treasure
News
It’s A Good Week To Buy Ikaruga
1:20AM Mike Fahey | If you’ve been avoiding spending 800 Microsoft points in order to let Treasure’s beloved shoot-em up Ikaruga kill you repeatedly, then perhaps the Xbox Live Deal of the Week is for you. More »
Hands On
Gunstar Heroes Micro-Review: The Perfect Shot
4:00AM Luke Plunkett | The recent re-release of Gunstar Heroes on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network isn’t the first port of the game we’ve seen over the past 16 years. But could it be one of the best? More »
Hands On
Sin And Punishment 2 Hands-On: Up, Down, Up, Down, Shoot, Shoot
6:00AM Michael McWhertor | Nintendo’s best evidence that its E3 2009 showing was all “about the games” were the four kiosks dedicated to Sin And Punishment 2. Treasure’s sequel to the Nintendo 64 shooter was given prominent attention at the front of Nintendo’s booth. More »
Microsoft Wants Radiant Silvergun For XBLA
1:20AM Mike Fahey | In an interview with Gamasutra, Treasure CEO Masato Maegawa reveals that Microsoft has requested the classic Saturn shoot-em Radiant Silvergun for Xbox Live Arcade, but Treasure has yet to say yes. More »
Top Rated Ikaruga Player: “XBLA Version is Horrible”
2:20PM Brian Ashcraft | Enjoy that XBLA Ikaruga? The current top-rated numero uno player Kingoro58k totally hates it. While he seems to put up with the XBLA port enough to reclaim his spot from a Finnish gamer, Kingoro58k writes: More »
Ikaruga Review: No Refuge For Wimps
5:00AM Michael McWhertor | For the uninitiated, Treasure’s Ikaruga is a vertically scrolling shoot ‘em up originally released for arcades, with ports for the Dreamcast and GameCube released in 2002 and 2003 respectively. It uses a simple mechanic of polarity—your ship, the Ikaruga, can switch between black and white states; there are no traditional shooter power ups, black and white beams are your only weapon. It’s a system that belies its complexity. When white, the ship can absorb all white-coloured incoming enemy fire. When black, the ship can absorb all black-coloured incoming enemy fire. However, when firing on ships of the opposite colour, the Ikaruga does double the damage. Oh, but there’s more to it than that, a layer of depth that makes Ikaruga one part shooter, one part puzzler, with a dash of rhythm and strategy tossed in. How does the Xbox Live Arcade port hold up, with Ikaruga now seven years old? Warning. The big list of love and hate is approaching at full throttle. No refuge. More »
Treasure Tackling Two Wii Titles
12:40PM Michael McWhertor | The latest issue of Nintendo Power, which is in the hands of subscribers right now features an interview with Masato Maegawa, the president of the beloved action game developer, whose Bangai-O Spirits is due to hit the Nintendo DS stateside this quarter. The Xbox Live Arcade remake of Ikaruga just went live, but Nintendo Power wants to know when Maegawa and crew will get some WiiWare titles out. Maegawa says that they’re looking into it, but that they already have two unannounced Wii games in development. Details are nonexistent other than the Treasure president teasing that “both games will have a lot of impact.” Who wants to make some wagers? More »
Frankenreview, Ikaruga (XBLA)
4:00AM Mark Wilson | Treasure’s classic shoot ‘em up Ikaruga has a simple premise. Turn your ship white, become immune to white attacks. Turn your ship black, become immune to black attacks. The casual onlooker would say the premise sounded simple. The seasoned Ikaruga player would say the premise sounded deceptively simple. So the question isn’t should you play Ikaruga if you haven’t. The question is, should you play Ikaruga on XBLA, or should you hunt down a Gamecube or Dreamcast version. Hit the jump for our Frankenreview to find out: it’s Ikarugalicious. More »
It’s Official: Ikaruga Hitting US XBLA This Week
3:40AM Mark Wilson | In this week’s XBLA update, we’ve finally gotten official confirmation that Ikaruga, the classic Japanese shoot ‘em up (sorry, I despise the term “shmup”) is coming to the platform this Wednesday, April 9th. Now in HD, players can enjoy standard leaderboards as well as online co-op and replay/save video support. It’ll set you back 800 points. In addition, the highly regarded newb Poker Smash will be offering two expansions. The Environment Pack (with two new action mode environments) and the Puzzle Pack (with 15 new puzzles) will each be available for 100 points. All in all, it’s a nice week of updates on XBLA. For the full, gruesome details, hit the jump. More »
