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yes, Ikaruga(unofficial sequel to Radiant Silvergun) is regarded as one of the best shooters  of all times, period.
in my opinion has a bit less replay value than RS because of its lenght and not powerups, whatsoever, but music, gameplay, graphics - are plain incredible and its a very satisfying shooter.
I would recommend playing it on DC though if you have that option(graphics is slightly better on VGA Box), + you can play it on some seriously kicking arcade sticks, overal feel bit better(Japanese only though), and game was written specifically for Naomi and plays bit better overal, but yeah, on NGC game is translated well and completely in english(its not like there is a tons of text, but still).
have you already beat it?

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Wait - Ikaruga has a plot?  WHERE?  I always felt like there should be some sort of story being told to me during the game, but I somehow never saw it... it felt like there should've been something in between chapters...

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Ikaruga started out as an arcade game (NAOMI hardware mentioned already). I think that's why cutscenes were never included in-game, and I much prefer it that way. The gameplay is intriguing enough to make me want to read about the plot on my own time, but cutscenes would thoroughly disrupt the flow of the game.

Aesthetics, music, gameplay... everything about Ikaruga is spectacular.

Also, I forget where I read this, but Ikaruga means "mottled dove," in that your ship has a white and a black side. Also explains the doves at the end.

I know what you mean. It was only after my bro and I played the requisite 10 hours to get unlimited continues that we finally finished the game and had an inkling of a plot at the end of the very last "battle." That was when I read up on the characters in the instruction book.

I still want to know what exactly the mechanic voice is saying at the end of the last battle, though. I can make out only 4 words.

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Personally I think cutscenes would have been very cool!  You could always have a "story mode" and a seperate "aracade mode"...  Anyway, as it stands, the game is one of the best shooters ever!  Very very tough though, which is good, but you need patience in order to beat this game

cheers,

-avatar

ps Unfortunate that there's no soundtrack released!

RS was originally an arcade game too. The Saturn version added the little scene stuff, IIRC.

-Joshua

"Release the restrain device. Using the released power may result the possibility of destruction of the ship. You did your best. Was I helpful to you? I am deeply grateful to you."

Though there wasn't a story to follow in the game per se, the ending manages to move me every time.  Self-sacrifice; the most noble gesture of all.

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POSSIBLE SPOILERS!
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I dunno, I thought those things falling away were the pieces of the ship as it fell apart. Or maybe there *was* a pod in addition to those ship pieces...I'd have to play the game again.

But yeah, that ending gets me every time too. And thanks for the transcription, Angela ^_^ All I was ever able to make out were the words "destruction of the ship."

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END SPOILER SECTION!

Actually, the GC game *does* translate the chapter headings -- the English is under the kanji -- but they're in such tiny font that it's almost impossible to make out.

That sounds about right.  The story actually does dictate that Shinra and Kagari do die -- that the two are at near death toward the end, and they become spirit beings after the sacrifice. 

PBSaffran's guide at GameFAQs has the entire story transcribed.  Check it out, here.

An interesting article I read years ago...

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I pretty much laughed most of my way through that guide. Not because it was funny or dumb or badly written, but because the guide is pretty much all about how to get the max chains and points, and here I am just blasting my way through everything without much thought, heh.

And McCall, I saw what you meant about chapter headings after reading the guide that Angela pointed to. I was wondering where the guide-writer had gotten those paragraphs.

It really becomes a whole new game when you start shooting for chains. You start to see that real thought was put into the waves of enemies that come onscreen and the timing.

Unfortunately, as long as I've been playing Ikaruga, I don't think I'll ever be "Appreciate" good.

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