Ikaruga - Strategy Guide (Page 03)
Below are the cheat codes, hints and help for Ikaruga - Strategy Guide (Page 03).
(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.
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