Update: February 23, 2006
«©NCSX» The first production of Ibara is bundled with a bonus 15-page booklet courtesy of Arcadia Magazine. Flip through the pages to check out the ship types, gameplay details and information on all six stages and the Rose Family boss for each stage. Until we update otherwise, all orders for Ibara will include the bonus Ibara booklet.

View the back cover of the game and the front cover of the bonus booklet on the main NCSX website.

The shooting action is of the simple sort with a standard shot button and a bomb button. Bond pilots a speedy ship with a dual-shot arms system while Dyne's ship blows out a more powerful shot stream but moves slower. Seven weapon types may be activated by picking up little metallic devices which change the standard vulcan shot to a 5-way blaster, homing missiles, machine guns, and our favorite, the napalm blast which lingers on enemy armor for added damage. Up to three weapons may be equipped and toggled for use in different situations and against various enemies. The bomb attack clears the screen of both enemy ships and their shots. To spice up the game, there's a special wrinkle with the bomb system as well.

* When your guy catches shrapnel, he'll moan as the ship explodes and a Rose sister laughs in the background at your folly.

* In the Now Loading screen, "NOW LOADING" in pink letters moves from right to left as faint outlines of roses move in the opposite direction in the background.

* After pressing START, the following modes appear:

ARCADE MODE / Start a new game in original arcade mode and layout
ARRANGE MODE / Customize your game with Fighter type, Bullet Design (Color, Normal, Clear), Key Configuration
GALLERY / View 13 pages (x 6) artwork of the Rose girls, ships, locations, sketches, and heroes. Everything is unlocked at the outset and may be viewed immediately.
OPTION / Set screen to Yoko, Tate R, or Tate L, toggle wallpaper, set sound levels
EXIT / Return to title screen

* In the ARCADE MODE setting, there's a Practice option if you wish to try the game first and you'll be fully powered up with a full complement of sidearms and trailblazers. Players may set the bomb stock, player stock, and fighter type. The default EXTRA ship is earned every 1,000,000 points but you may set it to every 2M or 3M as well as only one EXTRA ship once 1M, 2M, or 3M is earned. The CONTINUE option may be toggled on or off. The KEY CONFIG allows you to map the SHOT and BOMB buttons to any of the face buttons or triggers though we think they're fine just as they are (O for BOMB and X for SHOT). There are two facets to the DIFFICULTY level in the game - Difficulty 1 may be set to eight gradations as follows:

SUPER EASY
VERY EASY
EASY
NORMAL
HARD
VERY HARD
SUPER HARD
UNBELIEVABLE

Difficulty 2 also support eight gradations as follows:

MINIMUM SLOW
VERY SLOW
SLOW
MEDIUM
FAST
VERY FAST
MAXIMUM FAST
UNFORGETTABLE

* The game starts off with a thick orange ship (Type-A) that hurtles across a short runway and over a mountain ledge, crossing a body of water before reaching the shores of the enemy. The water below shows wavy effects but is otherwise unremarkable but if you observe closely, you may see three sea creatures swimming from right to left as they leave a little wake in the waves. You're greeted by a group of spinning helicopter ships that approach and track the player's ship while firing off purple colored double missiles. As the sight of the enemy installations appear, the first line of ground defense consists of a battery of gatling gun machines as well as mounted turrets which track your flight and shoot more purple shots. The spinning helicopter ships continue their assault as new units replenish those that have dropped off the screen. As the first wave of ground forces are destroyed, additional heavy armor moves in from the right side of the screen while the gunfire from your ship begins to decimate the ground installations below. That won't do. More reinforcements are sent in but they're of little consequence to any seasoned shooter. Midway in the level, you'll encounter swinging arms that swish to and fro which have guns mounted on them but they're otherwise unremarkable and destroying the installation that they're mounted upon will get rid of them also. As you continue your progress through the first level, power ups may be picked up which add little side ships to your craft which aid in fire as well as providing a shot blocker.

* The first boss is a gal named Orange Meillandina who pilots a ship that occupies the upper half of the screen and looks like a big orange bat of sorts. It spouts out structured purple shots that form shapes as they course through the air. There's circular shapes and double circles followed later by red missile shots that form triangular shapes as they course through the air. There's the usual screen-filling buckshot that one has to slowly maneuver through but its standard fare. As she takes on damage, she'll release purple lances and blue swords which criss-cross the screen to provide a moving maze to maneuver through. Meillandina also makes use of a gatling gun mounted on the center of her ship which blasts off steady streams of thick purple wedges that move slightly faster than the other shots she's streaming off.

* In the second level, a canyon area awaits which starts off with a pipe which snakes on the floor and plugs into the side of a mountain wall. Ships stream in that look a lot like your ship, except they're colored purple and they move in line formations which make them patsies to your attack. They're followed up by a heavily armored mech on the left side of the screen that shoots out a brisk patter of purple circular shots and a group of green mechs on the right who press the attack with blue laser fire. More ships waltz in and perform their galactic dancing and add to the chaos as the screen fills up with ground units as well as aerial bombers who fly in for the kill. Gloire de Midi is the second boss who's accompanied by a goose-like ship that blows out waves and waves of red streaming shots in quick succession. She sits in a massive drab-green colored tank which rolls below the goose and eventually joins the attack by blowing out chunks and chunks of whirling variable speed buzz-saw-like objects. As you whittle down the tank's defenses and ruin Gloire's chances at stopping you, it'll shoot out a devious maze of fire that requires quick twitching to move your ship quickly to "safe spots" which last for a microsecond before its time to move to another safe spot.

* The levels progressively increase in difficulty. The third level is pretty unbelievable in the amount of firepower that's thrown at your ship - imagine the defense budget for the Rose empire... Shooter fans who enjoy a fairly difficult game that requires skill will appreciate Ibara. The game is a doozy. In the third level, there's a respite from the fierce shooting in the early part of the level when you encounter a hopping robot who jumps up and spins in mid-air while unleashing a torrent of spots that radiate from it in an outward motion. The shots are easy to avoid since they'll part away from each other as they radiate outwards so its a chance to catch your breath and collect yourself before the carnage begins anew. After the first wave of shots, it will start shooting thick streams that arc in front of it. After that, it shoots out DoDonPachi Daioujou class radiating shots that are tightly spaced and allow very little room for error. The game forces you to make use of the entire expanse of the screen real estate to avoid shots, maneuver through storms, and prepare for the next waves of enemies. When one nears the third level boss, a huge flock of birds flies up from the bottom of the screen. The third level boss takes things easy at the outset but once her first line of armor is cracked, she fills up the screen with billowing fire that again, is of the DonPachi class of attack which leaves little quarter for error or misjudgment.

* When power ups are caught, the type of weapon that they add to your arsenal appears over your ship such as "Machine Gun" When your ship is destroyed, all of your power-ups burst out of your ship and fill up the screen. In the CONTINUE countdown, each number is echoed by a girl who chuckles in a sobbing sort of way. Your ship also releases a massive amount of shrapnel when it is destroyed which in turn destroys everything in their path of destruction.

* The song that plays in the first level is called Bonds of Steel. Get it? Bond - character in the game. The second song is Like a Rolling Stone.

* The Rose Sisters in the order of their stages are:

1st Guardian: Meidi aka Orange Meillandina
2st Guardian: Midi aka Gloire de Midi
3rd Guardian: Kasumi aka Hana Kasumi
4th Guardian: Shasta aka Mount Shasta
5th Guardian: Lace aka French Lace
6th Guardian: Teresa aka Mother Teresa

* Ibara is a technical shooter that relies on the piloting skills of players to successfully navigate through the game on a single ship. We forgive you if you need three ships to make it through the levels. There's no shot-thwack gimmick, Reflect Force, or other shot diversionary tactics to take the heat off for a few seconds. This is pure, unadulterated shoot 'em up action which was the meat and potatoes of the genre in the early days. Your only solace is the bomb attack to clear up the joint for a few seconds before the carnage starts anew.

The alternative SKU # for this product is SLPM-66301.

Jan Code: 4988611205396

This document is ©NCSX 2006. All rights reserved. No reproduction in whole or in part of this document may be made without express written consent of National Console Support, Inc.