Racketboy

I still have not gotten past the 2nd level of this compelling game.
In fact, I'm still trying to get past the first level without losing a life.
Please tell me I'm not the only one with this problem.

Am I missing some non-obvious technique?

Without infinite lives, I always ran out in the middle of the third level.

I was one of those diluted maniacs who played until I could achieve the "no-miss clear". 32 million points and absolutely nothing to show for it.

The only advice I have is don't follow the chains if you simply want to beat the game. I wouldn't play any other way, and it took me a long time just to reach the end.

I put it down to this - my reaction times are not quick enough for this game. I have no problem pulling out counters, super moves, and anything of the kind in fighting games, but I could never keep the concentration levels and my reaction times high enough to stop taking damage in Ikaruga.

Having said that, I still love it! hehe

Same here. I always get to the middle of the third level, get destroyed by the miniboss and then ultimately decimated by the spinning wheel of death boss.

After playing it for a while, I got better. You will eventually find there is a sort of flow to it, then the game plays you. It's truthfully one of the best games out there once you get that feeling.

yeh i think i just about got past level 2 once - but Im pretty much in the same boat as you Racketboy

I still love it though, its one of those games that just feels so stylish and artistic

everything the music the graphics even the fonts are pure class IMO

there a lives code for this game?

The gamecube version unlocks more continues every couple of play hours. When you first start playing you get something like one continue, but after you play an hour then every time you play you get 2 continues. As you play time increases you get more continues every couple of hours. When you hit 10 hours of playtime you unlock infinite continues. Don't know if this is true on the dc version though.

It takes lots of practice and there's absolutely no way of getting around that. First level becomes easier and easier to a point- then the rest of the game is second to impossible to beat w/o continues. Third level miniboss and boss are what usually get me. Still haven't gotten to third stage of chapter 4 yet