is a 2005

vertically scrolling shooter A vertically scrolling video game or vertical scroller is a video game in which the player views the field of play principally from a top-down perspective, while the background scrolls from the top of the screen to the bottom (or, less often, from ...

developed by Japanese developer

Cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

and published by

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. I ...

. It was ported to the PlayStation 2 in 2006.

Gameplay

Ibara is very similar to 8ing/Raizing's ''

Battle Garegga is a vertically scrolling shoot'em up arcade game developed by Raizing and published by Eighting in 1996. It was later ported to the Sega Saturn in 1998, and an updated version, ''Battle Garegga Rev.2016'' was released in 2016. It was follow ...

'' and ''

Battle Bakraid is a vertical scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game by Eighting released in 1999. It is the spiritual successor (sometimes incorrectly thought of as a sequel) to the 1996 arcade game ''Battle Garegga''. Players control one of nine fighter jets ...

'' games. So much so that Ibara could be considered a pseudo-sequel or, at least, a spiritual successor. The similarities are numerous - some are subtle, some are easily spotted. These include combining archaic technology such as biplanes with more advanced machinery; firing and a power-up system; and a medal collecting system which drastically increases scoring. The game features a similar method of earning bombs and a delay when launching them as well. Some of the enemies and their attack patterns are very familiar such as the large cranes in stage 1 and the minigun-wielding first boss. The enemy's explosions spiral around when destroying some of the heavier weapons/scenery and thin, while seemingly camouflaged enemy bullets are scattered around the play area in comparable patterns. More subtle references include the

HUD Hud or HUD may refer to: Entertainment * ''Hud'' (1963 film), a 1963 film starring Paul Newman * ''Hud'' (1986 film), a 1986 Norwegian film * ''HUD'' (TV program), or ''Heads Up Daily'', a Canadian e-sports television program Places * Hud, Fa ...

layout which lists the name of the current stage at the top of the screen and, when starting a stage, tells users the title of the

background music Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behav ...

that is playing. A notable feature of Ibara is the inclusion of a variable, real-time difficulty system by way of the ''Rank'' system. The player's rank increases as they acquire more items and cause more damage, increasing the difficulty of the game along with it. The number of enemies does not increase but the number of bullets fired towards the user does, often reaching a ridiculous level of bullet density. There are ways of lowering this rank system if the odds appear too much. The only known way of decreasing the player's Rank in Ibara is to die. The more lives you have, the less the rank decreases when you die. In the later version, Ibara Kuro: Black Label, Rank can be decreased by cancelling bullets with a bomb, however Rank also increases much faster in this version, potentially increasing from minimum to maximum in a matter of seconds.

Plot

In the delicate realm of Keritona, 10 ladies are built by an ancient doctor.

Development

Programmer Shinobu Yagawa previously worked on the games

Recca ''Recca'' is a 1992 scrolling shooter video game developed by KID and published by Naxat Soft for the Family Computer. Controlling the titular space fighter craft, the player is sent to counterattack an invading alien armada while avoiding colli ...

, and ''Battle Garegga''.

Release

The game was released in arcades on July 15, 2005, and it was released on the PlayStation 2 on February 23, 2006. To remedy some of the concerns fans had with the original version of the game, Cave released an updated version in limited distribution called ''Ibara Kuro: Black Label''. It was released on February 10, 2006. The update contains many additions, some of which appeared earlier in the released PlayStation 2 port in the form of Arrange Mode. A sequel, '' Pink Sweets: Ibara Sorekara'', was released in the arcades on April 21, 2006.

Reception

Weekly Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...

'' magazine awarded the PlayStation 2 version of ''Ibara'' a score of 26/40 based on four reviews (7/7/6/6).

References

External links

* Official websites fo
Arcade
and versions {{CAVE games 2005 video games Arcade video games Cave (company) games Cooperative video games Japan-exclusive video games Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation 2 games Steampunk video games Vertically scrolling shooters Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Shinji Hosoe