IKARI III
( Ikari III - The Rescue )
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怒III
©1990 K.Amusement Leasing Co.
©1990 SNK Corporation.
Release: 1990-03-16 (¥5600)
Cartdridge KAC-3D
Action game
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Released in America as
IKARI III THE RESCUE
( NES-3D-USA )
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Ikari III is an action game by KAC and conversion of the arcade game
of the same name originally released by SNK in 1989. The 'Crime Ghost',
a secret organization led by the ruthless and megalomaniac commander Fausuto (aka 'Faust'),
is poised to take over the world. In their pursuit of global domination, they have
kidnaped the president's daughter and threaten to kill her if he doesn't step down
from his position. His only hope is to summon the Ikari Warriors, and to
convince them to rescue Erisu (aka 'Elise') from the enemy organization. Ikari III
follows a radically different approach than its predecessors - both Ralf and
Clark use their fists and feet as their primary weapons instead of their
trademark machine guns and grenades. Thus, the meat of the game is to fight off swarms
of enemy troops, and to throw combination of punches (A), kicks (B) and jump kicks
(A+B) at them. However, the warriors can still collect temporary weapons along the way, all of which
have very limited ammo (10 shots for the machine gun and a single throw
for the grenades). The machine gun does a come-back during some of the boss
battles though, and the player is granted unlimited ammunition until they finally bite the dust.
Ikari III features six levels, exclusive cutscenes and a two simultaneous player mode.
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Ikari III was an arcade game by SNK originally released in 1989 (picture on the right).
With this installment, the series curiously departed from its traditional roots and relied
on a beat'm up gameplay rather than an all out run'n'gun approach. The graphics changed
accordingly and the character's sprites were much larger on the screen (which certainly was much more
appropriate for this genre). Also, and unlike the first two episodes, Ikari III was structured
into distinct levels. The game was ported to the Famicom (1990),
PC DOS (1990) and Commodore 64 (1990). The Famicom port tested
here shows significant differences - sprites are (obviously) a lot smaller on screen,
the stages' layout is slightly different and features exclusive new bosses and enemies.
The player can also only move and shoot in four directions instead of eight and
the knife is nowhere to be seen. Finally, an exclusive underwater scuba diving level was added
as well as cutscenes.
Interestingly, the Japanese Famicom version only features three continues, unlike
the American NES version which allows unlimited continues.
See Ikari (Fc) for more information about the Ikari series.
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Teaser text copied from the American version:
It is the end of the 20th century. A worldwide
economic recession wreaks havoc with
the nation and the planet. The impending
threat of anarchy has given rise to a secret vice
organization called "Crime Ghost". Dangerously
poised to take over the world with its diabolic
strategy, "Crime Ghost" has infiltrated every
country simultaneously. There is one President
who has initiated a plan to wipe out the
association, but now his home has been attacked
and his daughter Elise abducted. A letter has
arrived demanding that he resign his powerful
position within a number of days, or else his
beautiful Elise will be executed in a most
unpleasant manner. The letter is signed "Faust",
the notorious mastermind of Crime Ghost. The
president knows to whom he must turn.
The President has summoned two men known as
Paul and Vince, the incredible Ikari Warriors.
Now, YOU become Paul and Vince. You must go
to the enemy hideout, rescue the lovely Elise,
fight Crime Ghost, and destroy them all. To do
this, you will use your undersea scuba tactics;
your guerilla fighting power with machine
guns and grenades; and your own brute
strength, together with your superior Martial
Arts skills, performing kicks, round-house kicks,
jump kicks, punches, and more. Ikari Warriors,
save the world from chaos! Now!
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Game Staff (Copied from the end credits) :
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IKARI III MAKING STAFF
Programer
 Lonly Heart
Kattoi 2A03
Director
Oba
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Designer
Tessa I
TazenSakamoto
Oh! Toki.
Y. Maeda
Manoru....!
Gagamaru
Gero.Gero
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Sound Composer
Kidon
Yoko.O
Hinjakun
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Special Thanks
John.Guso
Kohyan
Producer
Eikichi Kawasaki
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Click on picture to enlarge |
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
O
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s
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It took KAC three takes to eventually get it right. The first
Ikari was a disaster, the second was a mess and the third one is
surprisingly correct. Well, not exactly, read on. The first gotcha is the
fact that Ikari III is not a run'n'gun anymore, but an average
beat'm up - to be fair, this was also the case with the original arcade game.
No, my biggest gripe is the terrible collision detection (punches don't always
hit) and the randomness of the whole experience is
frustrating. Some enemy soldiers have moves closer to ballet dancing than martial
arts, they sometimes just fly across the screen and don't even bother trying
to hit you, and some die in one punch whereas others take forever despite all your
best efforts. But the game looks
more than correct, the graphics are sharp and
detailed, the controls actually work (I wish you could move in eight
directions though, and not four), and KAC threw an exclusive scuba-diving
level which is probably the best part of the game. Although Ikari III is
somewhat repetitive and flawed in places, it is the "best" Ikari game
for the system (well, the first two are plain awful).
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