Difference between revisions of "Karous"

From Shmups Wiki -- The Digital Library of Shooting Games
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Line 30: Line 30:
  
 
== Gameplay Overview ==
 
== Gameplay Overview ==
−
Karous is a vertical scrolling shmup with 5 Stages and a [[TLB]]. Each stage has boss, stage 3-5 also have midbosses.
+
 
 +
=== Basic Game Info ===
 +
----
 +
Karous features 5 stages and 3 game modes:
 +
*Easy Mode: 3 stages
 +
*Normal Mode: 5 stages
 +
*Hard Mode: 5 stages and unlockable [[TLB]]
 +
The game is played with an 8-way stick and three buttons.
 +
 
 +
The default extends are at 50 million and 200 million points.
 +
 
 +
A full run is 1 loop only and lasts around 25 minutes.
 +
 
 +
=== Controls ===
 +
----
 +
* '''A :''' Shot
 +
* '''B :''' Sword
 +
* '''C :''' D.F.S. (when available)
 +
* '''Not holding A or B :''' Shield
 +
 
 +
The 2025 Ports also offer a rapid-fire option.
 +
 
 +
=== Interface ===
 +
----
 +
[[File:Karous_interface_base.png|480px]]
 +
*Top left blue vertical gauge : D.F.S. gauge (or SP gauge)
 +
*Top left yellow horizontal gauge : HP gauge
 +
*Top left three circles : Weapon levels
 +
*Top right white number next to "EXP" : Score
 +
*Top right red number : Total level
 +
*Top right small white text : Log
 +
*Long vertical red gauge on the right : Boss Durability gauge (only appears when fighting bosses)
 +
 
 +
Sometimes you receive a message and it is displayed on the bottom of the screen.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
----
 
The player’s ship has 4 different weapon systems, a regular spread shot, a sword for melee range, a shield and a D.F.S. Bomb. The shot, sword and shield can be powered up by earning experience points from destroyed enemies or collecting specific power up items dropped by special enemies. The D.F.S. gauge can be filled by destroying enemies and cancel enemy bullets with the shot or shield. When the gauge is full it can be consumed to use the D.F.S. Bomb. During the D.F.S.-attack the player ship is invincible and the player gets a bonus on experience points and score from destroyed enemies.
 
The player’s ship has 4 different weapon systems, a regular spread shot, a sword for melee range, a shield and a D.F.S. Bomb. The shot, sword and shield can be powered up by earning experience points from destroyed enemies or collecting specific power up items dropped by special enemies. The D.F.S. gauge can be filled by destroying enemies and cancel enemy bullets with the shot or shield. When the gauge is full it can be consumed to use the D.F.S. Bomb. During the D.F.S.-attack the player ship is invincible and the player gets a bonus on experience points and score from destroyed enemies.
−
As soon the shield is leveled up to 20, it acts also as an offensive weapon by refelecting enemy bullets.
+
As soon the shield is leveled up to 20, it acts also as an offensive weapon by reflecting enemy bullets.
 
The overall level of the ship is displayed on the right side of the screen and also appears on the leaderboard.
 
The overall level of the ship is displayed on the right side of the screen and also appears on the leaderboard.
 
The weapon power-ups dropped by carrier-enemies can be changed by hitting them with the sword. They can also turn in to speed-up or speed-down items.
 
The weapon power-ups dropped by carrier-enemies can be changed by hitting them with the sword. They can also turn in to speed-up or speed-down items.
  
−
Some enemies also drop items that increase your score. These look like small, blue triangles. By slashing them with the sword, they can be upgraded to bigger triangles, that are worth more points. Sometimes they also turn into special items like instant D.F.S., unlimited shield, extra lifes, weapon power-ups or a rare item that turns Bullets into score bonus (orange triangle).
+
Some enemies also drop items that increase your score. These look like small, blue triangles. By slashing them with the sword, they can be upgraded to bigger triangles, that are worth more points. Sometimes they also turn into special items like instant D.F.S., unlimited shield, extra lives, weapon power-ups or a rare item that turns Bullets into score bonus (orange triangle).
  
 
=== Items ===
 
=== Items ===
Line 81: Line 117:
 
|}
 
|}
  
−
=== Game Modes ===
+
====Hidden Items====
−
----
+
Each stage in Normal Mode and Hard Mode has one hidden item on the ground. The spots where the items are hidden react to the player's weapons, but only one weapon can uncover each one of them.
−
At the beginning of the game you can choose from three different difficulty-options:
 
−
* ''Easy:'' Only the first 3 Stages, enemies shoot only destroyable bullets
 
−
* ''Normal:'' All 5 Stages, Enemies also shoot undestroyable bullets
 
−
* ''Hard:'' All 5 Stages + TLB, Enemies shoot more and also bigger undestroyable bullets
 
  
−
Every stage has a hidden bonus with the shape of the Milestone symbol. It can be unvieled by attacking a certain spot in the stage with a specific weapon (Shot in Stage 1 & 2, Sword in Stage 3 and Shield in Stage 4 & 5). Collecting all hidden items is a requirement to unlock the TLB fight. The other requirement is to beat the Stage 5 Boss before he times out.
+
The hidden item locations and the weapon to uncover it is indicated in Shigi's message.
  
−
=== Controls ===
+
The hidden item appears as a 3D Milestone logo[[File:Radirgy_-_Milestone_logo.png|32px]] in Milestone releases, an SFL logo [[File:Sakura_Flamingo_Archives_-_Sakura_Logo.png|32px]] in Sakura Flamingo Archives, and a cicada [[File:Karous_cicada.png|64px]] in RS34 releases.
−
----
 
−
* '''A :''' Shot
 
−
* '''B :''' Sword
 
−
* '''C :''' D.F.S. (when available)
 
−
* '''Not holding A or B :''' Shield
 
  
−
The 2025 Ports also offer a rapid-fire option.
+
Playing in Hard Mode, collecting all 5 hidden items, and defeating the boss in stage 5 without [[Time-out]] are required to see the TLB.
  
 
== Characters ==
 
== Characters ==

Revision as of 16:55, 22 May 2026

Karous
Karous title.png

Title screen

Developer: Milestone
Release date: 2006
Previous game: Radirgy
Next game: Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)

Karous (jap.: カラス, karasu) is a cel-shaded, vertical shmup from 2006 developed by Milestone. It was published by Sega and released November 15, 2006 in japanese Arcades on Sega’s NAOMI platform and later ported to Sega Dreamcast on March 8, 2007. It was the last Dreamcast game, that was officially licensed by Sega.


For replay videos, visit the Video Index.

Gallery

See Karous/Gallery for our collection of images and scans for the game.

Gameplay Overview

Basic Game Info

Karous features 5 stages and 3 game modes:

  • Easy Mode: 3 stages
  • Normal Mode: 5 stages
  • Hard Mode: 5 stages and unlockable TLB

The game is played with an 8-way stick and three buttons.

The default extends are at 50 million and 200 million points.

A full run is 1 loop only and lasts around 25 minutes.

Controls

  • A : Shot
  • B : Sword
  • C : D.F.S. (when available)
  • Not holding A or B : Shield

The 2025 Ports also offer a rapid-fire option.

Interface

Karous interface base.png

  • Top left blue vertical gauge : D.F.S. gauge (or SP gauge)
  • Top left yellow horizontal gauge : HP gauge
  • Top left three circles : Weapon levels
  • Top right white number next to "EXP" : Score
  • Top right red number : Total level
  • Top right small white text : Log
  • Long vertical red gauge on the right : Boss Durability gauge (only appears when fighting bosses)

Sometimes you receive a message and it is displayed on the bottom of the screen.


The player’s ship has 4 different weapon systems, a regular spread shot, a sword for melee range, a shield and a D.F.S. Bomb. The shot, sword and shield can be powered up by earning experience points from destroyed enemies or collecting specific power up items dropped by special enemies. The D.F.S. gauge can be filled by destroying enemies and cancel enemy bullets with the shot or shield. When the gauge is full it can be consumed to use the D.F.S. Bomb. During the D.F.S.-attack the player ship is invincible and the player gets a bonus on experience points and score from destroyed enemies. As soon the shield is leveled up to 20, it acts also as an offensive weapon by reflecting enemy bullets. The overall level of the ship is displayed on the right side of the screen and also appears on the leaderboard. The weapon power-ups dropped by carrier-enemies can be changed by hitting them with the sword. They can also turn in to speed-up or speed-down items.

Some enemies also drop items that increase your score. These look like small, blue triangles. By slashing them with the sword, they can be upgraded to bigger triangles, that are worth more points. Sometimes they also turn into special items like instant D.F.S., unlimited shield, extra lives, weapon power-ups or a rare item that turns Bullets into score bonus (orange triangle).

Items

Normal Items

A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Change item spawn when you take a damage. Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.

Item Item
(translated)		 Description Log
Karous P.png Karous P en.png Point (small and large): Increases your score.
A small and a large point item have a base score values of 500 and 3000, respectively.		 Small:
500(your level)=score
Large:
3000(your level)=score
Karous EXP.png Karous EXP en.png Experience Points: Gives you experience points. The color of the item corresponds to a specific weapon with a similar color. Shot:
SHOT EXPERIENCE GET!
Sword:
SWORD EXPERIENCE GET!
Shield:
SHIELD EXPERIENCE GET
Karous Shield.png Karous Shield en.png Auto Shield: Deploys a shield in front of your machine for about 6 seconds.
After that, the shield is retracted and you have to wait the usual shield deployment duration to use it again.		 AUTO SHIELD ON!
Karous Change.png Karous Change en.png Bullet Conversion: Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. ITEM CHANGED!!
Karous life.png Karous life en.png Recovery (small and large): Recovers your HP gauge a little.
A small recovery item increases your HP by 1. It has a larger variant that gives you 5 HP.
Your HP does not go higher than 60.		 Small:
RECOVER!!(+1=your HP)
Large:
RECOVER!!(+5=your HP)
Karous SP.png Karous SP en.png D.F.S. Charge: Completely fills your D.F.S. gauge. SP GAUGE FULL!

Career Items

A career item is spawned when you defeat an item career. Slashing a career item changes it in a more predictable way, so you are likely to get what item you want.

Item Description Log
Karous ShotLv.png Shot Level-up: Increases your shot level by 1 and keeps your current experience points.
Slashing this item will change it into a sword Level-up item.		 SHOT LEVEL UP!(your shot level)
Karous SwordLv.png Sword Level-up: Increases your sword level by 1 and keeps your current experience points.
Slashing this item will change it into a shield level-up item.		 SWORD LEVEL UP!(your sword level)
Karous ShieldLv.png Shield Level-up: Increases your shield level by 1 and keeps your current experience points.
Slashing this item will change it into a speed-up item.		 SHIELD LEVEL UP!(your shield level)
Karous SpeedUp.png Speed-up: Increases your movement speed by one level.
Slashing this item will change it into a speed-down item or a shot level-up item.		 SPEED UP!(1.0)
Karous SpeedDown.png Speed down: Decreases your movement speed by one level.
Slashing this item will change it into a shot level-up item.		 SPEED DOWN!(1.0)
Karous Heart.png Recovery: Gives you 10 HP.
Your HP does not exceed 60.
When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your ship. If you already have 60 HP, a level-up item appears instead.
Recovery item also has a small chance to spawn from an item career or slashing a career item.		 RECOVER!!(+10=your HP)

Hidden Items

Each stage in Normal Mode and Hard Mode has one hidden item on the ground. The spots where the items are hidden react to the player's weapons, but only one weapon can uncover each one of them.

The hidden item locations and the weapon to uncover it is indicated in Shigi's message.

The hidden item appears as a 3D Milestone logoRadirgy - Milestone logo.png in Milestone releases, an SFL logo Sakura Flamingo Archives - Sakura Logo.png in Sakura Flamingo Archives, and a cicada Karous cicada.png in RS34 releases.

Playing in Hard Mode, collecting all 5 hidden items, and defeating the boss in stage 5 without Time-out are required to see the TLB.

Characters

  • Karous (カラス) – Player's ship pilot
  • Shigi (シギ) – Navigator
  • Akahara (アカハラ(赤原))
  • Hakugan (ハクガン(剥眼))

Scoring/Strategy

The main strategy is to fill your D.F.S. - gauge as quick as possible and use the D.F.S. to absorb bullets, destroy enemies for score and level up your preferred weapons early. High scoring requires a very aggressive playstyle.

Also try to make use of the score items as much as possible by "juggling" them and picking them up at their maximum worth.

Bigger enemies, midbosses and bosses have destroyable parts, so you want to destroy them piece by piece.

You can earn a lot of points from bossfights, by destroying single parts and absorb bullets with your D.F.S. The bosses can be milked, but time out pretty quickly so if you take to long you won’t earn points for destroying the boss.

This also makes it pretty easy to dodge the bossfights by sitting on the bottom of your screen and hiding behind your shield.

Ports / Releases

  • Milestone Shooting Collection 2 - 2010, Wii (JP)
  • Sakura Flamingo Archives - 2014, Xbox 360 (JP)
  • Karous - The Beast of Re:Eden - 2015, 3DS (JP/NA/EU)
  • Karous - 2025 by RS34, Steam (JP/NA/EU), Switch/PS5 (JP)

References

  1. 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
  2. Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)
Retrieved from "https://shmups.wiki/index.php?title=Karous&oldid=38100"