Ikaruga vs Einhander

I got my copy of Ikaruga today, and I have to say I'm very impressed. Superb graphics and sound and top gameplay. Had to ditch the control pad for the joystick - improved playability no end

I've never actually played Radiant Silvergun ( ) so I can't compare Treasure's previous 'masterpiece'. Ikaruga is very slick, definitly the best shooter I've played for a long long while.

Despite this praise though, I'm not convinced that the game is better than Einhander for PSX.

Sure the graphics are a lot crisper than Square Soft's effort, but then the DC is a little bit more powerful than the PSX. Neverthless, Einhander's graphics still impress today and were mindblowing back in 1997.

Both games are pretty tough, but Einhander is bigger, has an impressive array of ships and power-up's and has some of the best and well animated bosses in a shooter I've seen.

Sound and presentation on Einhander are tops too, as you'd expect from Square.

So which do you guys prefer? I think Einhander just edges it myself....

Still my fave shoot 'em up <img src="graemlins/glee.gif" border="0" alt="[Glee]" />

I just wish Square would develop a PS2 sequel instead of churning out pointless dire sequels to Final Fantasy...

I think Ikaruga is WAY better than Einhander.

Ikaruga, in my eyes, is virtually flawless in all aspects of the game

In Einhander, many of the forground and background objects were extremely tough to tell apart, causing many un-necessary deaths.
Also, the final boss in Einhander is so impossibly difficult and awful in all ways imaginable. I hate the constantly changing camera while you fight the last boss. It makaes it impossible to tell where you are and it really made me dizzy and gave me a headache after so many times trying to just beat it. The last boss battle in the game is just absolutely awful, imo.

Ikaruga? I can't think of anything to complain about right now.

[ September 14, 2002: Message edited by: Ducky ]</p>

How is Ikaruga compared to Mars Matrix..? Please use as many different aspects as you can. Difficulty, bullets slow/fast,and so on...

R-Type Delta Rocks. One of the few PSX shooters I like.

Sorry Tarma, Einhander is not my style!

Ikaruga's cool, but I have to play it. I only have seen some nice videos.

I think they're apples and oranges honestly. Einhander is a shooter in the classic vein, with Thunder Force-ish "which weapon is best for the job" gameplay, along with it's unique grabbing of powerups from defeated enemies and placing them on the ship strategically trying to manage your gunpods. Ikaruga really is an experimental beast, with it's NO powerups and measly charge shot. It just entirely comes down to preference.
There's a great many 32-bit shooters I'd say are better than Einhander, namely R-Type Delta, Thunder Force V, and Radiant Silvergun.

Einhander.... LOL, there is no comparsion, that game is boring and uninspired. Yes, I have it. It looks great, that's about it.

I mean, Thunderforce V has more bite than Einhander. I think I felt asleep playing Einhander Seriously, it just lacks intensity. And when I play a shooter, it is all about intensity.

Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga both have it in spades!

Well, I love Einhander. Artistically, game-play wise, and musically it just floors me. Perfect control, great challange, and great style that just grooves with what I like.

Ikaruga is great too, but Einhander get's my vote!

I never played either of these games yet, but I must say that what Treasure did graphically with Radiant Silvergun on the Saturn is absolutely stunning. It looks like a DC game! No one took advanage of the Saturn as well as Treasure did in that game.

Not that this has anything to do with anything, just saying this cause you (Tarma) mentioned graphics as a main point.

[ September 15, 2002: Message edited by: dmhawkmoon ]</p>

You can't compare Ikaruga to Einhander coz they are two different types of game.

Ikaruga is verticle shooter and Einhander is horizontal pseudo 3D shooter.

It's better to group Ikaruga, Mars Matrix, and Giga Wing 2 together and Einhander to R-type Delta and R-type.

As much as I'm loving Ikaruga, I have to say Einhander is much better even though it's nearly 5 years old now. It's probably the only Squaresoft game other than FF Tactics that I play at all anymore. Yes I know my name is Phoenix Down but frankly all the FFs after 6 just didn't do it for me.

I haven't played Ikaruga yet but I've played Einhander to death and a lot of other shooters out there and I'd have to say that Einhander is one of the best IMHO. Excellent graphics, wide variety of enemies and original, awesomely modeled bosses, and one of the best sound - the use of German was genius!! R-type Delta is another awesome shooter and Radiant Silvergun is and will always be the benchmark for top notch, of-epic-proportions shooters. People say RS is way overrated, but unlike other hyped up games (like Dragon Ball GT), RS deserves it.