Today, I am a man.
OK, well, that’s up to interpretation.
But I did finish Ikaruga. Granted, I finished it by playing it until the “pity the shooter-impaired person” mode kicked in and the game switched into unlimited continues mode…
The best I was able to manage with NINE continues, which is the last stop before “Free Play” was this: I was able to see, and even damage a bit, the fourth end of level boss. There are five levels. The last level is almost all bosses. If you want no know what TRUE pity is: the only way I beat one of those was that eventually they give up and go away and hand you over to the next boss.
But, I watched the credits scroll. That fits my criteria of “finished”, and I’m sticking with it.
It boggles my mind that some people can play through this on one credit.
The only shred of dignity I have left is this – the game has several unlockables, and the first you can unlock either by playing for 5 hours or by beating the TRAINING level without continuing.
I unlocked it in under 3 hours played. That is the best I can do.
Also, this morning’s weight : 188.6 – I have officially hit my goal weight, and my BMI of barely-under-25 means that I am, by strict definition, now in the 1/3rd of Americans who is NOT overweight or obese. Now I just have to work on getting what’s left of me into a little better overall shape.
