the wall, ennemies appear in group of 3, so it's not a problem to get chains. The problem starts when you shoot ennemies outside the wall. For now, just ignore them, OK? Once you've scrolled all up, a lot of white little ships will circle extremely close to Misago. The wall will shut, so you'll have to get outside. If your chain status is empty (i.e. you've just completed a chain), you can try killing the black ennemies that come next. --------------- b----> <----b <--- The Isuka will scroll once back and forth. w b That means they come twice in your line of fire. w w Kill the 3w the first time around, and the 3b next. (w) ________ / \ --------------- Another load of white ennemies come from the left, as well as as a few black ennemies. If you play in Normal or Hard Mode, place yourself like this: ---------------- bbb-><-bbb (b) wwww-><-wwwwww ___ _______ w / \ ---------------- Absorb the residual shots of the black ships and release your black gage. That creates you a tiny little path for about half a second. Use it to get back inside Misago. You'll have to scroll Misago down. It looks the same as the first part, except the ennemies are now at the left edge. Just try to stay alive at first, OK? We can talk about chains later. Once you've scrolled all the way down, Misago will drop the wall. She prepares 12 new cannons (6 black, 6 whites) and starts laser beaming around her. One set of laser beams spread out clockwise (white) the other counterclockwise (black). --------------- wXXXXXw bXXXb wbw (b) --------------- You'll have enough to do as it is, I know, but you're supposed to make chains here. What I do : place myself about where I drew my ship on the map. I avoid the first black laser, then turn white and move left to absorb a white one, then turn black and move right to aborb 3 black lasers. I turn white (I'll have to start moving to the left) and destroy 3 black cannons. I turn black, move to the right to absorb 2 black lasers, then turn white, move left (2 white lasers), once again black I absorb the next 2 or 3 lasers. I turn white and destroy the last 3 black cannons, then I release my gage. If my gage is full, it doesn't matter which color I'm in. I have 36 or 37 seconds left. (it's my record, but if you succeed into applying this method, this is the time you'll be getting). Counting the first Boss part of Misago, I have around 100 chains. If you get used to this part of the stage you should gradually get about 120 chains. Which means you should be approaching the 3,000,000 mark. Misago retreats and will rotate upside down. In the meanwhile, some of her minions will be dancing before my eyes, tempting me to make more chains. However, this isn't exactly easy. ----------------- b b_b w b b_w w w w_w b | |_| | v |_| v ^ |_| ^ | | | | b (w) w w b w b ----------------- You'll understand that ASCII map when you'll see the enemies moving. The ones in the middle turn at 90° angles and switch sides between each heigth level. The ones at the side are tricky. If you wait a little, they look like this: b or w b w b/w w/b <--- they occupy the same space. w b w b For a split second afterwards, they will be in the right order! Bigger map: b3 b2 b1 <--- Since b1 moves up and w1 moves down, you can only shoot w1 them down at this very moment. Practice your timing! w2 w3 If you kill all ennemies you can get 36 chains. Meanwhile cute little Misago has turned on the side. She offers you a trail of moving cannons: ---------------- __ __ __|bbw-><-wwb|__ <-- the cannons come out of some pipes at the sides. These pipes move up and down sometimes. Beware. (w) ---------------- Here is the order of both pipes. You can achieve 18 chains. wbwbwbwbwbwbbbbbbbbwbbwbbw--> <--wwbwwbwwbwwwwwwbwbwbwbwbwbw In Normal Mode, you'll need training, because they shoot twice as fast as in Easy Mode. In Hard Mode, they shoot twice as fast as in Normal Mode. Then Misago shows your her multi-ways cannons. ----------------- Black White (7-way) (7-way) WWW BBB BBB WWW (w) ----------------- Three things: The "BBB" and "WWW" count for one ennemy. You can get under them. They turn over themselves and spread bullets. The easiest method is to kill the black cannons first. If your gage isn't more than half-full, turn white and release your gage, turn immediately black and absorb the 7-way shots, firing all the while. In Easy Mode I'd advise you to keep whatever shots you can absorb for later. In Normal Mode, you'll absorb about 70 residual shots when the 7-way cannon explodes. Release as a black! You should finish the cannons with 20 to 24-25 seconds left. I've heard there's a position where you can release a full white gage and your homing lasers will all hit the black cannons. However, I have trouble defining precisely that position. Some people assure me that it's exactly the middle of the screen. I never could do this... If you can, you win 3 or 4 seconds. +++++++ I found the position. Place yourself right in the middle of the two black cannons, go straight up. When you're at mid screen, go slightly to the left and release. +++++++ You should have more than 4,000,000 now. If you don't, you're going to need a miracle to get Rank S++. Misago retreats once again to show you what she's got. In the meanwhile, Isuka ships will tackle you. They come in groups of 3 and throw themselves at you. Once they took their aim, move slightly to the side and kill them in groups of 3. After those little groups, a whole ring (white) will do the same. Retreat under the aim point and use your Twin Shot. If you destroy them all, a black ring will come as a Bonus. In this last part, you can make 29 chains. If you killed all ennemies except the ones outside Misago (as you scroll her up and down) you should have over 200 chains. (209 I'm told, thanks TF!) "Warning! The big ennemy is approaching at full throttle. You cannot escape" Misago... now comes the time to end it all. She ensnares you into inside an artificial arena. At the center, her weak point, protected by 3x4=12 layers of protection. (6 whites, 6 blacks). For the walls of the arena, she fires continuous laser beams. Depending of the dificulty mode, these are: Of one color in Easy Mode. Of two colors in Normal Mode. (bw or wb) Of four colors in Hard Mode (bwbw or wbwb) First things first, you'll have to destroy her protective layers. A third of your gage will be necessary for each protection. Once you've destroyed two protective layers, you will be able to stay in the space there and fire some more. ----------------- XXXXX WWWXXXWWW XXWWWXWWWXX XXXWWWWWXXX XXXWWWXXX XWWWX C C \C (w) C/ \C_C___C___C_C/ ----------------- Of course, things are not so easy. While the outer wall moves clockwise, Misago spins on herself counterclockwise (she does move a little excentered though) and reversed. Once you have detroyed 4 layers, you can access her core. It's white. In Easy Mode, that's no problem. It Normal and Hard Mode, the core shoots extremely powerful laser beams (not the whole time though). Even if you absorb, you're most likely to get pushed back to one of the walls of the corridor and crash. Try to have more than 57 secs left when you kill her. Once you can do that, train to find new attack patterns. This will help you get used to the cannons. Eventually you should be able to kill her with over 75 seconds to spare. ++++++ Try this: As soon as you can move, be white, move in front of the white layer. Turn black, shoot it down, follow her to the right, turn white, shoot the layer down. This gets dangerous but try it: stay in that "channel" and turn black, destroy the third barrier. Turn white and release, it breaks the last barrier and Misago should start shooting a big white laser from the core. Absorb and release, after 2 times absorb until you can safely get out, turn black and release. It should be enough to kill her. You have 78 seconds left or so. ++++++ VII) Final Chapter Difficulty: Very Easy / Very Hard Boss: Tageri (3 forms) Rank S achieved at 4,600,000 Rank S++ achieved at 5,000,000 Max score : approx. 5,860,000 This stage is my favorite. Tageri is an excellent boss, the stage flies by very fast, and the ennemies are all very impressive. The music score is also very good. It starts with Toratsugumi suicide troops that fly exactly in your direction. Stay at the beginning at about mid-screen, and move ever so slowly down. In Normal and Hard Mode, you'll have more than enough residual shots to fill your gage about 6 times, so don't worry about releasing the power. This goes on for 127 white ennemies. That means 42 chains and 1 ennemy, try to get 42 chains. Then come 3 white Renjaku shooting (they disappear fast), then another 6 white ones, then immediately after 6 black ones. The best here is to release your gage when you see 5 white Renjaku on the screen. It all goes so fast that the 6th will be on the screen before your homing lasers are released... but the 7th ennemy (the first black ennemy) won't have time to appear yet. If you happen to be placed left when the black ennemies start appearing, you can kill all 6 by only shooting like mad and moving straight to the right. After that comes a ring of white Renjaku, they shoot all in the middle. Stay in the middle, white, absorb all. As soon as your gage is full, release! And absorb (you'll hear "Energy Max"). Immediately after come 12 black ships (once again a ring). Release. You should reach the 1,300,000 mark. After that the Toratsugumi suicide squadrons attack anew. This time they appear in a circle, but each one after the other (very fast). Kill what you can and release your power, absorb as much as possible and repeat with the next flow of ennemies. This goes on for another white 95 ennemies (31 chains and 2 ennemies). Then 3 white Toki come from the left, and slightly later 3 black ones from the right. --------------- WW BB WW WW BB BB (b) then (w) --------------- Once you've destroyed them, 3 white Toki appear at the upper edge and 3 black ones slightly later at the lower edge. If your gage is full, simply release the power. You need at least 75% to destroy them all. --------------- WW W WW (w) BB B BB --------------- And then the most impressive ennemies appear on the screen : the Chougenbou. They shoot about 150 bullets each second and liberate over 120 when you kill them in Normal and Hard Mode. Just stay white. Once you've killed one, it also liberates 11 Utatsugumi. Once you've killed most of them another Chougenbou appears... --------------- <-- WWWWWWW --> WWWWW (w) --------------- Chougenbou are "Bonus Ennemies". You'll most certainly encounter 3 or 4. If you get faster, you can encounter up to 7 of them, but in order to do this you must try to take them down as a black ship. It prevents you from absorbing their huge number of residual shots... You have something between 106 and 118 chains (maximum), and probably around 3,000,000. The last Chapter begins... METEMPSYCHOSIS "And then the Karma will go back To the will it belonged to before, And will shake awake the First One, The first conscious being still present At the deepest corner of one's memories. Hence, the Ikaruga departs..." ...and ends right there. Meet Tageri. "I am the One who allows you to live. I told you to seek to walk down the right path... Are you telling me you don't understand this?" He has 4 snake-like heads. They shoot a few bullets (even more when you've destroyed them) At the side, hand-like robots shoot a grid of lasers. --------------- BB WW WW BB H H (w) --------------- Sorry, but the grid of lasers I can't map. Imagine that both "H" shoot a 9-way laser, each way being of another color. Basically, the trick is to absorb all you can and to release your gage on the each of the opposite color. But it will take time until you can move on the grid without dying once. You have 80 seconds to destroy it. Try to remain with over 50 sec left. With a little training, you should be able to achieve between 57 and 62 seconds. ++++++ You start with a full white gage. Release on the left black head and move to the other. The hands start shooting. Absorb the white lasers and release a full gage. It should kill the right black head. Now change color and move slightly up until the next two black lasers meet, absorb and release a full gage. Move immediately left, change to white. When the left black head has died, move to the next black lasers, change color, fill up to max and release. It should finish off the last white head, you should have 59 seconds to spare. ++++++ When all 4 heads have been destroyed, he reveals another face : one bigger big black snake head, and a white one. "You can't feel what you see... But you can feel what you don't see. Is that what you're trying to tell me?" The hands now shoot about 5-7 bullets each and every second. Meanwhile, a serpent-like little ship will aim at you and let a trail of laser behind (which you must absorb if you want to move out.) Of course, you will get a white AND a black serpent. (it would be too easy) --------------- BBBBXXXWWWW H H (b) --------------- As you see, I start with the white head. That's because the black head is the first to shoot. I can stay black and absorb the bullets for a little while before moving out of the way. You have another 80 seconds. Try to destroy it with over 50 to spare. With training you might achieve up to 64. (very dangerous though. 63 is easier) ++++++ Look at the map. Stay here as long as you can, if you must move then fly straight up towards the white head. Then absorb as much black as you can while scrolling down. The white serpent should get out about now. Lead him down as much as possible, then fly towards it, move out at the last moment and finish off the white head. You should succeed. If not, no problem, move straight left until you're under the black head, turn white, release your full gage, move downright and this time make sure you finish the white head. Turn white, move left, and when he's coming too close to you fly left and absorb the new white serpent. Release. It should be enough. You have 56 to 60 seconds left. ++++++ "You are aware of this, too, aren't you? Until the very end of Time, you won't ever escape this Metempsychosis" And now his third form. Tageri is, at the core, a giant Ying-Yang ball. He inverses polarity every second (faster as he takes damage) and shoots 12 homing lasers (which means he has your super attack down pat). The hands shoot bullets vaguely in your direction. In Easy Mode only a few, in Normal Mode you should have trouble avoiding them, and in Hard Mode you MUST absorb some of them if you want to have enough space to move. The method to win is very easy: stay in front of him, always the same color as he is. Once you've absorbed his homing lasers, release immediately. He will inverse polarity before your lasers hit him, so he will take double damage. He has something like 12 full life bars in Normal Mode. (Slightly Orange, Yellow, Light Green, Dark Green, Light Blue, Dark Blue, Light Purple, Dark Purple, Purple Grey, Grey, Dark Grey, White if memory serves right.) You have once again 80 seconds to kill him. In Easy Mode, you kill him at 61 sec left (provided you didn't die in between) In Normal and Hard Mode, once the timer reaches 60, FEAR will install itself in your heart: Tageri starts -shooting-. And I mean SHOOTING. To give you an idea, after 5 seconds there will be 12 white homing lasers, 90 white shots and 60 black shots on the screen, plus the ones from the hands. The bullets go slowly down the screen, in columns of 3. --------------- bWWhWWb <--- the "h" is Tageri's head. H bbWWWWWWWbb H bbbbWWWWWbbbb wwwwwwwwwwwwwww bwwwwwwwwwwwwwb bbbwww(w)wwwbbb bbb bbb --------------- You get the idea? It's filled with bullets. Destroy Tageri as soon as you can and you get 55 or 56 seconds left. "So that's why... walk that path until the End, so you don't regret anything. 'I am not alive nor can I die. I won't give up even if my Ideal isn't fulfilled. My will, just as my regrets, won't ever die... ' We should have known all this. Do you think we will ever see the Freedom?" EXTRA NOTES: Let us think for a moment. We get points for absorbing bullets. Hmm. The 12 homing lasers bring 12,000. If we add, say, 20 bullets each second, that makes 14,000 points and more each second (actually more, since Tageri is now inversing polarity every 6/10th of second). If you kill Tageri as fast as possible, that makes : Your Score (around 3,200,000) + {(59+60+55)*10,000} = 4,940,000. (Rank S+) However, if you wait until the last second before killing him... (3,200,000) + (14,000*54*10/6) + {(59+60+1)*10,000} = 5,678,000 (Rank S++) This is how you do this: --------------- bWWhWWb H bbWWWWWWWbb H bbbbWWWWWbbbb wwwwwwwwwwwwwww bwwwwwwwwwwwwwb bbbwww(w)wwwbbb bbb bbb --------------- OK, you're about in this situation. By now, you should have stopped to shoot, because that would kill Tageri. He should have less than a third of his last life bar left. (important!) Move slightly up, then left, down and right. This way you will (more or less) absorb a circle of bullets, which offers you a little spare room for you to change color. (and a place to escape if the bullets from the hands come too close to you). Since you always stay at about mid-screen, that means that the room behind your ship is almost always free. It's a nice contrast on the picture, and will give a little rest to your nerves. You won't have the constant pressure "one wrong move and everything's over!". It sounds like nothing, but absorbing this extra space should help you keep your cool. At about 30 seconds left, you should start getting confident. Try to watch the clock few and far between. When you've seen something under 10, count the seconds. Release your gage at 2 or 1 if Tageri has only very few lifeforce left. IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you die twice during Tageri's last from, he WON'T shoot at you. (Only the homing lasers and the hands). That's why you're better off killing him sooner if you notice that you can't adapt to the flow of bullets. Better safe than sorry. In Hard Mode, this doesn't apply. But if you can reach this form in Hard Mode without making a credit, you probably won't die here in the first place. VIII) Extra Inning Difficulty: Very Hard Boss: Ubusunagami ouki no kai No Rank Max score : between 4,170,000 (arcade options) and 9,670,000 (beginner options) A huge glowing yellow crystal floats in front of you. Yes, yellow. Not black nor white, freaking damn yellow. "Restrain devices are disactivated, your ship cannot shoot anymore" --------------- YYY YYYYY YYY (w) --------------- At first you'll have to avoid / absorb shots. It shots white clockwise and black counterclockwise. If you survive this for 10 seconds it will send you dart-like lasers (these aim directly for you). ++++++ To survive this, you can fly around him. It's fairly easy to do until the dart-like lasers start appearing. If you're not confident in your skills, just stay about 2/3rds down the screen and change color whenever you need to. ++++++ If you survive yet another 10 seconds, it changes the strategy. Four laser beams (that move with you) plus extremely fast rings of bullets. Of course, each ring is of a different color. And of course of different speed. If he shoots a slow white ring, be sure that a fast black ring will meet you head on before the white ring had a chance to get to you. If you survive yet another 10 seconds it sends 4 times more dart-like lasers. ++++++ Surviving this is quite easy as well. Basically, you will have to change color faster and faster, the only difficulty will be provided by the dart-like lasers. If you see one of them appearing near you and if you think you have more than enough time to absorb it, do absorb it as soon as possible. They have the nasty habit of delaying their attack until the last possible moment, so take steps to avoid this. ++++++ If you survive 10 seconds of this it will stop moving the laser beams and stop sending darts. It then lets the laser beams move clockwise or counterclockwise (depends) and shoot bullets in all directions, slowly. If you survive 10 seconds, the speed of the laser beams increases drastically. ++++++ This is, honestly speaking, the only difficulty of this boss. I still lose lives there. The point is that the closer you are to the boss, the less you will need to move to absorb all the bullets of a set color. It is easy at first, but after a few seconds your eyes will have trouble telling the colors apart (it sounds stupid, but it really IS the case). If you start putting distance between your ship and the boss, you will at first have less problems avoiding the shots -in front- of you, but you're most likely to die because of the shots -beside- you. ++++++ You CAN die even when the timer is at 0. Don't relax until the game goes automatically to the last sequence! "Do you think... we did the right thing? It's alright... I'm sure that sometimes, The day will come where we will understand each other. And then the far future will come... Because Life is given from one generation to the next one" EXTRA NOTES: For each spare life, you get 500,000. You can absorb bullets for about between 120,000 and 170,000. Hence a maximum of 4,170,000. If you play with other options, you can make more than 40,000,000. But these options aren't valid in the Challenge Mode, so don't use them. It will just give you a harder time to get used to the game. But it may make it easier for you to get new levels for the Practice Mode. Theoreticall Best Score : 4,240,000 + 6,260,000 + 7,400,000 + 7,720,000 + 5,860,000 + 170,000 = ____________ 31,650,000 + 9,500,000 = ____________ 41,150,000 Lives left * 500,000. If you play in Extend 1 with 4 spare lives, that means 4 + 15 = 19 * 500,000 = 9,500,000 IX) Chain Grid Here I'll write down what chain and score milestones you *should* meet while playing. I'm roughly evaluating my best performance. Some players can make more! 1) IDEAL Text Sequence: 22c, 416,720. --> 412,000 is OK Clouds: 39c, 897,000. --> 890,000 is OK Mid-chapter: 74c, 1,838,000. --> 1,728,000 is OK (70c) After Ajisashi: 110c, 2,796,000. --> 2,680,000 is OK (106c) Bonus: 124c, 3,168,000. --> That one is up to you! Eboshidori: 75, 3,926,440. --> 72 is OK. Aim for 3,500,000. 2) TRIAL Text sequence: 39c, 4,799,380. --> 4,200,000 is OK. (38c) Before blocks: 67c, 5,590,380. --> 4,900,000 is OK. (66c) + 2 Generators: 97c, 6,375,480. --> 5,700,000 is OK. (95c) - 6 Generators: 138c, 7,575,480. --> 6,850,000 is OK. (136c) Torafuzuku: 166c, 8,355,480. --> 7,500,000 is OK. (162c) Bonus: 180c, 8,712,480. --> That one is up to you! Buppousou: 80, 9,523,780. --> 73 is OK. Aim for 8,500,000. 3) FAITH Text sequence: 77c, 11,565,220. --> 10,450,000 is OK. (76c) Isuka Up&Down: 119c, 12,685,220. --> 11,500,000 is OK. (116c) Shutters: 148c, 13,425,220. --> 12,240,000 is OK. (140c) After Shigi: 186c, 14,425,220. --> 13,050,000 is OK. (170c) Bonus: 202c, 14,845,220. --> That one is up to you! Uzura: 73, 15,600,220. --> 64 is OK. Aim for 14,000,000. 4) REALITY Text sequence: 20c, 15,985,260. --> 14,380,000 is OK. (20c) Misago 1: 37, 114c, 18,755,260. --> 16,800,000 is OK. (106c) Misago 2: 27, 160c, 20,005,260. --> 17,850,000 is OK. (146c) Isuka: 189c, 20,750,220. --> 18,600,000 is OK. (175c) Misago Boss: 67, 22,085,220. --> 57 is OK. Aim for 19,800,000. 5) METEMPSYCHOSIS Text sequence: 110c, 25,091,220. --> 22,700,000 is OK. (106c) Tageri: 59-60-1, 27,464,220. --> 24,600,000 is OK. (54-56-55) Last Boss: 7 lives, 31,056,220. --> Aim for 27,200,000 (5 lives) X) Credits The text parts are translated from what I could recognize out of the DC Version. I'll try to find out what the voices say in a future update. The maximum scores are taken from the magazine Arcadia, except the one for the Extra Inning (the fight Vs Ubusunagami ouki no kai) For this last one I'm just guessing. It all depends on your ability to absorb shots. I would like to thank TF for showing me a few things, as well as the fellows gamers of his message board. I didn't think that so many people could achieve over 34,000,000. FMI, Mkr, SIN, TF, I hope someday I'll be as good as you are. TF's Ikaruga FAQ is at http://members.tripod.co.jp/teppeiteppei/ikaruga.htm (japanese only) He has two STG boards, japanese only. Please refrain from posting unless you can really hold your own in a japanese conversation. You should find the adresses on his homepage. You can email me at saffran@yahoo.co.jp Ikaruga copyright Treasure Inc Japan 2000-2003 This FAQ is copyright Pierre "Saffran" Bancov June 2003 GAME OVER We'll meet again someday soon.