Unearthed Treasure

Tokyo Game Show is yet to officially get underway, but already it seems that some of its surprises are just too durn exciting to keep under wraps. According to a new leak uncovered by Gematsu, legendary shmup developer Treasure is getting set to reveal a new project under the banner of one of its best-loved IPs, Radiant Silvergun.

Gematsu found evidence of a new Radiant Silvergun title after poking around the TGS website uploaded by publisher Happinet. Alongside assets and titles pulled from over 30 franchises was a brand new logo simply depicting "Radiant Silvergun," complete with a silhouette of the game's iconic starship. Treasure, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, will apparently be showcasing the new title at this year's TGS, w?hich will no doubt get retro game fans? and shmup aficionados into a suitable tizzy.

Radiant Silvergun was released in Japanese arcades in May 1998, before finding its way onto the Sega Saturn in the console's twilight years. For the longest of times, it would remain something of an urban legend among western players, available only via expensive imports and poor early-day emulation. The classy shmup would eventually be ported to Xbox 360 in 2011, which represented the title's first, readily available, global release. Today, Radiant Silvergun still stands proud, holding a deserved reputation as a genuine classic of the gen??re.

What form this project will take remains to be seen, but I would think a remaster or remake is more likely than a sequel. In either case, we won't have to wait too much longer to find out, as Tokyo Game Show will kick off September 15, emanating from Chiba's Makuhari Messe complex. We will bring you all of the details from Radiant Silvergun (and many other TGS exclusives) right h??ere on Destructoid.

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Legendary studio has something in store

Treasure, the acclaimed studio behind such franchises as Gunstar Heroes, Radiant Silvergun, Bangai-O, and Ikaruga, has announced that it is currently hard at work on a mysterious new game, which it hopes to announce later?? in 2022 as part of the developer's 30th-anniversary celebrations.

While the studio �which was originally founded in 1992 by ex-Konami coder Masato Maegawa �has offered no direct information in regards to the new game's IP, form, or genre, Treasure has noted that the project is something that its fans have been requesting for quite some time, which ?has got the company's dedicated, long-time fanbase buzzing with excitement and intrigue.

//twitter.com/??TreasureCoLtd/status/1538446520977985536???s=20&t=9OJMkYLupw94PAZdA8yaxw

"On June 19, 2022, Treasure celebrated its 30th anniversary!" wrote the developer on its official Twitter. "On this 30th anniversary year, we are working hard in development to announce the highly requested '?that'. Please continue to give Treasure your support going forward."

While the tweet makes it sound like the title will be a known entity, such as a sequel or remake, that still leaves a whole lot of mystery up in the air. After all, Treasure's catalog of franchises are all incredibly popular, and fans would be pleased with a sequel to any of the aforementioned games. Of course, we could simply be looking at a major remaster or remake of one of its enduring classics �Ikaruga ??for example �but ??frankly, at this stage, I think the fans are just happy to see the studio back at it.

Let the speculation commence. We'll be sure to give you the good word when Tr??easure shows its hand.

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The dreaded bra-snap

While I generally wouldn’t say that any of their games are in the fluctuating list I might call my top 10, there are few developers I have more respect for than Treasure. Mischief Makers, Bangai-O, Gunstar Heroes, Sin & Punishment, Dynamite Headdy, McDonald’s Treasure Land Adventure: even if the?y’re often flawed and bruised, Treasure’s games are unlike any others. They’re so steeped in creativity that it practically drips off the cartridge, thick and sticky.

There was a weird sort of cohesion to their experiments, even when it came to their licensed games. It wasn’t so much that they were throwing ideas at a wall to see what stuck, it’s more t??hat they lived ??in a vacuum and couldn’t hear anyone tell them their ideas were unmarketable.

The unfortunate thing is not every experiment works out. Throughout their history, Treasure landed a lot of hits, but there were a few duds. Of their output, there’s only one game that I’d describe as Kusoge, and I do that hesitantly. It’s 2001's Stretch Panic (Freak Out in Europe and Hippa Linda in Japan) on PlayStation 2. Really, it’s not a painful game, it’s just Treasur??e missing its mark.

The early �0s were a?n amazing time for video games. Technology in homes received a major bump, and developers were dipping their toes into things like dual analog controls. The previous generation was full of weird explo??rations into 3D, but it was also very limited. A lot of those limits were shed by consoles like the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2.

We got games like Robot Alchemic Drive, Mr. Mosquito, and Shenmue??. They weren’t the most well-executed concepts, but there was nothing like them at the time, and some still haven’t been repeated. It’s one of my favorite eras of the med??ium to explore. Even if I don’t entirely like a game, it often leaves an impression.

Stretch Panic is like that. It’s the story of Linda, who seeks to save her many vain sisters from�things. Clowns? Spirits? Their own vanity? I’m not sure. The story, as told in the game, is practically incomprehensible. In the manual, it tells a longer version, but even still, I can’t discern anything aside from “sisters kidnapped, go get them.�The na??rrative is just brushed under the “it l??ooks stylish�rug.

It also doesn’t really explain the scarf. It comes alive, and that’s it. It’s the absolute core of the gameplay, but nothing narratively seems to explain it. It works as a hand. It grabs things. Specifically the enemies, but you can also grab the environment, most often accidentally. The point of Stretch Panic is to stretch bosses in various way??s to cause damage. Like snapping someone’s bra strap, which is strangely apt. Each boss has their own weak points, ??and finding them isn’t always necessary, but will save you some time.

Stretch Panic itself is largely just a game about bosses. The exception to that is just plain baffling. You have to buy admission to their little boss arenas, and to do this, you fight women with aggressively large breasts. I don’t know why, maybe it ties? into the game’s theme of vanity? Though having large funbags doesn’t make you vain, it usually just gives you back problems. Or so I'm told. What were we talking abou??t? Boobs?

Right, getting points out of boobs. You have to reach around those imposing racks and grab the women by the hair. Having th??eir hair pulled is their weakness, and landing a strike grants you a point. These absurdly endowed women exist in their own stages that are specifically intended for grinding through bra-snaps. You want to stockpile points, because they’re not only used to pay the constantly increasing admission prices, but also because you need the??m for special moves. This includes an ability that is actually necessary for rescuing your sisters.

So, grinding is actually a major mechanic of Stretch Panic, and that’s definitely not great. So, you’d maybe hope that the bosses make up for it, but�/p>

The problem is that ?the central mechanic just isn’t that well-thought-out. Navigating the scarf can be difficult since you only have 360 degrees of motion. There’s no real back and forth on the scarf, just its own velocity. You send it flying and hope that you can discern depth without binocular cues and land it w??here you intend. It’s possible, just a lot to ask from a player in the midst of battle.

The bosses themselves are a lot like many you have seen time and time again. One of the first bosses, for example, opens their mouth to charge an attack, giving you the opportunity to fondle their uvula. Sometimes, Stretch Panic will straight-up point to t?he boss’s weakness, but then it’s guesswork to try and figure out what to do with it. Other times,? it’s not that easy. There’s one boss that performs a tornado attack, requiring you to lead them into a pond so that their sandstorm turns to mud.

Then there are some bosses where it can be a lot more difficult to figure out how to hurt them, but in those cases, you can just keep pinching them. Even a standard stretch will do small amounts of damage, which ??can add up over time. You can also perform one of the game’s special moves to do additional damage. There’s no additional levels of difficulty, so if you want to just cheese your way through every boss, then slap a nametag on and call yourself cheddar.

Stretch Panic is also a very short game, which isn’t unusual from Treasure. The fact that you can just brute force most of the bosses means you’re not likely going to get stuck on any in particular. If they made it necessary to find the ?weak point of each boss, I’m not sure ??if that would be better, but it would at least make more sense.

I’m not fully clear on where Stretch Panic went wrong, but I think too much faith was put in its central mechanic. It feels like it was intended for a bigger game, but it was discovered too late that it was extremely limited. In some of the grinding levels, for example, you can latch onto something and use it to launch yourself across gaps, but th??is is never used in a boss battle. There are vestiges of bigger ideas that just never went anywhere. It feels like adjustments had to be made too late to save the full product, and we were given just a sampling of what actually worked and could be compiled.

Whatever the reason, Stretch Panic just wound up as nothing more than a curio. You might come across it while plumbing Treasure’s backlog, but I doubt anyo??ne will be crying?? for a modernized port.

Stretch Panic just feels like a game where the?? concept didn’t work out the way envisioned. Perhaps it looked good in a design document or prototype, but when it came down to making an experience out of it, it melted in room temperature. What we’re left with is an experiment that didn’t work out, but I’ll always argue that it’s better to try something new and fail than just reh?ash the same formula ad absurdum.

For previous Weekly Kusoge, check this link!

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Good morning, Airan

Sin & Punishment is a fun topic for quite a few reasons. The most important is that it’s a joint effort between Nintendo and the ?legendary developer, Treasure. If you’re familiar with Treasure, you know you’re in for a captivating trip. There’s also the fact that it was a Japan-only release during the N64’s sunset days. Thankfully, it was later localized on the Wii and Wii U Virtual Console. Then it mystifyingly got a sequel on the Wii.

We’re talking about the original, though. The Japanese swansong for Nintendo’s 64-bit monstrosity (they didn’t receive a release of Conker’s Bad Fur Day). It takes some explainin?g, but it’s a fun ride, so buckle up.

If you’re unfamiliar with Treasure, let me just list off a few of their accomplishments: Gunstar Heroes, Mischief Makers, Ikaruga, Bangai-O, McDonald’s Treasure Land Adventure. It’s possible you’ve played none of these games, but if you have, you’ll recognize them ??as being beyond description and compare. Whether or not you actually liked the games is another story, but in term??s of creative direction, they’re unparalleled.

Sin & Punishment sits nicely under that umbrella.?? Let me see how plainly I can explain it: it’s a story about a race of insect monsters that were bred by the Japanese to replace livestock as a source for meat. The meat monsters, known as the Ruffians, go berserk and start overrunning the country. The Armed Volunteers come in to set things right, but they're apparently jerks because they’re bad guys too.

You play as two youngsters, Saki and Airan.  They are partnered with a person named Achi whose blood turns people into giant monsters. You’re al?so down for killing anyone, Armed Volunteer and Ruffian alike, because I guess you have all the answers for fixing things.

Sin & Punishment is a mix between the rail and Cabal-shooter genres. Its behind-the-back style of gameplay reminds immediately of Space Harrier, but the controls feel more like the Landmaster sections in Star Fox 64. What feels unique about it is that you ??run across the ground and have both ranged and melee attacks. You, therefore, have to dodge foreground attacks while dishing da?mage at the same time.

That signature Treasure weirdness? If you couldn’t tell by the plot, it’s here. From bosses that throw their grunts at you, to assaults on entire fleets of battleships, to just battling the Earth itself. It’s easy to get lost in Sin & Punishment. I’ve practically rehearsed the story at this point because figuring it out on the fly can tak?e some concentration. It’s appropriately bizarre.

What else is bizarre is the fact that it never came to North America. Okay, so 2000 wasn’t the best time to be releasing a game on the N64, but Sin & Punishment needed next to?? no translation. Mysteriously, despite being set in Japan and featuring Japanese characters??, the dialogue is completely in English! Moreover, it was obviously done by western voice actors because there isn’t a hint of an accent.

Maybe it was deemed too out there for North American audiences who were already looking forward to the next generation of consoles, but at least we got it eventually.

It seems like some late-stage concession had to be made. The control scheme was originally designed so? you had one hand on the ??D-pad and another on the stick; working the N64 controller’s unique 3-prong design like it had rarely been done before. However, in the finished version, you can absolutely play with one hand in the C region and another on the stick. It’s not any worse because of this, but you can tell someone reluctantly agreed to change their vision to accommodate players who had grown accustomed to one manner of grip.

The biggest concession, however, is with the difficulty. The original title of Sin & Punishment was Glass Soldier, and this was largely due to how fragile the protagonists were in early builds. However, as legend has it, the director from Nintendo, Hitoshi Yamagami, found early builds too difficult. He debated with the team at Treasure to lower the difficulty, to which they said if he wasn’t up to the task of playing the game, he didn’t belong on the team.

Yamagami got his way, but Treasure may have had a point because Sin & Punishment isn’t a difficult game in the slightest. For every 100 enemies you kill, you’re given an extra life, and the game throws a constant deluge of them at you. As a result, you’ll rack up a surplus pretty ??quickly, and dying just means continuing from th?e game’s common checkpoints.

It’s also staggeringly short, clocking in at maybe over an hour. With no challenge to offset this, the best you can do to add longevity is try for a high score. That’s not something I’m interested in, personally. Howe??ver, it’s an easy game to crack open every once and a while to fill part of an afternoon.

Because of its unfortunate release window, Sin & Punishment wasn’t much of a seller. On the secondhand market, a used N64 copy can go? for north of $60. You can still get it on the Wii U Virtua??l Console, however, which would be the way to go.

Despite this, a sequel was commissioned on the Wii and released in 2009, Sin & Punishment: Star Successor. It was a strange move for Nintendo given the sales of the first game. They were also trying to prop up the Wii as a family-friendly console, which Star Successor isn't quite. Treasure is also not really a developer known for their sequels. I’m not complaining, though. Sin & Punishment is a game that deserved a sequel, and while we’ll likely never see another one, it was nice that the team got to revis??it the themes and universe.

Now, if I could ask for a?nother miracle, could Ninten?do please re-release both of these games?

For other retro titles you may ha?ve missed?, click right here!

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Radiant packaging

Ikaruga is one of the all-time classics of the shmup genre, but there hasn't been ??a physical edition for any modern console. Despite now being on PC, PS4, and Switch, the only way to own a disc is to go back to the Dreamcast or GameCube, which isn't exactly convenient for playing. That seems set to change, at least according to a Tweet from Nicalis.

Publisher of the Switch port, Nicalis is teasing a physical version of Ikaruga for both PS4 and Switch (a previous tease was only for Nintendo's device). Asking people to sign-up for its newsletter, it seems there is going to be some kind of announcement of either a standard retail version or collector's edition package. While I don't mind having the game digitally, it would be g??reat for preserving history to have the game on a disc. It'd also be cool to have that wonderful box art on my shelf.

Nicalis, Inc. [Twitter]

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Git gud, gaijin

In the primordial days before your mom was on the internet, we grew up in fear of the other. In the '80s and '90s, we frequently spoke of the mist-shrouded land across the ocean that controlled most of the games we played. Whether we discussed the games that they so selfishly hoarded to themselves, permanently encrypted with their exotic language, or coveted the cutting-edge consoles they got months before we did, they were a mystery to us. Yet, if there's one thing we feared most about the? other, it was their mad skills.

I remember a period in my life when I was convinced that I lived in the softest region in the world. Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest, for example, was said to be created by Square in the belief that Americans were too stupid to fully understand a true RPG, and the Euro Extreme difficulty was inserted into Metal Gear Solid 2 because vanilla Extreme just wasn't extreme enough for Europeans with their muscular thumbs. Neither statement is accurate, but I've heard them repeated more than once. It's a rather bizarre mindset to have; that v??ideo game skill has anything to do with heritage, but this op??inion seems so pervasive.

In the '80s and '??90s, the belief was in some way perpetuated by what has become a rare practice: publishers and developers would often ratchet up or tone down a game's difficulty when releasing in a new market. However, regardless of the self-deprecating belief that games had to be dumbed down for our under-developed thumbs, there was actually no consistency to which way the changes went. Japanese games that have been localized to North America have varied between being more difficult or much easier, and the same has happened in reverse.

I'm not saying publishers have had difficulty comm?itting to a particular brand of prejudice. After all, our corporate overlords prefer to avoid viewing people as individuals and find it more efficient to just boil down entire countries of people into numbers and statistics. So that's... better?

The actual reasons for why these changes were made probably doesn't have anything to do with demographics, but rather a different approach to maximizing sales. I'll get to that, but first, to demonstrate my point, let&rs??quo;s take a look at some of the more notable instances:

Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)

It isn’t the same obscure piece of trivia that it used to be, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you knew this already, but the Super Mario Bros. 2 we got here in North America on the NES wasn’t the same Super Mario Bros. 2 people in Japan were playing on their Famicom Disk Systems. What the Japanese got was essentially a straight sequel to the original game, featuring much of t??he same art style, sound design, and mechanics, but with the difficulty dialed up and then dialed up again. Like, a lot, ??and not in a good way. Just try getting past World-2 and see how you feel about it.

So when Nintendo had the opportunity to localize it for the western market, they decided to pass. The story reported everywhere is that they were afraid the real Super Mario Bros 2. would be too difficult for the North American audience. Instead, they asked to be provided a friendlier sequel that people might actually, you know, have fun playing. The result was a version of Yume Koujou: Doki! Doki! Panic that had its' four playable protagonists redrawn as Mario ??characters. We definitely got the better end of the deal.

To be fair, this is more an example of the concept of difficulty tuning between regions, rather than the practice, since Super Mario Bros. 2 (Japan) and Super Mario Bros. 2 (everywhere else) are two distinct games. We'd eventually get the real SMB2 in the form of The Lost Levels -- if you feel like you deserve some punishment -- while Japan would see our version of the sequel in the form of Super Mario USA.

Mega Man 2 (NES)

Among the NES Mega Man titles, Mega Man 2 has the distinction of being the only one with a difficulty option. There’s normal if you have weak and feeble thumbs, and difficult if you have hairy palms. Except, not really, because the Japanese version, Rock Man 2, has no difficulty select.

So that would make “normal” analogous with the Japanese version, with "Difficult" being a tuned up challenge for muscular Americans, correct? I mean, that’s why they call it “Normal.” Nope. “Difficult” is the challenge the developers intended, and it’s the one that has parity with Rock Man 2. On normal mode, the damage you dish out is pretty extreme and it ?makes just about every enemy encounter?? a cakewalk. The only leftover challenge is keeping yourself out of bottomless pits and other instant death hazards, which I'm sure you can handle. I believe in you.

I kind of felt cheated when I first discovered this deception. I'm not against an easier difficulty for people who don't have the chops or the time to topple a Mega Man title on the default, but labeling what is plainly a tweaked down the challenge as "Normal" is misleading. It's like leaving the low-calorie version of ranch dressing unlabeled, ??while the regular recipe is referred to as ??"Fat Ranch."

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (NES)

A metric tonne of changes was made to Akumajou Densetsu when it was localized as Castlevania III. A lot of them were small, barely noticeable changes to the art, but the most well-known alteration was with Akumajou Densetsu’s sou??ndtrack. The Famicom allowed access to additional sound channels, which were stripped from the NES. Therefore, the Japanese original had greater depth to its music.

A lesser known, but no less significant, change has to do with the difficulty. In Akumajou Densetsu, different enemies deal different damage; so, for example, a bat might do a small amount of damage but a knight will do much more. In Castlevania III, every enemy and projectile does the exact same amount of damage, and this gets increased as the game progresses. That makes things easier in the beginning and much, much more difficult towards the end. If we're being charitable, this may have been done to create a steadier difficult curve, but that’s got to ??be the laziest way to address the issue.

Whether or not you appreciate the greater challenge in Castlevania III or think that Akumajou Densetsu is the difficulty that nature intended, the result is that Castlevania III was made a lot more difficult in translation.

Battletoads (NES)

One of Rare’s most famous creations, Battletoads, is something of a divisive topic today. Some laud it as one of the most challenging games on the NES while others think it was a hate-filled slog ?through a variety of situations that gave you no time to adapt before it murdered you. Personally, I think it could be better if there wasn’t a limit on continues, but, whatever.

If you’re on the fence about it, maybe the Japanese version will be more your speed, since it tones down the difficulty substantially and makes it a more playable experience for people who don’t have hours to spend cementing the Turbo Tunnel into their muscl??e memory.

For starters, the Japanese version ups your chances with five lives and five continues as opposed to North America’s three lives and three co?ntinues. That would have been a pretty token effort at softening the game's malice, but they went further. Significant changes were made to some of the game’s more challenging levels; slowing down the turbo tunnel, removing various pitfalls and traps,? and even reducing the health points of bosses.

None of this makes Battletoads an easy game by any means, but it does make the whole experience less B.S. If you think this is ess??entially playing the game with god mode on, consider that the changes made to the Japanese version were viewed as enough of an improvement that the Genesis port of the game carried over all the changes.

Dynamite Headdy (Genesis)

Dynamite Headdy was created by the folks at the mythical studio Treasure Co., developers of Gunstar Heroes, Ikaruga, ?and many other classic games. It was something of a staple on the Sega Genesis but is rarely spoken about these days. I feel this is likely the result of us getting screwed? by difficulty changes in localization.

This time around, the title was made more difficult in North America. The change in difficulty centers around? the continue system. The Japanese version started you off with two continues while the regional v??ersion gives you none. To make matters worse, gaining a new continue in the Japanese versions requires you to pick up 10 continue tokens after defeating a boss. In the NA version, you needed 13; which may sound like a small increase but it was just enough to make it immensely more difficult to gain an additional continue.

The presence of continues in a game that is, effectively, a situation rush style platformer, is a cruel burden to place on the player. You're often not given enough time to adjust to a new challenge before you're battered, broken, and left to stare with defeated eyes at the game over scree??n. The Japanese version at least has the decency to allow you more time to practice.

THE RENTAL REPELLENT

So what does that say about the difficulty in these games? Not all that much really, because no publisher is going to just make changes to a game during localization simply to try ??and frustrate the player, it's all done for a reason, and there are many reasons fo?r it.

For a game like Battletoads and Dynamite Headdy with limited continues, the reason likely comes down to the rental market. Masato Maegawa from Treasure even said as much when talking about Dynamite Headdy's difficulty. If your game could be completed comfortably in a weekend, you ran the risk of people renting it, completing it, then never making a purchase. In order to prevent sales from being affected by this, cheap tactics, like the limiting of continues, were used to ratchet up the difficulty and prevent players from actually finishing the game. Video game rentals were basically outlawed in Japan thanks to the 1984 Japanese Copyright Act, which means that Dynamite Headdy and Battletoads could ease up on the artificial challenge witho??ut the fear of it costing them sales.

That could also explain why Castlevania III was made to be more challenging in North America, but what about Mega Man 2 and Super Mario 2? After the video game market crashed in 1983 under the weight of a jillion unsold Atari 2600 cartridges, Nintendo was left with the task of rebuilding the goodwill of the North American consumer. Having otherwise marketable characters push them into the dirt and call them names wouldn't win any fans, so something had to be done about the cruel difficulty of Super Mario Bros. 2. Likewise, the original Mega Man only sold slightly better than a box of fingernail clippings in? North America, so to invite new pl?ayers in, the difficulty was tweaked down for the sequel to provide a more welcoming experience.

So the next time yo??u're playing a game with regionally tailored diffi??culty, you have to think, "Am I playing the game as the designer intended, or the version that was made with the explicit intent to make children miserable?"

The post A look at the early days of ??regional d?ifficulty changes appeared first on Destructoid.

It was supposed to be out already

After musing on a haul of old games the Treasure account was asked by yet another fan to bring Radiant Silvergun, one of its crown jewel shoot 'em ups (shmups) to the Switch. But instead of ignoring it or changing t??he subject it actually engaged and we found out something ra??ther interesting from the exchange.

According to the Treasure Twitter account, Radiant Silvergun was "planned" to be released alongside Ikaruga on Switch (read: earlier this May) but plans changed. The account asks ??people to "please wait," though it "cannot promise" that it will actually see the light of day. From there th??e thread becomes "we want every Treasure game ever on Switch," and I don't really disagree, but that's all we're getting from the studio at the moment.

If you've never played it before Radiant Silvergun is kind of a big deal in the shmup world, of??ten referred to as one of the all-time greats. Given that studios have been flocking to release genre shooters on it for the past year we could easily see it, especially if all of the rights are shored up by Treasure.

Treasure [Twitter] Thanks Jeff!

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Now you can crash and burn in crisper detail than ever before

Treasure has released further details on the PS4 port of their Magnum Opus, the 2001 bullet-hell masterpiece that is Ikaruga.

The colour-defined shmup will be made available on PS4 on June 29. Not only that, but PS4 Pro owners will be able to make use of the ports glorious 4K visuals, bringing the title's frantic, intense visuals and frame-per??fect action to life like never before. The port will retain all the features of the PC release, including the Double Play, Prototype, Replay, Screen? Rotation modes and much more.

Having already been made available on Dreamcast, Gamecube, PC and Xbox 360 formats, this is just one more way that new generations can experience this amazing, if tough as nails, arcade classic. WWE star Asuka loves it, so I guess we all should.

Ikaruga launches on PS4 June 29??, ?priced aroung $10. It is also currently available on Nintendo Switch.

Ikaruga coming to PS4 June 29 with 4K visuals [Twitter]

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The Colour and the Shape

Treasure has announced that, following its recent Nintendo Switch port, its classic arcade shmup Ikaruga is on its way to PS4.

Rumblings of a PS4 port first happened earlier this year, when a rating for the 2001 game showed up on Germany's ratings board. Developer Treasure have now confirmed that the game is in development on PS4 via their Twitter account, where they also noted that the game will see an official unveilin?g next week, with a release to follow "soon??".

Ikaruga's twitchy, deep, reflex-based gameplay has won it an army of fans in the 17 years since its original? release in the arcades and later on multiple generations of ?home consoles. No doubt its PS4 debut will only serve to allow waves of fans, old and new, fresh access to its complex, timeless gameplay.

Ikaruga is scheduled for release on PS4 soon.

The post Treasure announces Ikaruga is winging its way ?to PS4 appeared first on Destructoid.

The 10,000-Hour Rule

Ikaruga is one o?f the purest gaming experiences out there. It's a brutally difficult shoot-'em-up, the kind of short-but-sweet game that takes a clever mechanic, explores it to its full extent, and doesn't pack on any unwanted fat. You could easily spend a hundred hours learning how to scrape your way through all five stages without continues. Then you could spend a thousand more perfecting your score.

After making its way to Xbox 360 in 2008 and slightly more recently PC in 2014, Ikaruga has found a new home on the Nintendo Switch eShop. The port has everything I've come to expect: remappable controls, two-player local co-op, downloadable replays, an art ga?llery, and a whole lot of misery.

This version of Ikaruga also includes a vertical screen mode, meaning you can turn your Switch on its side, prop it up,? and play this essential shm?up as it's meant to be played.

Ikaruga (Nintendo Switch)
Developer: Treasure
Publisher: Nicalis
Released: May 29, 2018
MSRP: $14.99

If you're new to Ikaruga, the cornerstone of t??he game is your ability to swap between two polarities.

All enemies and projectiles are colored either white or black; the same goes for your ship and your attacks. So long as you're the same color as incoming bullets, you can safely fly into them, permanently wiping them from the ?screen. Absorbing same-colored energy also allows ??you to build up and fire off powerful homing lasers, and enemies take significantly more damage if they're hit by the opposite color.

This concept is easy to pick up, and in terms of controls, Ikaruga is a simple game. The true complexity re??veals itself in Treasure's overwhelming but expertly-staged enemy formations and bullet patterns. As crazy and darn near indecipherable as it can look at times, everything in the game feels thoughtfully placed. This is so crucial, both in terms of maintaining a sense of fairness and also in giving players a reason to strive for mastery. There's a puzzle-like scoring system in which you're granted a bonus for killing three enemies of the same color in a row. Break the chain with a misfire, and it resets.

Making it through Ikaruga is a feat in and of itself, but doing so with this chain mechanic in mind? Now we're getting into 4D chess territory. The developers knew exactly when and where to place enemy ships to keep you on your toes. To do well, you'll need to think several moves ahead (but not overthink things) and never let your concentration slip. Death comes swiftly and without mercy, but it isn't unfa?ir.

I shudder to think about all the times I've failed to make further headway in Ikaruga over the years, but even now, multiple ports later, the gam?e still hasn't lost its appeal. I don't think it ever ?will.

There's this ever-present hopefulness that despite seeing game over ??after game over, I'm always on the cusp of making a breakthrough and achieving the zen state needed to master Stage 3 and beyond. It's okay if I never do reach that milestone? -- the journey matters most here, not the destination.

Ikaruga is one of those games I'll happily rebuy and replay every time there's a new port, but with this Switch version, I should be set. Being able to easily bust out the Joy-Con controllers for co-op and flip the system on its side for a vertical screen orientation is the real deal. Ikaruga is a timeless classic, and for those of us without a swiveling monitor, the Switch is just about the ideal way to experience it.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Just one more port, I swear

Treasure's everlasting shmup Ikaruga is officially headed to Nintendo Switch.

After some not-so-subtle port teases last month, ??the company is moving ahead with Nicalis for a Switch version that's due out May 29, 2018. It'll cost $14.99 on the eShop.

Notably, Ikaruga will let you play in TATE mode, which is to say that you can hold your Switch on its side for a vertical screen orientation. That's the dream right ther??e, folks. Here's a screenshot:

I don't need another copy of Ikaruga, but then again maybe I do...

Ikaruga Blasts Its Way to Nintendo Switch on M?ay 29??! [Nicalis]

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Tease central

Whenever I see Treasure still being talked about, my eyes ligh??t up.

Most of their classics are still relevant and played today, but the more platforms we can play them on, the merrier. Based on this complete tease of a tweet, we might be getting that chance with Ikaruga on Switch. Officially tweeted out by Treasure, it sure looks like the company is using a Joy-Con grip and a Pro Controller to play Ikaruga on ??the platform. They're currently trying to get the vertical bit right, and presu??mably once they figure that out, they could announce the port in the future.

Naturally this could open up the door to plenty of other Treasure games on modern platforms in the future, like Bangai-O and possibly the pair of Sin & Punishment games. As far as we know Ikaruga is also coming to PS4.

Treasure [Twitter]

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Hello darkness, my old friend

Ikaruga is one of thos??e games that can't be ported enough. The vertical shoot-'em-up is a bona fide gem, the kind of shmup that even people who "don't really mess with shmups" can lea?rn to love.

A recent listing with Germany's ratings board suggests that we'll see t??he game again before long, and its next stop is going to be on PlayStation 4. Treasure is handling the p?ort, according to the USK.

The last time we saw Ikaruga was four years ago, on Steam, so it's been a while. And as much as it probably goes without sa?ying, I hope Treasure has more than ju?st PS4 plans in mind.

Ikaruga [USK via Gematsu]

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Go buy it!

One of the most acclaimed shmups ever is making its debut on PC today. Yes, Ikaruga, Treasure's renowned polarity-shifting shooter, is o?u??t now via Steam for $9.99.

Ikaruga initially released in Japanese arcades at the turn of the millennium, but has since gone on to see releases on Dreamcast, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox 360, and Android over the years. The latest version vaunts hig?h-definition visuals, an exclusive horizontal mode?, and the option for single controller co-operative multiplayer.

Having just taken it for a test run, I can safely say Ikaruga looks and plays just wonderfully on its new home -- even with a mouse and keyboard. Sure, it's a bit of an adju??stment from a WaveBird or Naomi cabinet, but standard PC controls are surprisingly not ter??rible. Still, I think I'll stick with a DualShock.

Ikaruga [Steam]

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Company is focused on PC development right now

Ikaruga coming to Steam by way of Steam Greenlight was an unusual sight to behold but if that's weirdly what it takes to get Treasure games on the platform, I'm all for it. In an interview with Famitsu, Treasure presid?ent Masato Maegawa said there's indeed plans to port more titles to PC.

"Ikaruga is the first one, and we don't intend on stopping there," he told the publication. "There are some players who say 'How about Radiant Silvergun?' but we also don??'t int?end to only do ports. We're thinking of making a new original title for the platform, Steam."

Chief dire?ctor Atsutomo Nakagawa commented that "A side-scroller action game might be pretty good..." to which Maegawa responded "Hey! We haven't decided on anything, yet!"

『斑鳩』がSteamで近日配信　なぜいまSteamなのかをトレジャーに直撃 [Famitsu via Siliconera]

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Potentially the first of many Treasure shmups coming to Steam

Ikaruga descended upon Steam Greenlight today, joining the myriad of pro?spective releases awaiting approval in Valve's Soviet bread lin??e.

The legendary shoot-'em-up initially launched in Japanese arcades back in 2001, but has since made its way to the Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox 360, and Android devices. Elegantly designed and fierce??ly challenging, the title is renowned for its polarity mechanic, which allows players to absorb oncoming fire.

The Steam release will be an enhanced version of the relatively recent Xbox 360 port and will feature local two-player co-op astride all the original content. Japanese developer Treasure, the team behind a host of acclaimed arcade shooters ranging from Sin & Punishment: Star Successor to Gunstar Heroes, hopes this will be just the first of several titles from its catalog to arrive on? Steam.

Perhaps Ikaruga's equally excellent spiritual predecessor, Radiant Silvergun, will be the next to make the jump to P??C. Here's hoping.

Ikaruga [Steam Greenlight]

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Be Agressive! is the latest OCR tribute album

Treasure knows how to make some f*ckin' games. That's an undisputed fact. And one of the best Treasure games is of course Gunstar Heroes on SEGA Genesis. Did you kno??w it just celebrated its 20th anniversary thi??s past Monday? How time flies!

So obviously OverClocked ReMix would mark the occasion with a brand new tribute album. Be Aggressive! collects 24 tracks from 19 artists to help you relive every action-packed second. I still get goosebumps thinking about Seven Force! Treasure are truly gods when it comes to badas?s ??boss battles.

I'd also like to mention that on Thursday, September 12, OC ReMix celebrated a different anniversary: 10 years of making game arrange albums! You should download the site's very first album, Relics of Chozo, in honor of this ??accomplishment. Really takes me back ??to my college days!

Be Aggressive!: A Gunstar Heroes Tribute Album [OverClocked ReMix]

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What? No way!

As far as we knew, Kokuga would be coming westward to the 3DS "sometime this summer," but apparently that day is actually tomorrow! Yep??, the North and South American release date is set for June 27th, 2013, with a June/July estimate for Europe and Australia. The listing confirms 1-4 player support of some fashion (reportedly local with download play).

It seems like a pretty bizarre game (in a good way), with limited bullet restrictions and card based mechanics. It also looks like the game will launch at a premium price of $14.99, so you may want to check out some impressions first! As a huge fan of Ikaruga, I'll be getting it for sure.

Kokuga [Kokuga.net via GoNintendo]

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Kokuga coming to eShop this summer

A successor to two of the greatest shoot-'em-ups ever made is coming to Nintendo 3DS in Western territories later this summer. Kokuga, the latest project from Ikaruga and Radiant Silvergun director Hiroshi Iuchi, is preparing to make its attack run on the eShop in t??he Americas, Europe, and Australia sometime either this month or next. 

Unlike its forebears, Kokuga eschews the classic fighter jet set-up and in favor of a "compact mobile tank." Set against the backdr??op of an ethnic rivalry hurtling towards war, the game centers on a young operating crew learning to use the armored vehicle in a variety of simulations and training exercises. Of course, it all goes horribl??y wrong and the youngsters are pressed into service. Commence the shooting!

Kokuga Official Site [G.Revolution -- Thanks, Jared]

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Pew pew pew

Shoot 'em ups are basically the sharks of the videogame industry. Relics from a bygone era, they've remained steadfast since the dawn of time. And really, would you have it an??y other way? Exemplars of the mantra "if it ain't broke don't fix it," these venerable killing machines achieved perfection long ago and have no intent on changing any time soon.

Over the years Treasure has amassed an impressive résumé of STGs which includes Radiant Silvergun, Ikaruga, and Sin & Punishment: Star Successor. But what's the developer working on now? Word is they've trained their sights on the 3DS. CEO Masato Maegawa divulged to gamesTM that the company is currently hard at work on an exclusive action title for Nintendo's portable. That's not a whole lot to go on at this point but??, as a shark enthusiast, I'm incredibly excited. Because sharks, dear reader, are awesome. Always have been and always will be. 

Sin And Punishment ??Developer Treasure Working On 3DS Exclu??sive [NintendoLife]

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It's going to be a 'WTF Wednesday' of ridiculous proportions today on Mash Tactics. King Foom is flinging himself face-first into Treasure's oddball PlayStation 2 title Stretch Panic. I could go into a full description of the game, but all you need to know is that the player pinches, stretches, and pops comically over-sized breasts with a magic scarf. Tun?e in and lay your gaze upon t??his triumph in 'WTF?' gaming.

Mash Tactics airs Monday through Friday at 4p.m. Pacific on Destructoid's Twitch TV channel. Watch King Foom pla??y a variety of games, each day with its own theme. With a heavy focus on community and viewer interaction, you can be as much a part of the show as anything else.

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[Not sure what Mash Tactics is? I've included a classic clip to show you just a glimpse of what you've been missing, you daft fool! You can see all of Destructoid's previously-aired live shows in our archives.]

Today, Mash Tactics is playing Guardian Heroes, a Sega Saturn classic which has just been released on XBLA with updated graphics and online cooperative play. The game still contains its original Saturn graphics for ??those retro purists among you. We're giving you a chance to see if this game is for you. Or, if you've already bought it, we invite you to?? jump in and play with us.

Mash Tactics airs Monday through Friday at 4pm Pacific. Watch Jon Carnage and Wesley Ruscher let loose with off-the-wall humor and discuss the issues of the day in the live chat on Destructoid's Twitch.tv channel. Also, there are videogames being played. ?Join us for your chance to win prizes, talk ?to industry guests, and witness all of the glorious  antics.

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Some four years after Treasure's Masato Maegawa hinted at a re-release of one of the finest shoot-'em-ups ever to grace the world, Radiant Silvergun is finally available on Xbox Live Arcade for a fraction of what the Saturn game used to go for on? eBay.

Shmup enthusiasts will no doubt have blindly picked up this new version of the game the moment it came out, but not every classic from the '90s has made a successful revamp on current-day digital platforms. Thankfully, just like Ikaruga, Radiant Silvergun on XB??LA is everything that mad?e it great, and more.

Radiant Silvergun (Xbox Live Arcade)
Developer: Treasure
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Released: September 14, 2011
MSRP: 1200 Microsoft Points

Radiant Silvergun dist?inguishes itself from the typical shm??up primarily through its approach to weaponry. You have access to seven different weapons right off the bat, and the more you score with each weapon, the stronger it will slowly become as it levels up.

This can be a bit overwhelming?? to those new to the game, but a couple of attempts and a dozen deaths later it becomes second nature. Weapons range from the typical frontal and backwards shots to sideways-shot bombs that explode when yo?u release the button, to homing missiles, lasers, and plasma shots; there's a weapon for any situation and any type of player preferences, although you'll want to hone your skills with each weapon to utilize them where they are best used.

Finally, you have the Radiant Sword. When held, this will project a sword from your ship that moves around as you move your ship around. The Radiant Sword eats up some of the bullets to clear a path through bullet hell and once it has had its fill, you can activate a Hyper Sword attack to do massive damage to a large area of the s?c?reen.

By destroying three enemies in a row of the same color, you receive a chain combo bonus. If you are serious about reaching a score worth writing home about, this is where you'll have to keep practicing at over and over again. Each time you follow up one chain with another of the same color, your bonus will multiply, making it worth it to ignore that one ship here and there in favor of keeping your combo chain going. If you have an Achievement in Ikaruga, you can also unlock Ikaruga Mode whic??h keeps chains going per three same-color kills instead ??of per color alone.

As many enemies as there are to chain for those delicious combos and high scores, Radiant Silvergun has no shortage of bosses that it throws in your face left and right. You could just rid yourself of these bosses by simply destroying their key components, but destroying a boss piece by piece provides you wit?h more points and an extra chance to level up your weapons.

Compared to other shmups both old and new, Radiant Silvergun still holds up great. The level and enemy design combined with the deep weapon options at hand are?? a dream to play, the bosses are varied and challenging without being cheap and while it's hard to enough to even finish the game, factorin??g in the chain system makes the game even harder to complete with a decent score.

The primary difference between the Arcade and Story modes on offer is the -- *gasp* -- story in Story mode, and the ability to save your weapon progress. Story mode offers some screaming Japanese characters in anime-style panels that now have localized subtitles, as much good as that will do you in understanding what is going on. More interesting is the ability to save you?r weapon leveling progress upon death and then starting from the beginning with your upgraded weapons intact.

The Xbox Live Arcade version provides what you'd expect from a current-day port with some nice touches to boot. As the original Radiant Silvergun has a 4:3 aspect ratio, you are stuck wi??th some leftover screenspace on a widescreen display. You can fill it with a number of background wallpapers and even change their brightness if you want, with optional button info for the various weapons displayed on the right-hand side by default.

The amount of customization borders on the ridiculous. A myriad of display options can be configured and tinkered with as you please. The display size for the game proper can be changed, as well as the horizontal and vertical positioning, while the total screen size can be adjusted in all four directions to match yo?ur TV preferences.

More importantly, the graphics have received a high resolution update that looks pretty good if you don't know, or don't remember, what Radiant Silvergun used to look like. Initially it doesn't quite impress visually by today's ?standards, especially the laughably blocky textures ?on the bosses. Switch the high-res graphics to the low-res original format during a busy fight in-game, however, and the resulting blocky sprites will make you appreciate the level of increased detail Treasure has put into this version.

You can choose between the original ??low-resolution graphics, a smoothed-out version of the old graphics, the new high-res graphics, and finally the high-res graphics with fancy new effects. Even the translucency options can be toggled if you please.

Besides the graphical update, online leaderboards and online multiplayer have been added to the game, which even gives you subtitles for the Story Mode's wacky dialogue. Not that it makes the story any more comprehensible; if you didn't know what was going on in 1998, reading the dialogue in English won't change that much. In a nutshell, though, everything you'd want from a XBLA version of Radiant Silvergun is here.

Control-wise it will just depend on what? you are stuck with. Using the Xbox 360 controller, all weapons are mapped to one button each by default. Again, this can be a bit ov??erwhelming for novices but training and the ability to swap to the traditional three-button arcade layout, where different button combos fire different weapons, removes any obligatory annoyance you may have with this. Overall, the standard controller suffices for those without a fightstick or a fightpad with an actual d-pad that is worth a damn, but only barely; your ship is easy enough to control with the analog stick, albeit lacking in precision and definitely not the control method of choice for most.

Using a standard Hori EX 2 fightstick, Radiant Silvergun works like a charm. For some reason, however, the game lets you press any button to map to any weapon you want, but flat out?? refuses to do so for the left and right triggers. You can still remap everything as you please by simply cycling through all the bu??ttons per weapon, so it's not a huge issue even if it is an odd one.

What's even better is that you can simply swap from a controller to a fightstick and vice versa by pressing Start on the respective controller at the title screen. The game will still want you to sign in again, but you don't have to go through that awful process of manually signing out on one controller just so you can sign in the same profile on another controller. I could really have used that feature during my Guitar Hero and Rock Band days.

The Arcade and Story modes on offer give you the core shmup experience with plenty of options for each to fit any type of playe??r. You can give yourself more continues and whatnot, but only the Score Attack modes where you have limited lives can be uploaded to the leaderboards. Between the core modes, the high-res graphical updates, and more options than you're likely to use, you can safely throw away that overpriced Saturn copy and stick with this ??latest iteration of the game.

Make no mistake, though: you will die, you will die often, and you'll have to accept that you might be one of many who will most likely never finish it -- let alone in Score Attack mode. If that makes you think twice and if you bought Ikaruga only to play it a couple of times before giving up, Radiant Silvergun is n??ot likely to be?? that one game that finally makes you complete a shmup.

For the shmup enthusiast it's a different story. Radiant Silvergun doe??sn't just hold its own against the contemporary competition, but offers the classic game with different graphical skins and a host of options to reach a fa??r wider audience than ever had the chance to experience its excellence before.

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Finally. Radiant Silvergun for the Sega Saturn was my jam, and now Treasure's beautiful shmup will be my new jam on the Xbox 360. Yes, the XBLA version of this fine game is coming our way on September 14. Treasure's webpage says so.

You can play in both A??rcade and Saturn modes in this version, with your scores now going to online leaderboards. P?lease do not look at mine! Also, there's online co-op play, downloadable player data and improved visuals. HNNNNGGGG.

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