Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo Wii) - Japanese Preorder

Milestone gave gamers Chaos Field, Rajirugi (Radirgy), and Karous in the past few years but they're back with another vertical shooter which sports a strange name. Illmatic Envelope originally made the rounds in location tests at Club Sega venues last year and was officially released this past summer in Japan as a coin-op Naomi kit.

We're convinced that Milestone builds their shmups with a "Shoot 'em up construction kit" which allows them to lay out the stages, adjust the palette, and set the bullet patterns. The construction kit is probably open-ended so they can add new functions by way of special "filters" or "modules" that make their shooters less cookie cutter and discernible from the previous one. In Illvelo, players shoot at enemies with standard shots but "dolls" may also be used to attack and protect the main ship. The wrinkle in Illvelo that makes it unique is the warp function where over 100 hidden stages may be visited for short jaunts where objectives are conquered and the player is rewarded. Milestone's home conversion of Illvelo is slated for the Japanese Wii and preorders are welcome today.

No comments: