Hi heroes!
Yes, perhaps the time has come to speak a bit about what IRO HERO stands for. This is because Iro, the main character, has the ability to change the color polarity of his spaceship. Iro can switch between blue and red. Enemy shots of the same color will not harm Iro. On the other hand, Iro can only cause damage to enemies of the opposite color.
Are you already thinking about Ikaruga? Well, we are. We love Ikaruga. We think it was an amazing game, one of the best shmups ever made. But we think it could have taken much more advantage of such an interesting mechanic. So here we are, trying to do it.
In IRO HERO we aim to a twist to puzzles, focusing on making smart decisions as fast as possible. For that, we introduce new mechanics in each level, with new interactive elements the player needs to learn how to use in order to get acrosss the level.
But first of all, we are being honest: IRO HERO is not for everyone. It is an old school game, quite hard. Losing your three ships during a level means starting from the very beginning of the game. But this is how old arcades from the 80’s used to work! The key is everytime you died, you learn something useful to help you get further next time. And that kind of feeling is what we are trying to accomplish. We hope you will feel proud for finishing the game.
Anyway, let’s unveil some details about our levels and these mechanics:
Level 1. This is the easiest level. We only want the player to get used to the controls, learning how to move, shoot and avoid enemy fire.
Level 2. IRO HERO starts to unveil its main mechanic. Blue and red enemies alternate, forcing the player to switch between red and blue all along the level.
Level 3. Things are getting harder! Blue and read areas appear. No ships or shots can get across areas of the opposite color. So, Iro can use them to be safe from shots, but also has to take car to not get through them using the wrong color.
Level 4. Iro unlocks the first special. It propagates an electric shock among several enemies, causing death to regular enemies and great damage to bigger ones. Full joy!
Level 5: Purple areas appear! This color areas protect the player from enemy shots and switch your shots’ color. So be sure to choose the proper color fast and use them wisely.
And yes, we’re preparing more levels. But allow us to let those for a forhcoming post. If you want to know more, you can always suscribe to our newsletter and we’ll keep you tuned with latest news about IRO HERO.