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Radirgy

2026-06-02T16:24:42Z

Mirashar:

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Radirgy
|background = #FAD999
|image = Radirgy - Title Screen.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = Milestone
|
|programer = Manabu Matsumoto, Jiro Hamaya
|
|music = Kou Hayashi, Daisuke Nagata
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : October 2005 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : 16 February 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''GameCube''' '''JP''' : 25 May 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''US''' : Cancelled '''PS2''' '''JP''': 25 May 2006<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : 10 April 2008 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : 30 December 2012 <ref> https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': 27, Nov 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Radirgy 2 (Switch, PS4, PS5)''' '''JP''': 23, Mar 2024<ref>https://www.beep-shop.com/sap/radirgy2/</ref>

|previousgame = [[Chaos_Field|Chaos Field]]
|nextgame = [[Karous]]
}}

Radirgy ( ラジルギ ), also known as Radio Allergy, is a vertical shmup from 2005 developed by [[Milestone|Milestone]] and is the company's first foray into the cel-shaded style that will define their shmups' visual identity from that point onward.

Unlike their previous game [[Chaos_Field|Chaos Field]] which was focused on a series of boss battles, Radirgy's design is mostly influenced by older caravan shmups with dynamic enemy wave spawning and fast enemy destruction, albeit with more modern enemy bullet counts and patterns. On top of this foundation, Radirgy adds a focus on regularly using invincibility in order to tear through enemies and boost a score multiplier.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gameplay overview ==
=== Basic info ===
----

* Vertical orientation, and vertical screen
* 1 player only
* 8-direction movement and 3 buttons
* The player starts with 3 lives
* Default extends are at 8 and 20 million points
* No loops. A full run lasts around 30 minutes

=== Controls ===
----

* '''A (Hold):''' Shoot
* '''B (Hold):''' Slash
* '''C :''' Activate the ABS Net and become temporarily invincible. Requires a gauge to be full
* '''Not holding A nor B :''' Deploy a shield

Note : Preemptively holding the C button in order to instantly activate the ABS Net as soon as it becomes available will not work in this game. Half-C presses will not be registered. Activating the ABS Net requires a fresh C press after it becomes ready.

=== Interface ===
----

[[File:Radirgy - Interface.png|400px]]

* Top left green radio reception signal : Score multiplier indicator

* Top left horizontal green gauge : Score multiplier gauge

* Top left battery : Player HP

* Top right big white number : Player score

* Top right small white numbers : Score bonuses (is hidden by default, requires a special input to be displayed. Refer to the Unlockable Secrets section for more details)

* Bottom left blue gauge : ABS Net gauge

* Top right red gauge : (Mid)boss HP. Only appears during (mid)boss fights

=== Unlockable Secrets ===
----

==== Display additional score information ====

When playing the game, it is possible to activate an additional text display on the top right of the screen that will appear whenever an enemy is killed or a point item is collected.

When killing an enemy or collecting a floating point item, this scoring indicator shows the base point value, the current multiplier, and the final value. When collecting a ground item, it will also show the total number of ground items collected up until that point. The multiplier will always be 1 for those specific items, so the base and final values will be identical.

Depending on the version and port, the method to display the indicator differs :

* Arcade : Press Start while holding C
* GC : Press Z
* DC : Press Start while holding X
* Wii : Press Start while holding X
* PS2 :Press Select

=== Mecha configuration ===
----

Before starting each run, the player can mix-and-match two parameters for the mecha :

* Shot type. 3 different shots types are available : Wide shot, 123 laser, Bubble shot. More details in (weapons)

* Speed. 3 speeds can be chosen from, each being assigned a number of stars to denote the speed level :
** Slow [[File:Radirgy - Speed star.png]][[File:Radirgy - Speed star.png]]
** Normal [[File:Radirgy - Speed star.png]][[File:Radirgy - Speed star.png]][[File:Radirgy - Speed star.png]]
** Fast [[File:Radirgy - Speed star.png]][[File:Radirgy - Speed star.png]][[File:Radirgy - Speed star.png]][[File:Radirgy - Speed star.png]][[File:Radirgy - Speed star.png]]

The mecha color will reflect which one of the 9 combinations is used. Once chosen, the combination of shot type and speed cannot be switched during the run, even when using a Continue.

[[File:Radirgy - Mecha color schemes.png]]

=== Life system ===
----

The player starts with 3 lives, each represented by a green rectangle inside the battery in the HUD.

[[File:Radirgy - Battery - 3HP.png]]

The mecha can freely move over enemies as there is no collision damage in this game. However, it will lose a life when its brown backpack hits a bullet, a laser, or a flame.

If the player collects an extend while the battery is already at the maximum, the battery will increase in size to accommodate the new life. If the battery has been previously partially emptied due to prior damage, then the extend will only refill one unit of the current battery. The battery can go up to 5 units in size, which can be reached with the two score extends.

[[File:Radirgy - Battery - 4HP.png]] [[File:Radirgy - Battery - 5HP.png]]

One noticeable influence of this mechanic is on a late-game item that can fully refill the life battery. (refer to Scoring->ground item and Milestone logo for more details) If the battery was at its default size of 3, the player is guaranteed to have 3 lives after collecting it, but a battery size of 4 or 5 could increase the life refill potential of this item even more. This can allow the player to tackle the last section of the game with more resources if they collected extends before losing any lives and thus increased the amount of life slots in their battery.

There is no point bonus for remaining lives nor for battery size through the game. Losing a life does not inflict any scoring nor power penalty, and it spawns several point items around the player as well as an ABS Net recharge item in order to assist with recovery.

=== Weapons ===
----

Shot : Holding the shot button will make the player mecha continuously fire. There are three different shot types the player is asked to choose from before starting a run :

{| class="wikitable" style="background-color:#fffff3;"
|- style="background-color:#FAD999;"
| style="width:10%;" | <big>Shot type icon</big>
| style="width:80%;" | <big>Description</big>
|-
| [[File:Radirgy - Wide shot - icon.png]]
| Wide shot : A standard wide shot with medium power and a large range.
|-
| [[File:Radirgy - 123 laser - icon.png]]
| 123 Laser : A powerful laser with a narrower range. The twin lasers in the center of the attack are piercing, while the lasers on the side will lock on to enemies they hit and keep damaging it until it's destroyed, leaves the screen, or gets too far away from the player.
|-
| [[File:Radirgy - Bubble shot - icon.png]]
| Bubble shot : A more unconventional weapon that mixes multiple types of bubbles. The big middle bubbles will travel upwards and slow down whenever they touch an enemy, inflicting continuous damage while they overlap. The side bubbles move diagonally upwards and then explode.

It is also possible to use an external rapid-fire for this shot type in order to increase the frequency at which bubbles are fired, potentially increasing the overall player DPS. [VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQhni4mPlCk ]
|}

Sword : The mecha is equipped with a sword. Its range is much more limited than the shot, but it can inflict powerful damage on the enemies it hits. While holding the dedicated button, the mecha will keep swinging the sword, with very short cooldowns between two swings.

Power-up system : The shot starts at a default power level, and its range and power can be increased 6 times by collecting dedicated items from specific containers.

When taking a hit, or when using a Continue, no power-down penalty is incurred.
If the shot and sword are used at the same time, the shot width is reduced.

Shield : When the player doesn't shoot nor slash for a second, the mecha will deploy a shield in front of it. The shield will cancel bullets that touch it (but not flames nor lasers). If the player directly touches an enemy with the shield, said enemy will receive continuous contact damage from it.

ABS Net : A disc-shaped force field that surrounds the player mecha and temporarily makes it invincible.

Activating the ABS Net requires the ABS Net gauge to be full. When the ABS Net is active, it will cancel the bullets and auto-collect the items inside its radius. Enemies that come into contact with the ABS Net will also receive damage, albeit only a very minor amount.

At the end of the ABS Net's duration, two things will happen : A full screen bullet cancel will occur, and every on-screen item will be auto-collected. The player also remains invincible for 3 seconds after the ABSNet ends.

The ABS Net gauge is immediately emptied when an ABS Net is activated, but said gauge can be recharged even when the ABS Net is currently active. This means it is possible to chain multiple ABS Net uses one after the other, provided that it is fully recharged in time.

=== Hazard types ===
----

Hazards in this game can be classified into 4 different categories, depending notably on the possible ways to cancel them.

{| class="wikitable" style="background-color:#fffff3;"
|- style="background-color:#FAD999;"
| <big>Bullet Type</big>
| <big>Can damage the player?</big>
| <big>Can be canceled with shot or sword?</big>
| <big>Can be canceled by shield?</big>
| <big>Can be canceled by ABSNet?</big>
|-
| Solid bullets : Most of the bullet types in the game belong to this category. Those are usually round (but wave-shaped blue bullets also count) and will inflict damage on the player when a collision occurs.
| Y
| N
| Y
| Y
|-
| Destructible bullets : Some bullets have square/diamond-ish shapes and can be destroyed. Shooting or slashing them will indeed cancel them. If those bullets are erased with the sword, they will be turned into blue pills. If the shot was used instead, no pill will be generated.
| Y
| Y
| Y
| Y
|-
| Harmless bullets : This rare category of bullets mostly pertains to the stage 2 boss, which has specific parts that shoot leaves and various sports balls. These behave just like destructible bullets, however touching them will not hurt the mecha.
| N
| Y
| Y
| Y
|-
| Non-cancellable hazards : A few bosses can fire flames or lasers. While these can not hurt the mecha as long as the ABSNet is active, they will not be erased either in such a situation.
| N
| N
| N
| N
|}

=== Items ===
----

Radirgy features many item types which can all help the player in a way or another.

Depending on the item type, the method to spawn them will be different. The most common scenario is the regular point item that spawns when killing every enemy in a wave or hitting big enemies in specific spots. Some will appear when destroying specific item carriers, while others require the use of item juggling. Once spawned, items will slowly fall off the screen until they are interacted with or leave the playfield. Transitioning from a level to another will also not migrate the onscreen items to the next stage, and as such, any leftover uncollected item will be discarded.

The game has a juggling mechanic that allows the player to keep some item types on screen by hitting them with the sword. This pushes the item upwards and also has a chance to randomly change it into another item. Items that change due to juggling can only mutate into one of the other item types that can also be juggled.

{| class="wikitable" style="background-color:#fffff3;"
|- style="background-color:#FAD999;"
| style="width:10%;" | <big>Item</big>
| style="width:75%;" |<big>Description</big>
| style="width:15%;" | <big>Behavior when slashed</big>
|-
| [[File:Radirgy - Power up item.png]]
| Power up : Spawns from item carriers. Increases the power and width of the shot (and sword?)
| Collected
|-
| [[File:Radirgy - Shield autodeployment item.png]]
| Temporary automatic shield : Spawns from item carriers once the mecha is full powered. Brings up the shield in front of the player mech even if it's currently shooting. This effect lasts for a few seconds. Once this item's effect wears off, the shield will be automatically retracted, even if the player isn't actually using their weapons. In this case, the mecha can redeploy the shield as usual, but only after it has retracted it and waited the usual shield deployment duration. [VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNr0jOS8Kr8 ]
| Collected
|-
| [[File:Radirgy - 1UP item.png]]
| 1UP : Spawns at the top of the screen when the extends thresholds are reached. This item also has a 0.8% chance of spawning from an item carrier. [VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tDRyGrUGVU ]
| Collected
|-
| [[File:Radirgy - ABS Net recharge item.png]]
| ABS Net recharge : Fully recharges the ABS Net gauge when collected. Whenever the player is hit, this item will always spawn among the released items, but it can be juggled into something else
| Juggled
|-
| [[File:Radirgy - Point item small.png]][[File:Radirgy - Point item.png]]
| Point item (small and big) : Item that spawns when fully killing an enemy wave or destroying one of a big enemy's weakspots. The item starts out small and has a base value of 500 points when collected in this state. The most likely item this can transform into when juggled is its bigger variant, worth 3000 points instead
| Juggled
|-
| [[File:Radirgy - Multiplier increase item.png]]
| Multiplier boost : Fills 25% of the multiplier gauge (or 12.5% in Manpuku mode), boosting the current multiplier to the next possible value
| Juggled
|-
| [[File:Radirgy - Bullet Converter item.png]]
| Bullet converter : Rare item that transforms every single on-screen bullet into a small point item when picked up. Lasers are not converted into items
| Juggled
|-
| [[File:Radirgy - Ground point item.png]]
| Floor objects : Square items left by destroyed ground structures. There are 255 items in the game and their value increases the more of them you collect (see scoring-> ground items and milestone logo)
| Nothing
|-
| [[File:Radirgy - Milestone logo.png|64px]] [[File:Sakura Flamingo Archives - Sakura Logo.png|64px]]
| Milestone/Sakura logo : Special logo that can be triggered once in stage 5 under specific circumstances (see scoring-> ground items and milestone logo). When uncovered, it will grant a 1 million point bonus (which can be multiplied). When picked up, it can refill the player's HP bar and provide additional bonus points (more details in Scoring->Milestone logo)
This item appears as a Sakura logo in Sakura Flamingo Archives. In all other versions, it will be a Milestone logo.
| Nothing
|}

Additionally, the following pill items are automatically collected. Instead of moving towards the player mecha, they will directly rush towards the respective gauges they fill.

{| class="wikitable" style="background-color:#fffff3;"
|- style="background-color:#FAD999;"
| style="width:10%;"| <big>Item</big>
| style="width:90%;"| <big>Description</big>
|-
| [[File:Radirgy - Pill blue.png]]
| Blue pill : Increases the ABS Net gauge. Blue pills are spawned when killing enemies, inflicting damage on larger enemies and destroying their weak spots. Canceling destroyable bullets with the sword will also generate blue pills. When hitting enemies or destroyable bullets specifically with the sword, more blue pills will be spawned.

Blue pills can come in different sizes too. The bigger the pill, the more recharge it will provide to the jauge.

Bigger pills will be spawned when an entire enemy formation is destroyed

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeoeWDdo7Hw ]
|-
| [[File:Radirgy - Pill green.png]]
| Green pill : Increases the multiplier gauge. Green pills are spawned when canceling bullets with the ABS Net and the shield. Additionally, contact damage inflicted on enemies by touching them with the shield will also generate green pills. The rate at which this contact damage pill generation occurs is faster if an ABS Net is also active at the same time. [VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FGifhAUWHo ]
|}

=== Scoring ===
----

Radirgy's scoring was designed with heavy inspiration from caravan shmup scoring<ref>http://shmuplations.com/milestone/</ref> and its focus on quickly killing enemy waves. The scoring system also adds several layers of complexity with its multiplier, gauges and item management.

==== Enemy wave quick-killing ====

Caravan shmups traditionally feature a dynamic wave spawning system in which an enemy wave being fully destroyed or leaving the screen is what will trigger the next wave's spawn. Radirgy also follows this system, with the additional twist that several sets of enemy waves are simultaneously active and independent from one another, instead of a single set like it usually is the case.

Typically, stages in Radirgy have one set of large enemies, where killing the current on-screen large enemies will spawn the next ones, and several sets of small enemy waves. Since focusing on one enemy wave can come at the cost of the other waves, juggling the destruction of all the enemy waves on screen is one important aspect of the scoring.

The first three bosses in the game will also feature waves of small enemies that fight alongside them. Just like their non-boss variants, they are worth points and can be quick-killed during the boss fight to spawn more enemies, recharge the ABSNet faster, and generate point items.

==== Multiplier ====

Radirgy features a multiplier system. The vast majority of points the player can earn are subject to a multiplier that goes from x1 to x16, in increments of powers of 2. This means the multiplier goes from x1 to x2 to x4 to x8 and then x16. Ground items are one of the few things that aren't affected by the multiplier, but other enemy kills or point item collections can have their value multiplied.

The multiplier is set to x1 at the beginning of each stage, and the multiplier gauge will be empty. Whenever the player collects green pills, the multiplier gauge will fill. When the gauge reaches specific thresholds inside this gauge, the multiplier will increase. The radio signal strength indicator in the HUD will also change to reflect the current multiplier.

Killed enemies will also leave a colored multiplier indicator where they were on the playfield, letting the player know the score multiplier obtained for each without necessarily having to look at the HUD.

{| class="wikitable" style="background-color:#fffff3;"
|- style="background-color:#FAD999; text"
| <big>Value</big>
| <big>Antenna receiver</big>
| <big>Multiplier visual</big>
|-
| x1
| [[File:Radirgy - Reception x1.png]]
|
|-
| x2
| [[File:Radirgy - Reception x2.png]]
| [[File:Radirgy - x2 multiplier.png]]
|-
| x4
| [[File:Radirgy - Reception x4.png]]
| [[File:Radirgy - x4 multiplier.png]]
|-
| x8
| [[File:Radirgy - Reception x8.png]]
| [[File:Radirgy - x8 multiplier.png]]
|-
| x16
| [[File:Radirgy - Reception x16.png]]
| [[File:Radirgy - x16 multiplier.png]]
|}

When not being fed green pills, the gauge will gradually decrease over time. The player thus has to regularly generate green pills at a high enough rate to prevent the multiplier loss. The story dialogues that occur before and after (mid)bosses will freeze the multiplier decrease but will still let it increase.

Losing a life will not impact the multiplier nor incur any direct scoring penalty.

==== Big enemies weak spots ====

In order to more easily ensure enemy wave quick-killing and multiplier increase, routinely using the ABSNet is essential, either to provide the invincibility that makes it safer to move across the screen and kill waves quickly, or to generate green pills by canceling bullets.

In both cases, the efficiency of pill collection can be optimized by targeting bigger enemies' weak spots. These spots can provide green pills when the shield or ABS Net is used on top of them, blue pills when the sword is used on them, and a small point item when destroyed. In some cases, destroying a weak spot can also prevent the enemy from shooting some bullets. A destroyed weak spot will emit white smoke clouds.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WUYTwWLsSc ]

==== Ground items and Milestone/Sakura Flamingo logo ====

Enemy waves and bosses in the game are air-based. However, there are also ground turrets that the player can destroy. Whenever one of those are destroyed, a blue square-shaped item with a picture inside will appear in its place. Collecting it will give the player some additional points.

Most of these turrets are fixed ground objects that simply move alongside the scrolling, but the stage 5 trains also count as such even if they move on their own. Each of their cabins is considered as a turret and will give a floor item when destroyed.

There are 255 turrets like this in the game, and thus 255 icons. The point value for each item collected depends on the total number of items that have already been collected. The formula for ground items' value is as follows :

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Point value = n * {20+10*(n-1)} / 2
|}

Where n is the total number of items collected. The ground items' point value is unaffected by the regular multiplier.

[[File:Radirgy - Milestone logo.png]]

If the player collects 250 ground items or more, a Milestone/Sakura Flamingo logo can be collected in Stage 5. If the player only collects 249 items or less, said logo will not appear.
[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DysH96lZYFQ ]

In order to uncover the logo, the player has to shoot a hidden spot on the ground in the second half of the stage. It is located between the two train tracks when they split and go their own ways. The secret spot is only vulnerable to shots so letting go of the sword when attacking it will uncover it much faster.

Uncovering the Milestone logo grants a 1 million point bonus, and this value can be affected by the multiplier for a maximum of 16 million points.

The logo itself is considered as the 256th ground item. Grabbing said logo afterwards is a separate action from uncovering it. When collected, the logo can perform different actions depending on the current battery size and the number of lives the player currently has :

* If the player has a battery size of 5 and all their lives intact, the ground item will provide additional points compared to the expected value.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zW6wu3wNV0 ]

* If the player has a battery size of 3 or 4 and all their lives intact, the battery size will increase by one unit and the ground item will provide points following the same formula as the other ground items.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAts65TVgo8 ]

* If the player doesn't have all their lives intact, then the item will refill the player's life battery and provide points following the same formula as the other ground items.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO1Yr-ADChY ]

==== Bullet conversion ====

[[File:Radirgy - Bullet Converter item.png]]

This advanced strategy exploits the bullet converter item in order to change bullet-heavy sections into lucrative sources of points. When picking up this item, every bullet on screen gets changed into a small point item, and these items can also be juggled in order to change one or several of them into another bullet converter item, thus perpetuating the cycle of converting enemy bullets into point items.

This strategy can provide a noticeable amount of points, especially against bosses and midbosses with heavier bullet patterns. On the other hand, there are several reasons why the strategy in general is advanced and risky :

* The bullet converter item's random chance of spawning when slashing an item is very low, thus requiring good luck to trigger one. Having access to more items on screen at the same time can boost the chance to have a converter item spawn, though the odds are still low. Besides, bullet converters are one-time-use items, which means a new one needs to be spawned for every single conversion.
* During extended uses of the conversion trick (such as during boss fights), using the ABS Net causes all the spawned items to be collected, which ends the bullet conversion streak. This means the player will have to avoid using the ABS Net through this scoring trick and dodge bullets that would have been canceled by an ABS Net activation otherwise. As a side-effect, the player will have to regularly spawn and collect multiplier-increasing items to maintain a high multiplier and maximize the value of the point items that this scoring trick will generate.
* Under some circumstances, having too many items on screen at once can even result in the game freezing or crashing [VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjoA49A6yFY ]

== Additional game modes ==

All of the ports of the game feature a standard Arcade Mode. On top of that, some of the ports provide one of the additional modes : Manpuku and Owakari. These port-exclusive modes feature similar enemy waves and bosses but provide some tweaks to the mechanics.

In both modes, the two extends from Arcade Mode are not available. However, the Milestone logo can still be triggered and will refill the player's battery.

Another shared change is that a remixed version of the soundtrack will play instead of the Arcade OST.

=== Manpuku ===

Available on : GC

Manpuku mode's main change is that the multiplier is no longer capped to x16. It instead goes up to x256, once again in powers of 2, from x2 to x4 to x8 to x16 to x32 to x64 to x128 and then x256.

In order to reflect this new cap, the radio signal strength logo can turn red when the multiplier reaches values that are exclusive to this mode.
{| class="wikitable" style="background-color:#fffff3;"
|- style="background-color:#FAD999; text"
| <big>Value</big>
| <big>Antenna receiver</big>
| <big>Multiplier visual</big>
|-
| x32
| [[File:Radirgy - Reception x32.png]]
| [[File:Radirgy - x32 multiplier.png]]
|-
| x64
| [[File:Radirgy - Reception x64.png]]
| [[File:Radirgy - x64 multiplier.png]]
|-
| x128
| [[File:Radirgy - Reception x128.png]]
| [[File:Radirgy - x128 multiplier.png]]
|-
| x256
| [[File:Radirgy - Reception x256.png]]
| [[File:Radirgy - x256 multiplier.png]]
|}

=== Owakari ===

Available on : PS2

Owakari Mode boosts the general difficulty of the game by increasing the speed at which enemy bullets are fired. Some enemies will also replace the bullets they usually fire by bigger ones.

== Misc tips and info ==

* Before starting a run, the player will be given the option to display story dialogues or completely disable them. If the story dialogues are enabled, the player can either let them play out or can press buttons to go through them faster. These will occur at the beginning of each stage, and before each (mid)boss.

One quirk of this feature is that if the story segments are disabled entirely, some of the bonus enemies that spawn once the midbosses are quick-killed will also get disabled. And since story dialogue popups freeze the multiplier gauge's decrease, the multiplier will instead keep falling with less or no enemies in sight to recharge it. The regular enemy spawns in the later half of the stage that do not require a midboss quick-kill are unaffected by this oversight and will properly appear eventually.

Some ports provide a stage select feature in which story segments can't be enabled. In that scenario, the bonus enemies will also be disabled, with no way to trigger them.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3I6XT4TrlA ]

* Bosses from stage 1 to 4 have an antenna on top of them. Destroying the antenna will cause all boss parts to be destroyed at once.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdOLJ63bKJU ]

* Most enemies in the game can be damaged with the shot, sword, shield and ABSNet. When taking damage, they will flash in red. However, if an enemy flashes in yellow, this means it is actually immune to anything but sword attacks. Enemies with this behavior are relatively rare but they exist and will force the player to get closer in order to dispatch them.

This immunity to non-sword attacks can also be a temporary one. This is the case for example with the panel-like enemy that can spawn from stage 3 onwards which can eventually be defeated with the shot after enough time has passed.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VevpzMSGXzM ]

* One of the enemies the last boss and TLB can summon is a square-ish turret with side handles. This specific enemy does not fire bullets on its own. Instead, it will react to the player's attacks. Using the shot or the shield on this enemy will make it continuously fire counter bullets. However, slashing it with the sword is perfectly fine, and the enemy will remain harmless in this situation.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJfH3cuZ9dY ]

* Before starting a run, a "How to play" segment is shown to the player. If left unskipped, it will explain general game mechanics. Under unknown circumstances and in some ports of the game (such as the GC version), the mecha movement can be vertically desynced at a specific part of the tutorial, and it will later take unintended damage during this sequence. While the score gained in the tutorial is properly reset afterwards, this life loss will actually be carried over to the player's actual run.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH_2qeCk0uQ ]

== References ==

=== Links ===

* Archived version of the official Milestone website : https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp
* Dedicated page on the Japanese Wikipedia : https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B8%E3%83%AB%E3%82%AE
* Japanese wiki with story tidbits, character profiles, eyecatches : https://w.atwiki.jp/milestonematome
* English language Radirgy fanpage with various gameplay tips, image galleries, eyecatches, game manuals, and other related media : https://radirgy.neocities.org/

=== Record scores ===

''Refer to https://shmups.wiki/library/STG_Hall_of_Records/R#Radirgy''

=== Scoreboards ===

* JHA hiscore board : https://wiki.denfaminicogamer.jp/highscore/2005_008_%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B8%E3%83%AB%E3%82%AE
* System11 hiscore board : https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15847
* Restart syndrome hiscore board : https://www.restartsyndrome.com/board.php?id=67
* hiscores.shump.com board : https://hiscores.shmup.com/games/30

=== Replays ===

''Refer to https://shmups.wiki/library/Radirgy/Video_Index''

=== List of superplay materials ===

''Refer to :''
* [[List_of_superplay_materials#The_Illegal_Function_-_Radirgy_.28September_28.2C_2006.29|Radirgy Superplay DVD]]
* [[List_of_superplay_materials#Fxxk_Of_Tha_World_.28November_4.2C_2018.29|Fxxk Of Tha World Superplay DVD]]

== Story and characters ==

[Taken from Milestone Shooting Collection Wii's US localization]

A time when the world was full of personal electronic equipment and electric waves, many suffered allergy-like symptoms.

A company was carrying out important research developping a medecine to counter this allergy when suddenly the building was occupied by terrorists.

The father of Shizuru happened to be there that day working on the project! Shizuru, with the aid of her friend Aita, decided to fight the terrorists in order to save the secret work of the project and rescue her father!

{| class="wikitable" style="background-color : #CFEEF4; width:80%"
| [[File:Radirgy - Shizuru portrait.jpg|150px|center]]
| '''Kamigu Shizuru'''

A 16 year old 10th grade girl from the Tokyo area. Like many, she suffers from and worries about the allergy caused by electrical waves. Her family is made up of her father (age 45), mother (age 43), older sister (age 19), and younger brother (age 14).

''"Ahh today as well, my eyes are very itchy...... Aaaaachooo! Is there nothing available to relieve this suffering?"''
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="background-color : #D2C1E2; width:80%"
| [[File:Radirgy - Tadayo portrait.jpg|150px|center]]
| '''Aita Tadayo'''

Friend of Shizuru's from school. She is good with computers and other electronic goods. She is always pushing her eye glasses up with her index finger. Her family is different than Shizuru's and they don't know about her so well.

''"Protection against the worm is strong. Maybe it tries a different path....Mr Biko can handle it! I want to drink a café au lait!"''
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="background-color : #E0E1E2; width:80%"
| [[File:Radirgy - Ruki portrait.jpg|150px|center]]
| '''Mishima Ruki'''

The leader of the terrorist group called "UMBRA". She never smiles and is very calm. Something happened to her past that turned her towards a life of terrorism. She dresses like a boy and wears a trademark white "dreadhead". Even mebmers of the group avoid contact with her..

''"It all started from very small beginnings. The world, myself, everyone, the end... But Mama, I have not made a mistake in my work. It is not understood..."''
|-
|}

-----

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Radirgy/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>
----

[[Category:Vertical orientation]]

Illvelo Swamp

2026-06-02T10:05:08Z

Mirashar: added a bunch of the's and s's

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Illvelo Swamp
|background = #f8f8f8
|image = Illvelo_swamp_logo.jpg
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Nintendo Switch game logo
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = RS34
|
|music = Daisuke Nagata
|
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Takahiro Kawachi, Hayato Okabe
|
|art = Daisuke Nagata
|
|releasedate = November 18, 2021
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy Swag]]
|nextgame = [[Radirgy 2]]
}}

'''Illvelo Swamp''' is a vertically scrolling shoot-em-up developed and published by [[RS34]] for Nintendo Switch in 2021. Like [[Radirgy Swag]], it plays in horizontal orientation, with a slightly angled perspective.

The game's title and general aesthetics draw from the original [[Illmatic_Envelope_(Illvelo)|Illvelo]], though this game introduces new mechanics and has a radically different stage structure. There are 100 stages in total (as a reference to the 100 bonus stages in the original Illvelo)

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__

== Gameplay Overview ==
'''Illvelo Swamp''' is a twin-stick, four-button game with one playable ship. The left analog stick is used to control the ship (with uniform speed) in any direction, or with the directional pad in a total of eight directions. The right analog stick can be used to control the detachable Dolls (modules) independently from the ship.

=== Controls ===

Buttons are configurable in the options menu.
* '''Shot:''' Shoots a forward-facing shot
* '''Doll:''' Various Doll-related features
**If the Dolls are docked to the ship : Launches the Dolls/Activates Megalodoll
**If the Dolls are detached : (Hold) Moves the Dolls in the same direction the ship is moving/(Double tap) Returns the Dolls to the ship
**If Megalodoll is activated : (Double tap) Deactivates Megalodoll and returns the Dolls to the ship
* '''Megalophaz:''' Generates a circular field around the ship that grants temporary invincibility and absorbs all bullets that touch it. Equivalent to a bomb in other games.
* '''A. Shot:''' A toggle to turn continuous shot on or off. With this toggle enabled, the ship (and the Dolls) will continuously shoot as if the shot button is pressed down. This can reduce finger strain for the player.

Also, a '''shield''' appears in front of the ship and the Dolls if the shot button is not pressed for a short time. The shield remains in front of the ship and the Dolls and absorbs bullets until the shot button is pressed again.

== Doll ==
Your ship is a modified TRAX called Xenostrepsi. It has a pair of circular modules called the Dolls. They are very useful for defense as they delete most hazards upon contact.

[[File:Normal Doll (Illvelo Swamp).gif | 410px|thumb|The two ways of moving the Dolls shown in the Doll settings menu. (left) Holding the Doll button. In the default Doll speed setting, The Dolls move at the same speed and direction as the ship. (right) Tilting the right stick. The Dolls move faster and independently of the ship movement.]]

You can detach the Dolls from the ship by pressing the Doll button. After being detached, they launch in the direction the ship is moving or to the front if the ship is not moving. The Dolls shoot normal shots even when separated from the ship. To move the detached Dolls, simply use your right stick. In this way, you can move them faster and more freely than the traditional method, which is to hold the Doll button and move the ship. The speed at which the Dolls move can be configured in the Doll settings menu.

Double-tap the Doll button to return the Dolls to the ship.

==Attribute==
[[File:Attributes.jpg|thumb|the icons for three attributes seen in the ranking screen.]]
There are three attributes of attack you can perform in this game: '''shot, shuriken,''' and''' shield'''.
The ship and the Dolls fire normal shots with the shot attribute.
The shuriken attribute attack occurs when you are holding the Shot button and the detached Dolls are on an enemy. When that happens, they turn green and start to deal contact damage. At the same time, they shoot a spiraling wave of shuriken.
When not firing, the ship deploys a shield in front of itself, and the Dolls also obtain shield attribute. You can deal damage by hitting enemies with the shield (you do not take damage when the ship touches an enemy), but with enough leveling you can reflect enemy bullets by the shield and shoot "ref-shots," another shield attribute attack.

In later stages, you will encounter enemies with attribute barriers. An enemy with such barrier do not take damage unless it gets hit by Megalophaz or attacks with the attribute specified by the color of the barrier.

==Level-up Mechanic==
[[File:Level Display (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|thumb|In-game level display and EXP gauge seen in the bottom left corner of the screen.]]
You can increase the attack power by getting EXP and leveling up each of the attributes. You can get EXP of one attribute by hitting or defeating enemies with attacks with said attribute. You can also get a small amount of shield EXP for deleting enemy bullets with the shield. Oddly enough, you get shot EXP for destroying parts of mid-sized enemies even with shuriken or shield attribute attacks.
You do not get EXP for destroying enemies with Megalophaz.
For efficient leveling, you can get three types of bonuses depending on the type of enemy you destroy.
[[File:Leader Badge (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px|thumb|Leader Badge]]

{|style="width:80%;" class="wikitable"
|-
| [[File:Leader First (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px]]|| '''Leader First:''' In each formation of flying enemies, there is usually one leader signified by a leader badge attached to it. If you destroy the leader before any other enemy in the formation, a thumbs-up icon appears, and you get a Leader First bonus.
|-
| [[File:Formation (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px]]
|| '''Formation:''' If you defeat all flying enemies in a formation, you get a Formation bonus.

|-
| [[File:Parts All (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px]]
|| '''Parts All:''' If you destroy all parts of a mid-sized enemy and then defeat it, you get a Parts All bonus.

|}
Leveling up does not only make attacks stronger, but also changes the attacks' properties.
For the shot attribute, the fire rate and the shot speed increases and the Dolls start shooting more shots in more directions at once. Shuriken slow down on contact with enemies at a very high level. For the shield attribute, refshots get bigger and change their design.

All attributes start at level 0 and are capped at level 300. At the end of every game, the levels for all attributes and the total level are recorded in rankings. The maximum ship level, 900, is barely reachable.

==Megalomajill, Megalophaz and Megalodoll==
[[File:Megalophaz (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|thumb|Megalophaz]]
In the bottom right corner of the screen is the Megalomajill gauge. Megalomajill slowly recharges over time, but you have to defeat enemies by non-Megalodoll attacks in order to quickly get Megalomajill.
When the gauge is full, you can activate Megalophaz, a bomb in other games. It deals a good amount of damage to the enemies caught in the field it generates. 
There is another type of special attacks that consume Megalomajill called Megalodoll. If the Dolls are docked to the ship, you can activate Megalodoll by pressing the Doll button while tilting the right stick.
There are four types of Megalodoll, and you choose which Megalodoll to activate by the direction of the right stick. Three of them have their respective attributes, and the other one has no attributes.
If you activate Megalodoll with the full gauge, it lasts for about 10 seconds without recharging until Megalomajill is depleted. You cannot activate Megalodoll if the Megalomajill gauge is under 20%.

Megalodoll with an attack attribute gives you EXP and score bonuses.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Doll Movement !! Name !! Attribute !! Right stick direction in the default setting !! Description !! What the right stick controls
|-
| [[File:Rolling Doll (Illvelo Swamp)351.gif|205px]]|| Rolling Doll||Shield|| Up||The Dolls rotate around the ship. They can even erase flames upon contact.||The radius of rotation
|-
|[[File:Homing Doll (Illvelo Swamp).gif|205px]]|| Homing Doll||Multi-attribute|| Right||Each one of the Doll modules automatically attacks a separate enemy. How Homing Doll chooses the enemy to attack is not known yet. This Megalodoll can ignore attribute barriers. This Megalodoll does not give you score/EXP bonuses.||Nothing
|-
|[[File:Wide Doll (Illvelo Swamp).gif|205px]] || Wide Doll||Shot|| Down||The Dolls move sideways while shooting, giving you a wider area of attack.||The movement direction and distance
|-
|[[File:Reflct_Doll_(Illvelo_Swamp).gif|205px]]|| Reflect Doll||Shuriken|| Left||The Dolls bounce around the screen and scatter shuriken all over the screen.||the angle of reflection
|}

== Items ==
An item spawns when a leader is defeated, or all enemies in a formation of flying enemies are killed, or a middle-sized enemy is destroyed. Items are attracted towards the ship if they are close to them.
Item names below are based on ones shown in the logs of the DEV mode in Illvelo Swamp Happy Together.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| [[File:Score_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Hi-Score_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Sp-Score_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]] ||| '''Score item/Hi-Score item/Sp-Score item:''' Worth 1000/10000/100000 points respectively. 
Point values are tripled in blue stages.
|-
| [[File:Unfortunate item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]|| '''Unfortunate item:''' Nothing happens when collected.
|-
| [[File:Shot level up half item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shuriken level up half item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shield level up half item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]
|| '''Level up half item:''' Unlike what their name and appearance suggest, it gives a quarter of the EXP gauge of the attribute with the lowest level.
|-
| [[File:Shot level up item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shuriken level up item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shield level up item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]
|| '''Level up item:''' Unlike what the name and appearance suggest, it fills up half of the EXP gauge of the attribute with the lowest level.
|-
| [[File:Shot level up double item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shuriken level up double item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shield level up double item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]
|| '''Level up double item:''' Unlike what the name and appearance suggest, it gives you 1 level for the attribute with the lowest level and keeps the EXP gauge.
|-
| [[File:Mail item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]|| '''Mail item:''' Generates a random email at the bottom of the screen.
|-
| [[File:Shot erase item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]||| '''Shot erase item:''' Erases all enemy bullets on the screen.
|-
| [[File:Shield deploy item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]||| '''Shield deploy item:''' The ship deploys a shield even if it is currently shooting. This effect lasts for 10 seconds.
|-
| [[File:Invinsible item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]||| '''Invincible item:''' Gives the ship temporal invincibility for 10 seconds.
|-
| [[File:Megalomajill item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]||| '''Megalomajill item:''' Instantly fully recharges Megalomajill gauge, enabling Megalodoll or Megalophaz.
|-
| [[File:Extend item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]||| '''Extend item:''' Increases your life count by 1 (up to 5 lives). If you already have 5 lives, it grants 200000 points.
|-
| [[File:Random item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]||| '''Random item:''' Gives you the effect of randomly chosen one of the 19 items described above.
|-
| [[File:Bronze key (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Silver key (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Gold key (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]
|| '''Key(bronze/silver/gold):''' Spawns at the top of the screen when a key order is cleared. Required for unlocking the stage branches. 
Comes in three variants: the standard bronze one, the silver one worth 5 keys, and the gold one worth 10 keys. 
Even if you fail to touch and collect a spawned key, it is considered collected when it disappears to the bottom of the screen.
|}

== Bullets and Hazards ==
You do not take damage from touching enemies. At first, enemies do not fire anything and you can focus on map orders very safely. However, as the game progresses, they start to shoot more bullets, especially more hard-to-cancel bullets and some actual dodging becomes a requirement.
Almost all enemy bullets travel no faster than the ship.
In this section, the hazards are introduced along with the weapon that can cancel them. 
'''Normal shots can cancel:'''

{|
|-
| [[File:Hiragana (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Heart Bullet (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]
|| '''Harmless Bullets:''' These bullets were shot by some specific enemies. You do not take damage from them but can still destroy them.
|-
|[[File:Circle(Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]
|| '''〇:''' You lose a life when the ship (or its hitbox) touches one of these, so you have to either dodge them or break them.
|-
| [[File:Small Missile (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Large Missile (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]
|| '''Missiles:''' Small Missiles (left) fly slowly and have homing properties. 
Large Missiles (right) fly straight down fast after slowly spreading around their launch ports. 
|}
 
'''Shield, the Dolls and Megalodoll (other than Rolling Doll) can cancel:''' 
All enemy bullets described above
{|
|-
| [[File:Normal Bullets (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|234px]]|| '''Normal bullets:''' There are small ones, teardrop-shaped ones, and large ones.
|}
 
'''Rolling Doll can cancel:''' 
All enemy bullets described above
{|
|-
| [[File:Flame (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]|| '''Flames:''' Flames are usually hard to cancel in RS34/Milestone games, and only some of the bombs were capable of erasing them before this game. However, they are much easier to deal with in this game thanks to the new Rolling Doll.
|}
 
'''Megalophaz can cancel:''' 
All enemy bullets described above
{|
|-
| [[File:Molotov Cocktail (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Explosion (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]|| '''Molotov Cocktails:''' A Molotov cocktail can be shattered by any type of weapon, but the resulting pink explosion stays there for a while. This explosion can only be erased by Megalophaz.
|}

 
'''Nothing can cancel:''' 
{|
|-
| [[File:Lasers (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|94px]]|| '''Lasers:''' A few specific enemies and some bosses emit lasers. They do not disappear unless they stop firing or are defeated.
|}

== Map Orders ==
One can say the goal of this game is to clear all stages. You clear a stage by surviving for a set amount of time (or defeating the boss if it is a boss stage), but this game has 100 stages and 88 of them are locked at first. To unlock them, you need to clear map orders and get keys. 
Each stage has a total of 9 map orders: a gold key order, a silver key order, a bronze key order and 6 sub orders. Clearing a key order rewards you with a key.
You need to pause the game to see the detailed explanation and the exact current progress of the orders, but you can get what they require based on the icons. These icons also have functions as progress bars for their respective orders.
There are orders that require defeating enemies and ones that don't.

===Defeat Enemies===
The majority of the map orders, including all key orders, require defeating enemies. 
A "defeat enemies" order has up to 3 requirements. Take this order icon for example: 
[[File:Defeat Enemies Order(Illvelo Swamp).png|212px]] 
The icon means "Defeat ①enemy SF1 (「あの花」, ''lit''. "That Flower") ②leader first ③with the shuriken attribute." 
Below is the explanation for each part of the icons.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Explanation !! Example !! What the example icon means
|-
| '''①: What enemies to defeat.''' Most of the time the picture of the enemy to defeat is shown in the center part of the icon. However, sometimes letters like "ALL", "FL", "MID" or "GR" are used instead of enemy pictures. In these cases all, all flying, all mid-sized, or all ground enemies respectively count. ||[[File:MID(Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px]]|| Defeat mid-sized enemies.
|-
|rowspan="2"| '''②: How you defeat enemies.''' Three icons can come in the bottom left corner of the icon, and their meaning are tied to the three defeat bonus mentioned above in this page. 
* Leader badges: Leader First.
* Three blue circles: Formation.
* A blushing stickman: Parts All.

|| [[File:FomationSF1(Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px]]||Defeat enemy SF1 formations.
|-
|[[File:PartsAllM1(Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px]]||Defeat enemy M1 (「キュウマルニ」, ''lit''. "902") parts-all.
|-
|rowspan="3"|'''③: Attribute/weapon specification.''' An attribute icon, a Megalodoll icon, or even a Megalophaz icon can come in the bottom right corner of the icon, specifying what weapon to defeat the enemies with. 
There are some exceptions to this rule.
* If the order is "Defeat enemies with (a type of Megalodoll/Megalophaz)," simply the Megalodoll/Megalophaz icon is shown instead of "ALL" in ① and the Megalodoll icon in ③, possibly to avoid confusion with the USE orders described later.
* In boss stages, silver and gold key orders have "ORDR+''n''" (''n'': a number) in ③. This means "clear ''n'' sub orders."
|| [[File:M2withWIDE(Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px]]|| Defeat enemy M2 (「牛鬼」, ''lit''. "Ushioni") with Wide Doll.
|-
|[[File:ReflectDollOrder(Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px]]|| Defeat enemies with Reflect Doll.
|-
|[[File:BOSSkeyorder(Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px]]|| Defeat Midorikun (boss) parts-all and clear 3 sub orders.
|}

===Others===
There are orders that don't require killing enemies.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| [[File:Move Up Right Down Left (Illvelo Swamp).png]]|| '''Move [up/right/down/left]:''' Requires a total of 15 or 20 seconds with a directional input in the direction the icon indicates. 
The ship does not have to be actually moving as long as the directional input is there. 
Since this game implements analog directional input, a small amount of deviation from the required direction is allowed.
|-
| [[File:DONOTMOVE(Illvelo Swamp).jpg]]|| '''Do not move:''' Requires a total of 30 seconds without a directional input to move the ship.
|-
| [[File:Stay Top Right Bottom (Illvelo Swamp).png]][[File:Left (Illvelo Swamp).png]] || '''Stay on the [top/right/bottom/left] of the screen:''' Stay at indicated edge of screen for a total of 20 seconds.
|-
| [[File:USE (Illvelo Swamp).png]]|| '''Use:''' Activate the feature indicated in the bottom right of the icon a certain number of times (usually 5 or less). 
the Dolls/Megalodoll is considered used once when the Dolls are released from the ship, so spamming the Doll button can help.
|-
| [[File:NOMEGALO(Illvelo Swamp).jpg]]|| '''Do not use Megalophaz:''' Do not activate Megalophaz in this stage if you want to clear this order.
|-
| [[File:GetItems(Illvelo Swamp).jpg]]|| '''Get items:''' Requires getting a certain number of items.
|-
| [[File:DeleteEnemyBullets(Illvelo Swamp).jpg]]|| '''Delete enemy bullets:''' Requires deleting a certain number of enemy bullets using Doll, Megalophaz, etc.
|-
| [[File:ReceiveMessages(Illvelo Swamp).jpg]]|| '''Receive Messages:''' Requires receiving a certain number of messages. You can get more messages by staying in the upper area of the screen.
|-
| [[File:GetHurt(Illvelo Swamp).jpg]]|| '''Get Hurt:''' Requires getting hit by an enemy bullet and lose a life (twice in later stages). Every stage featuring Midorikun has this type of order.
|}

==Stages and Sections==
Illvelo Swamp has a dynamic enemy wave system like most of RS34/Milestone games, where once all enemies in a formation/wave disappear (either by being defeated or leaving the screen), the next enemy formation/wave spawns. Multiple enemy wave patterns usually coexist (for example, there could be two sets of flying enemy waves and another two sets of mid-sized enemy waves at the same time), and each stage is defined by these enemy wave patterns and when each of them is activated.
===Stage Rank===
If you visit a stage for the first time, you see "RANK ★" along with the stage title. If you get the bronze key and clear the stage, the rank goes up to ★★ the next time you get in. If you get the silver or gold key, the rank will be ★★★.
Generally, when the stage rank goes up, more enemies appear and the leader enemies are relocated so that it is easier to get Leader First bonuses.
In a boss stage (except for stage 99 and 100), the keys you obtain in the stages leading to said boss stage are also taken into consideration, and the rank is ★★★★★ at maximum.
===Stage Colors===
As the stages get unlocked and mapped on the world map, routes with different colors emerge. These colors help with identifying stages you need to play for unlocking branches, but they are not purely for distinction. In fact, stages with different colors have different properties, such as item drop rates.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Color
! Items frequently found
! Additional explanations
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#ff49ff; color:#ffffff;" | Pink
|style="text-align:right;"| [[File:Invinsible_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Extend_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]]
| These stages are unlocked by default.
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#00ff00;" | Green
|style="text-align:right;"| [[File:Shot erase item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shuriken_level_up_half_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shuriken_level_up_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shuriken_level_up_double_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]]
| Early-game stages. A noticeable amount of key orders have attribute requirements.
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#fdaf5d;" | Orange
|style="text-align:right;"|[[File:Shield deploy item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]
| These stages have harder enemies for their stage numbers.
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#0000ff; color:#ffffff;" | Blue
|style="text-align:right;"|[[File:Score item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Hi-Score item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Sp-Score item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]
| You get tons of scores in these stages.
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#f9ff0f;" | Yellow
|style="text-align:right;"|[[File:Shot_level_up_half_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|60px]][[File:Shot_level_up_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|60px]][[File:Shot_level_up_double_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|60px]] [[File:Shuriken_level_up_half_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|60px]][[File:Shuriken_level_up_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|60px]][[File:Shuriken_level_up_double_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|60px]] [[File:Shield_level_up_half_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|60px]][[File:Shield_level_up_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|60px]][[File:Shield_level_up_double_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|60px]]
| You get more experience points by defeating enemies in yellow stages.
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#740de6; color:#ffffff;" | Purple
|style="text-align:right;"| [[File:Unfortunate item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shield_level_up_half_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shield_level_up_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shield_level_up_double_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]]
| You need to get a lot of keys in this section to unlock the final section of the red stages.
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#ff0000; color:#ffffff;" | Red
|style="text-align:right;height:80px;"|None
| One can say these are "normal" stages. The red stage route is very long, and you unlock it section by section to get to the final stages of this game.
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;background-color:#700143;color:#ffffff;" | Maroon
|style="text-align:right;"|[[File:Megalomajill_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]]
|Mostly boss stages. An ending cutscene plays after you defeat a boss.
|}

===Unlocking Stage branches with Required Keys===
Upon encountering a locked branch, the requirement for unlocking said branch is shown in a kind of cryptic way.
Most of the unlocking conditions are:
* '''Get a certain key in a certain boss stage.'''
* '''Get a certain number of keys in a certain section (consecutive stages) indicated by the color of the text.''' You have to get required amount of keys in one go.
When a branch is unlocked, Cheep'O gives you a message indicating "a lock was opened somewhere" right after the ranking screen.
===Stage Select===
You can choose the starting stage from all the stages you cleared. This stage-select feature is useful in several ways, such as choosing the stage at the beginning of the section where you need to obtain the keys to unlock a stage branch. The ship is given a set amount of levels if you start at a specific stage, but they are lower than the levels you could get if you start from stage 1 and get to the selected stage.

== Advanced Strategies ==
There are three categories in the online ranking: the keys collected, the total ship level, and the score. To maximize them, you must start at stage 1 and finish at stage 100. 
Unlike the original Illvelo, the number of keys and the total ship level are unrelated to the score calculation, and a different approach should be taken for each category.

===Getting a lot of keys===
You get the most keys if you get through the route with the most stages and collect all the possible keys along the way. The route is the red route, which includes all red stages and has 36 stages in total. You can get 16 keys in each stage, so the maximum amount of keys you can collect in one game of Illvelo Swamp is 576. This route takes over an hour to complete.
The keys in stages 85-97 are not necessary for unlocking the stage branches, and you can consider these as the final challenge.

===Aiming for level 900===
Although they kind of bypass a part of the red route, the yellow stages are much better for leveling. The route utilized to get the maximum level is called the yellow route (although most of the stages in this route are red). 
However, quickly defeating a lot of enemies alone does not lead to level 900. You get a very little increase in the exp gauge even if you defeated a mid-sized enemy parts-all with Megalodoll above level 230 or so. Even experience worth a quarter of a level is huge at that point. This is where the items come into play. 

The red stages do not give you level up items, but they do give random items. There is a good enough chance of a random item having the effect of a level up item. For this reason, you have to pay attention to the random items in later stages. Even the Homing Doll can be useful for spawning many items, but do not use it excessively. 

Overall, this challenge tests your skill in utilizing Megalodoll and quickly wiping out enemy formations.

===Getting a high score===
The route for the high score is the blue route, which consists of 24 stages. This route is shorter than the red or yellow route, but the 3x score multiplier in blue stages enables higher scores. 
Illvelo Swamp's score calculation is based on how you defeat enemies.

The exact score bonus for getting a thumbs-up icon is:<ref>[https://youtu.be/ZGlBLJ2dASw?si=UyB4ertUVS3xCuBb video showcase]. English CC available.</ref> 
'''Leader First: 10x Formation: 5x '''
(for the last enemy in the formation)
''' Parts All: 10x''' 
This bonus can be combined with the bonus for using Megalodoll (except Homing Doll), which gives you a 3x score multiplier.
For example, if you defeat a mid-sized enemy parts-all with Reflect Doll in a blue stage, you get 10*3*3=90 times the base score of the mid-sized enemy.
It is a good practice to defeat as many mid-sized enemies parts-all with Megalodoll. In order to get a truly high score, you need to learn to aim at parts of mid-sized enemies using Megalodoll, especially Reflect Doll.

== Story ==

== Development History ==
If available, you can include information here about the hardware, the development of the game, and its general reception. ''Try to have as much information in this section cited as possible.''

== Version Differences ==
* Include information here about differences in a game between various versions. This includes regional differences, patch updates/bugfixes, and the like.

== Trivia ==
* Cool facts and random tidbits go here!

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[(Template Page)/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>
----

== Other ==

We have support for wikitables, giving us the potential to add lots of cool info in a small box on the page somewhere, but we are not using them at the moment. I'm just leaving this here so we can have it handy in case we decide to actually use them. Feel free to not use this section.

{| class="wikitable" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;"
|-
! [[(Template Page)]]
|-
| put your stuff here
|}

== References & Contributors ==

* Information on gameplay mechanics gained by [[User:Moji-love|mojilove]] and Mirashar through playing the game.
* [https://w.atwiki.jp/illveloswamp/pages/1.html The Japanese atwiki page] for information on stage unlocking.

Illvelo Swamp

2026-06-01T15:18:57Z

Mirashar:

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Illvelo Swamp
|background = #f8f8f8
|image = Illvelo_swamp_logo.jpg
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Nintendo Switch game logo
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = RS34
|
|music = Daisuke Nagata
|
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Takahiro Kawachi, Hayato Okabe
|
|art = Daisuke Nagata
|
|releasedate = November 18, 2021
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy Swag]]
|nextgame = [[Radirgy 2]]
}}

'''Illvelo Swamp''' is a vertically scrolling shoot-em-up developed and published by [[RS34]] for Nintendo Switch in 2021. Like [[Radirgy Swag]], it plays in horizontal orientation, with a slightly angled perspective.

The game's title and general aesthetics draw from the original [[Illmatic_Envelope_(Illvelo)|Illvelo]], though this game introduces new mechanics and has a radically different stage structure. There are 100 stages in total (as a reference to the 100 bonus stages in the original Illvelo)

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__

== Gameplay Overview ==
'''Illvelo Swamp''' is a twin-stick, four-button game with one playable ship. The left analog stick is used to control the ship (with uniform speed) in any direction, or with the directional pad in a total of eight directions. The right analog stick can be used to control the detachable Doll (modules) independently from the ship.

=== Controls ===

Buttons are configurable in the options menu.
* '''Shot:''' Shoots a forward-facing shot
* '''Doll:''' Various Doll-related features
**If Doll are docked to the ship : Launches Doll/Activates Megalodoll
**If Doll are detached : (Hold) Moves the Doll in the same direction the ship is moving/(Double tap) Returns Doll to the ship
**If Megalodoll is activated : (Double tap) Deactivates Megalodoll and returns Doll to the ship
* '''Megalophaz:''' Generates a circular field around the ship that grants temporary invincibility and absorbs all bullets that touch it. Equivalent to a bomb in other games.
* '''A. Shot:''' A toggle to turn continuous shot on or off. With this toggle enabled, the ship (and Doll) will continuously shoot as if the shot button is pressed down. This can reduce finger strain for the player.

Also, a '''shield''' appears in front of the ship and Doll if the shot button is not pressed for a short time. The shield remains in front of the ship and Doll and absorbs bullets until either the shot button is pressed again.

== Doll ==
Your ship is a modified TRAX called Xenostrepsi. It has a pair of circular modules called Doll. Doll are very useful for defense as Doll delete most hazards upon contact.

[[File:Normal Doll (Illvelo Swamp).gif | 410px|thumb|The two ways of moving Doll shown in the Doll settings menu. (left) Holding the Doll button. In the default Doll speed setting, Doll move at the same speed and direction as the ship. (right) Tilting the right stick. Doll move faster and independently of the ship movement.]]

You can detach Doll from the ship by pressing the Doll button. After being detached, Doll launch in the direction the ship is moving or to the front if the ship is not moving. Doll shoot normal shots even when separated from the ship. To move the detached Doll, simply use your right stick. In this way, you can move Doll faster and more freely than the traditional method, which is to hold Doll button and move the ship. The speed at which Doll move can be configured in the Doll settings menu.

Double-tap the Doll button to return Doll to the ship.

==Attribute==
[[File:Attributes.jpg|thumb|the icons for three attributes seen in the ranking screen.]]
There are three attributes of attack you can perform in this game: '''shot, shuriken,''' and''' shield'''.
The ship and Doll fire normal shots with the shot attribute.
The shuriken attribute attack occurs when you are holding the Shot button and detached Doll are on an enemy. When that happens, Doll turn green and start to deal contact damage. At the same time, they shoot a spiraling wave of shuriken.
When not firing, the ship deploys a shield in front of itself, and Doll also obtain shield attribute. You can deal damage by hitting enemies with the shield (you do not take damage when the ship touches an enemy), but with enough leveling you can reflect enemy bullets by the shield and shoot "ref-shots," another shield attribute attack.

In later stages, you will encounter enemies with attribute barriers. An enemy with such barrier do not take damage unless it gets hit by Megalophaz or attacks with the attribute specified by the color of the barrier.

==Level-up Mechanic==
[[File:Level Display (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|thumb|In-game level display and EXP gauge seen in the bottom left corner of the screen.]]
You can increase the attack power by getting EXP and leveling up each of the attributes. You can get EXP of one attribute by hitting or defeating enemies with attacks with said attribute. You can also get a small amount of shield EXP for deleting enemy bullets with the shield. Oddly enough, you get shot EXP for destroying parts of mid-sized enemies even with shuriken or shield attribute attacks.
You do not get EXP for destroying enemies with Megalophaz.
For efficient leveling, you can get three types of bonuses depending on the type of enemy you destroy.
[[File:Leader Badge (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px|thumb|Leader Badge]]

{|style="width:80%;" class="wikitable"
|-
| [[File:Leader First (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px]]|| '''Leader First:''' In each formation of flying enemies, there is usually one leader signified by a leader badge attached to it. If you destroy the leader before any other enemy in the formation, a thumbs-up icon appears, and you get a Leader First bonus.
|-
| [[File:Formation (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px]]
|| '''Formation:''' If you defeat all flying enemies in a formation, you get a Formation bonus.

|-
| [[File:Parts All (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px]]
|| '''Parts All:''' If you destroy all parts of a mid-sized enemy and then defeat it, you get a Parts All bonus.

|}
Leveling up does not only make attacks stronger, but also changes the attacks' properties.
For the shot attribute, the fire rate and the shot speed increases and Doll start shooting more shots in more directions at once. Shuriken slow down on contact with enemies at a very high level. For the shield attribute, refshots get bigger and change their design.

All attributes start at level 0 and are capped at level 300. At the end of every game, the levels for all attributes and the total level are recorded in rankings. The maximum ship level, 900, is barely reachable.

==Megalomajill, Megalophaz and Megalodoll==
[[File:Megalophaz (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|thumb|Megalophaz]]
In the bottom right corner of the screen is the Megalomajill gauge. Megalomajill slowly recharges over time, but you have to defeat enemies by non-Megalodoll attacks in order to quickly get Megalomajill.
When the gauge is full, you can activate Megalophaz, a bomb in other games. It deals a good amount of damage to the enemies caught in the field it generates. 
There is another type of special attacks that consume Megalomajill called Megalodoll. If Doll are docked to the ship, you can activate Megalodoll by pressing the Doll button while tilting the right stick.
There are four types of Megalodoll, and you choose which Megalodoll to activate by the direction of the right stick. Three of them have their respective attributes, and the other one has no attributes.
If you activate Megalodoll with the full gauge, it lasts for about 10 seconds without recharging until Megalomajill is depleted. You cannot activate Megalodoll if the Megalomajill gauge is under 20%.

Megalodoll with an attack attribute gives you EXP and score bonuses.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Doll Movement !! Name !! Attribute !! Right stick direction in the default setting !! Description !! What the right stick controls
|-
| [[File:Rolling Doll (Illvelo Swamp)351.gif|205px]]|| Rolling Doll||Shield|| Up||Doll rotate around the ship. They can even erase flames upon contact.||The radius of rotation
|-
|[[File:Homing Doll (Illvelo Swamp).gif|205px]]|| Homing Doll||Multi-attribute|| Right||Each one of the Doll modules automatically attacks a separate enemy. How Homing Doll chooses the enemy to attack is not known yet. This Megalodoll can ignore attribute barriers. This Megalodoll does not give you score/EXP bonuses.||Nothing
|-
|[[File:Wide Doll (Illvelo Swamp).gif|205px]] || Wide Doll||Shot|| Down||Doll move sideways while shooting, giving you a wider area of attack.||The movement direction and distance
|-
|[[File:Reflct_Doll_(Illvelo_Swamp).gif|205px]]|| Reflect Doll||Shuriken|| Left||Doll bounce around the screen and scatter shuriken all over the screen.||the angle of reflection
|}

== Items ==
An item spawns when a leader is defeated, or all enemies in a formation of flying enemies are killed, or a middle-sized enemy is destroyed. Items are attracted towards the ship if they are close to them.
Item names below are based on ones shown in the logs of the DEV mode in Illvelo Swamp Happy Together.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| [[File:Score_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Hi-Score_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Sp-Score_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]] ||| '''Score item/Hi-Score item/Sp-Score item:''' Worth 1000/10000/100000 points respectively. 
Point values are tripled in blue stages.
|-
| [[File:Unfortunate item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]|| '''Unfortunate item:''' Nothing happens when collected.
|-
| [[File:Shot level up half item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shuriken level up half item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shield level up half item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]
|| '''Level up half item:''' Unlike what their name and appearance suggest, it gives a quarter of the EXP gauge of the attribute with the lowest level.
|-
| [[File:Shot level up item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shuriken level up item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shield level up item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]
|| '''Level up item:''' Unlike what the name and appearance suggest, it fills up half of the EXP gauge of the attribute with the lowest level.
|-
| [[File:Shot level up double item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shuriken level up double item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shield level up double item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]
|| '''Level up double item:''' Unlike what the name and appearance suggest, it gives you 1 level for the attribute with the lowest level and keeps the EXP gauge.
|-
| [[File:Mail item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]|| '''Mail item:''' Generates a random email at the bottom of the screen.
|-
| [[File:Shot erase item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]||| '''Shot erase item:''' Erases all enemy bullets on the screen.
|-
| [[File:Shield deploy item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]||| '''Shield deploy item:''' The ship deploys a shield even if it is currently shooting. This effect lasts for 10 seconds.
|-
| [[File:Invinsible item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]||| '''Invincible item:''' Gives the ship temporal invincibility for 10 seconds.
|-
| [[File:Megalomajill item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]||| '''Megalomajill item:''' Instantly fully recharges Megalomajill gauge, enabling Megalodoll or Megalophaz.
|-
| [[File:Extend item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]||| '''Extend item:''' Increases your life count by 1 (up to 5 lives). If you already have 5 lives, it grants 200000 points.
|-
| [[File:Random item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]||| '''Random item:''' Gives you the effect of randomly chosen one of the 19 items described above.
|-
| [[File:Bronze key (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Silver key (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Gold key (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]
|| '''Key(bronze/silver/gold):''' Spawns at the top of the screen when a key order is cleared. Required for unlocking the stage branches. 
Comes in three variants: the standard bronze one, the silver one worth 5 keys, and the gold one worth 10 keys. 
Even if you fail to touch and collect a spawned key, it is considered collected when it disappears to the bottom of the screen.
|}

== Bullets and Hazards ==
You do not take damage from touching enemies. At first, enemies do not fire anything and you can focus on map orders very safely. However, as the game progresses, they start to shoot more bullets, especially more hard-to-cancel bullets and some actual dodging becomes a requirement.
Almost all enemy bullets travel no faster than the ship.
In this section, the hazards are introduced along with the weapon that can cancel them. 
'''Normal shots can cancel:'''

{|
|-
| [[File:Hiragana (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Heart Bullet (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]
|| '''Harmless Bullets:''' These bullets were shot by some specific enemies. You do not take damage from them but can still destroy them.
|-
|[[File:Circle(Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]
|| '''〇:''' You lose a life when the ship (or its hitbox) touches one of these, so you have to either dodge them or break them.
|-
| [[File:Small Missile (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Large Missile (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]
|| '''Missiles:''' Small Missiles (left) fly slowly and have homing properties. 
Large Missiles (right) fly straight down fast after slowly spreading around their launch ports. 
|}
 
'''Shield, Doll and Megalodoll (other than Rolling Doll) can cancel:''' 
All enemy bullets described above
{|
|-
| [[File:Normal Bullets (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|234px]]|| '''Normal bullets:''' There are small ones, teardrop-shaped ones, and large ones.
|}
 
'''Rolling Doll can cancel:''' 
All enemy bullets described above
{|
|-
| [[File:Flame (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]|| '''Flames:''' Flames are usually hard to cancel in RS34/Milestone games, and only some of the bombs were capable of erasing them before this game. However, they are much easier to deal with in this game thanks to the new Rolling Doll.
|}
 
'''Megalophaz can cancel:''' 
All enemy bullets described above
{|
|-
| [[File:Molotov Cocktail (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Explosion (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]|| '''Molotov Cocktails:''' A Molotov cocktail can be shattered by any type of weapon, but the resulting pink explosion stays there for a while. This explosion can only be erased by Megalophaz.
|}

 
'''Nothing can cancel:''' 
{|
|-
| [[File:Lasers (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|94px]]|| '''Lasers:''' A few specific enemies and some bosses emit lasers. They do not disappear unless they stop firing or are defeated.
|}

== Map Orders ==
One can say the goal of this game is to clear all stages. You clear a stage by surviving for a set amount of time (or defeating the boss if it is a boss stage), but this game has 100 stages and 88 of them are locked at first. To unlock them, you need to clear map orders and get keys. 
Each stage has a total of 9 map orders: a gold key order, a silver key order, a bronze key order and 6 sub orders. Clearing a key order rewards you with a key.
You need to pause the game to see the detailed explanation and the exact current progress of the orders, but you can get what they require based on the icons. These icons also have functions as progress bars for their respective orders.
There are orders that require defeating enemies and ones that don't.

===Defeat Enemies===
The majority of the map orders, including all key orders, require defeating enemies. 
A "defeat enemies" order has up to 3 requirements. Take this order icon for example: 
[[File:Defeat Enemies Order(Illvelo Swamp).png|212px]] 
The icon means "Defeat ①enemy SF1 (「あの花」, ''lit''. "That Flower") ②leader first ③with the shuriken attribute." 
Below is the explanation for each part of the icons.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Explanation !! Example !! What the example icon means
|-
| '''①: What enemies to defeat.''' Most of the time the picture of the enemy to defeat is shown in the center part of the icon. However, sometimes letters like "ALL", "FL", "MID" or "GR" are used instead of enemy pictures. In these cases all, all flying, all mid-sized, or all ground enemies respectively count. ||[[File:MID(Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px]]|| Defeat mid-sized enemies.
|-
|rowspan="2"| '''②: How you defeat enemies.''' Three icons can come in the bottom left corner of the icon, and their meaning are tied to the three defeat bonus mentioned above in this page. 
* Leader badges: Leader First.
* Three blue circles: Formation.
* A blushing stickman: Parts All.

|| [[File:FomationSF1(Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px]]||Defeat enemy SF1 formations.
|-
|[[File:PartsAllM1(Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px]]||Defeat enemy M1 (「キュウマルニ」, ''lit''. "902") parts-all.
|-
|rowspan="3"|'''③: Attribute/weapon specification.''' An attribute icon, a Megalodoll icon, or even a Megalophaz icon can come in the bottom right corner of the icon, specifying what weapon to defeat the enemies with. 
There are some exceptions to this rule.
* If the order is "Defeat enemies with (a type of Megalodoll/Megalophaz)," simply the Megalodoll/Megalophaz icon is shown instead of "ALL" in ① and the Megalodoll icon in ③, possibly to avoid confusion with the USE orders described later.
* In boss stages, silver and gold key orders have "ORDR+''n''" (''n'': a number) in ③. This means "clear ''n'' sub orders."
|| [[File:M2withWIDE(Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px]]|| Defeat enemy M2 (「牛鬼」, ''lit''. "Ushioni") with Wide Doll.
|-
|[[File:ReflectDollOrder(Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px]]|| Defeat enemies with Reflect Doll.
|-
|[[File:BOSSkeyorder(Illvelo Swamp).jpg|100px]]|| Defeat Midorikun (boss) parts-all and clear 3 sub orders.
|}

===Others===
There are orders that don't require killing enemies.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| [[File:Move Up Right Down Left (Illvelo Swamp).png]]|| '''Move [up/right/down/left]:''' Requires a total of 15 or 20 seconds with a directional input in the direction the icon indicates. 
The ship does not have to be actually moving as long as the directional input is there. 
Since this game implements analog directional input, a small amount of deviation from the required direction is allowed.
|-
| [[File:DONOTMOVE(Illvelo Swamp).jpg]]|| '''Do not move:''' Requires a total of 30 seconds without a directional input to move the ship.
|-
| [[File:Stay Top Right Bottom (Illvelo Swamp).png]][[File:Left (Illvelo Swamp).png]] || '''Stay on the [top/right/bottom/left] of the screen:''' Stay at indicated edge of screen for a total of 20 seconds.
|-
| [[File:USE (Illvelo Swamp).png]]|| '''Use:''' Activate the feature indicated in the bottom right of the icon a certain number of times (usually 5 or less). 
Doll/Megalodoll is considered used once when Doll are released from the ship, so spamming the Doll button can help.
|-
| [[File:NOMEGALO(Illvelo Swamp).jpg]]|| '''Do not use Megalophaz:''' Do not activate Megalophaz in this stage if you want to clear this order.
|-
| [[File:GetItems(Illvelo Swamp).jpg]]|| '''Get items:''' Requires getting a certain number of items.
|-
| [[File:DeleteEnemyBullets(Illvelo Swamp).jpg]]|| '''Delete enemy bullets:''' Requires deleting a certain number of enemy bullets using Doll, Megalophaz, etc.
|-
| [[File:ReceiveMessages(Illvelo Swamp).jpg]]|| '''Receive Messages:''' Requires receiving a certain number of messages. You can get more messages by staying in the upper area of the screen.
|-
| [[File:GetHurt(Illvelo Swamp).jpg]]|| '''Get Hurt:''' Requires getting hit by an enemy bullet and lose a life (twice in later stages). Every stage featuring Midorikun has this type of order.
|}

==Stages and Sections==
Illvelo Swamp has a dynamic enemy wave system like most of RS34/Milestone games, where once all enemies in a formation/wave disappear (either by being defeated or leaving the screen), the next enemy formation/wave spawns. Multiple enemy wave patterns usually coexist (for example, there could be two sets of flying enemy waves and another two sets of mid-sized enemy waves at the same time), and each stage is defined by these enemy wave patterns and when each of them is activated.
===Stage Rank===
If you visit a stage for the first time, you see "RANK ★" along with the stage title. If you get the bronze key and clear the stage, the rank goes up to ★★ the next time you get in. If you get the silver or gold key, the rank will be ★★★.
Generally, when the stage rank goes up, more enemies appear and the leader enemies are relocated so that it is easier to get Leader First bonuses.
In a boss stage (except for stage 99 and 100), the keys you obtain in the stages leading to said boss stage are also taken into consideration, and the rank is ★★★★★ at maximum.
===Stage Colors===
As the stages get unlocked and mapped on the world map, routes with different colors emerge. These colors help with identifying stages you need to play for unlocking branches, but they are not purely for distinction. In fact, stages with different colors have different properties, such as item drop rates.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Color
! Items frequently found
! Additional explanations
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#ff49ff; color:#ffffff;" | Pink
|style="text-align:right;"| [[File:Invinsible_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Extend_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]]
| These stages are unlocked by default.
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#00ff00;" | Green
|style="text-align:right;"| [[File:Shot erase item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shuriken_level_up_half_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shuriken_level_up_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shuriken_level_up_double_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]]
| Early-game stages. A noticeable amount of key orders have attribute requirements.
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#fdaf5d;" | Orange
|style="text-align:right;"|[[File:Shield deploy item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]
| These stages have harder enemies for their stage numbers.
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#0000ff; color:#ffffff;" | Blue
|style="text-align:right;"|[[File:Score item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Hi-Score item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Sp-Score item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]]
| You get tons of scores in these stages.
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#f9ff0f;" | Yellow
|style="text-align:right;"|[[File:Shot_level_up_half_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|60px]][[File:Shot_level_up_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|60px]][[File:Shot_level_up_double_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|60px]] [[File:Shuriken_level_up_half_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|60px]][[File:Shuriken_level_up_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|60px]][[File:Shuriken_level_up_double_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|60px]] [[File:Shield_level_up_half_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|60px]][[File:Shield_level_up_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|60px]][[File:Shield_level_up_double_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|60px]]
| You get more experience points by defeating enemies in yellow stages.
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#740de6; color:#ffffff;" | Purple
|style="text-align:right;"| [[File:Unfortunate item (Illvelo Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shield_level_up_half_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shield_level_up_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]][[File:Shield_level_up_double_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]]
| You need to get a lot of keys in this section to unlock the final section of the red stages.
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#ff0000; color:#ffffff;" | Red
|style="text-align:right;height:80px;"|None
| One can say these are "normal" stages. The red stage route is very long, and you unlock it section by section to get to the final stages of this game.
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;background-color:#700143;color:#ffffff;" | Maroon
|style="text-align:right;"|[[File:Megalomajill_item_(Illvelo_Swamp).jpg|78px]]
|Mostly boss stages. An ending cutscene plays after you defeat a boss.
|}

===Unlocking Stage branches with Required Keys===
Upon encountering a locked branch, the requirement for unlocking said branch is shown in a kind of cryptic way.
Most of the unlocking conditions are:
* '''Get a certain key in a certain boss stage.'''
* '''Get a certain number of keys in a certain section (consecutive stages) indicated by the color of the text.''' You have to get required amount of keys in one go.
When a branch is unlocked, Cheep'O gives you a message indicating "a lock was opened somewhere" right after the ranking screen.
===Stage Select===
You can choose the starting stage from all the stages you cleared. This stage-select feature is useful in several ways, such as choosing the stage at the beginning of the section where you need to obtain the keys to unlock a stage branch. The ship is given a set amount of levels if you start at a specific stage, but they are lower than the levels you could get if you start from stage 1 and get to the selected stage.

== Advanced Strategies ==
There are three categories in the online ranking: the keys collected, the total ship level, and the score. To maximize them, you must start at stage 1 and finish at stage 100. 
Unlike the original Illvelo, the number of keys and the total ship level are unrelated to the score calculation, and a different approach should be taken for each category.

===Getting a lot of keys===
You get the most keys if you get through the route with the most stages and collect all the possible keys along the way. The route is the red route, which includes all red stages and has 36 stages in total. You can get 16 keys in each stage, so the maximum amount of keys you can collect in one game of Illvelo Swamp is 576. This route takes over an hour to complete.
The keys in stages 85-97 are not necessary for unlocking the stage branches, and you can consider these as the final challenge.

===Aiming for level 900===
Although they kind of bypass a part of the red route, the yellow stages are much better for leveling. The route utilized to get the maximum level is called the yellow route (although most of the stages in this route are red). 
However, quickly defeating a lot of enemies alone does not lead to level 900. You get a very little increase in the exp gauge even if you defeated a mid-sized enemy parts-all with Megalodoll above level 230 or so. Even experience worth a quarter of a level is huge at that point. This is where the items come into play. 

The red stages do not give you level up items, but they do give random items. There is a good enough chance of a random item having the effect of a level up item. For this reason, you have to pay attention to the random items in later stages. Even the Homing Doll can be useful for spawning many items, but do not use it excessively. 

Overall, this challenge tests your skill in utilizing Megalodoll and quickly wiping out enemy formations.

===Getting a high score===
The route for the high score is the blue route, which consists of 24 stages. This route is shorter than the red or yellow route, but the 3x score multiplier in blue stages enables higher scores. 
Illvelo Swamp's score calculation is based on how you defeat enemies.

The exact score bonus for getting a thumbs-up icon is:<ref>[https://youtu.be/ZGlBLJ2dASw?si=UyB4ertUVS3xCuBb video showcase]. English CC available.</ref> 
'''Leader First: 10x Formation: 5x '''
(for the last enemy in the formation)
''' Parts All: 10x''' 
This bonus can be combined with the bonus for using Megalodoll (except Homing Doll), which gives you a 3x score multiplier.
For example, if you defeat a mid-sized enemy parts-all with Reflect Doll in a blue stage, you get 10*3*3=90 times the base score of the mid-sized enemy.
It is a good practice to defeat as many mid-sized enemies parts-all with Megalodoll. In order to get a truly high score, you need to learn to aim at parts of mid-sized enemies using Megalodoll, especially Reflect Doll.

== Story ==

== Development History ==
If available, you can include information here about the hardware, the development of the game, and its general reception. ''Try to have as much information in this section cited as possible.''

== Version Differences ==
* Include information here about differences in a game between various versions. This includes regional differences, patch updates/bugfixes, and the like.

== Trivia ==
* Cool facts and random tidbits go here!

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[(Template Page)/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>
----

== Other ==

We have support for wikitables, giving us the potential to add lots of cool info in a small box on the page somewhere, but we are not using them at the moment. I'm just leaving this here so we can have it handy in case we decide to actually use them. Feel free to not use this section.

{| class="wikitable" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;"
|-
! [[(Template Page)]]
|-
| put your stuff here
|}

== References & Contributors ==

* Information on gameplay mechanics gained by [[User:Moji-love|mojilove]] and Mirashar through playing the game.
* [https://w.atwiki.jp/illveloswamp/pages/1.html The Japanese atwiki page] for information on stage unlocking.

Karous

2026-06-01T15:14:00Z

Mirashar: /* D.F.S. */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns.

Each stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. All enemy bullets that get in the barrier are cancelled and converted into experience points. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by D.F.S. worms it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.

D.F.S. barrier auto-collects items getting inside. A small experience chip is generated for every normal item it auto-collects. If an item carrier is defeated and a carrier item spawns inside D.F.S. barrier, the item is not immediately collected, and you can slash and change it.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 some of Shigi's messages.

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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets.

One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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))''

== Basic Strategy ==
This section is mainly for defeating TLB without continuing.

To defeat bosses in later stages, you would like to have the defensive strength of level 50+ Shield and the destructive force of level 50+ sword. Also, hidden items in stages 4 and 5 require inflicting enough damage with Shield on the hidden spot, so you need to level up Shield by that.

It is commonly advised to quickly level up Shield in the first stage, primarily because most flying enemies in the early game table are so weak that you can quickly defeat with Shield, secondarily because using Shield a lot is almost the only way to chain D.F.S. in low level. Additionally, it is a good practice to collect speed-up items from item carriers in stage 1 because it helps with destroying as many flying enemies with Shield in one D.F.S. activation as possible, thus earning your Shield experience quicker. The first item carrier you will encounter is very hard to destroy with underdeveloped Shield and Sword, but point blanking with Shot can eliminate it quickly, or damage it enough to finish with Shield. If you utilize D.F.S. well enough, you can get level 50 for Shield in one stage.

After you obtain level 50 Shield, you would want to upgrade Sword. However, defeating enemies with Sword will earn you less than half of the D.F.S. gauge increase than if you defeat the same number of enemies with Shield, and likely you would end up having to recharge D.F.S. gauge without D.F.S. activated. In that situation, the safest option is to hide behind Shield and attack with refshots, but hitting many Shots at enemies may be feasible as well.

==Advanced Strategy==
This section mainly includes information for scoring.

Enemy destruction score and score for getting point items are multiplied by the sum of the weapon levels, so you would want to level up early and increase your score multiplier quickly, then quickly defeat as many enemies as possible in the late game and get the actual score. The strategy described in the previous section did not mention Shot level (and you can defeat TLB with very low Shot level), but leveling up Shot is necessary for scoring.

===Milking Bosses===
----
[[File:Karous_Refshots_boss1.jpg|400px|thumb|Parking Shield on top of the launch port located on the head of boss 1. This image is for demonstrational purposes, and actually using this technique on boss 1 may not be optimal for score.]]
There are not many destructible parts on bosses for the length of boss fights, so you cannot recharge the D.F.S. gauge by destroying everything in sight with Sword. Instead, the primary way to get experience points and refill the D.F.S. gauge is by erasing enemy bullets (which there are many) and hitting with your weapons as many times as possible. You can take time as long as you do not get a time-out.

Bosses are so durable that you can shoot many Shots at them, especially when you point-blank or use the rapid-fire. Combined with D.F.S., boss fights are very good sources of Shot experience points.

As for Shield, there is a trick that you put Shield directly on a launch port while activating D.F.S. barrier, thereby reflecting all enemy bullets from said launch port. If you direct those refshots properly, you can efficiently damage the boss and gain Shield experience points for simply sweeping the boss with so many refshots.

Destroying boss parts is also lucrative, as those parts you do not have to dismantle in order to beat the boss tend to have a high base score. Though, the boss itself is more valuable than a part or two, therefore it is important to make sure you finish bosses and not get a time-out.

===Enemy Tables===
----
Enemy Tables change based on the weapon levels, not stage progression. You can see that when you look at the replays of a no-input clear of Easy Mode, normal gameplay, and one utilizing the bullet conversion technique to achieve level 300 early.
Later enemy tables give you stronger enemies with higher base score and you have higher score multiplier when you face them, so you get a large portion of total score in later stages.

When the weapon levels reach a certain threshold, both the flying enemy table and the mid-sized enemy table change simultaneously and the next flying enemy formation and the next mid-sized enemy wave you encounter are the first ones of the next set of enemy tables.

Enemy tables are interrupted by midbosses. If you end a midboss fight and do not trigger a table change, the current set of enemy tables continues from where it got cut off. However, the enemy tables reset between stages and the first enemy waves in the current set of enemy tables spawn at the beginning of each stage.

The tables below show the level value at which each table change happens if only the specific weapon is upgraded.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Hard Mode
|-
! Table
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |1
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |2
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |3
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |4
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |5
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |6
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |7
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |8
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |9
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |10
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |11
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |12
|-
! Shot
| 0
| 9
| 18
| 27
| 36
| 45
| 54
| 63
| 72
| 80
| 89
| 98
|-
! Sword
| 0
| 12
| 23
| 35
| 46
| 58
| 69
| 80
| 92
| －
| －
| －
|-
! Shield
| 0
| 20
| 40
| 60
| 80
| 100
| －
| －
| －
| －
| －
| －
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+Easy and Normal Mode
! Table
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |1
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |2
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |3
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |4
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |5
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |6
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |7
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |8
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |9
|-
! Shot
| 0
| 12
| 23
| 35
| 46
| 58
| 69
| 81
| 92
|-
! Sword
| 0
| 15
| 29
| 44
| 58
| 72
| 87
| －
| －
|-
! Shield
| 0
| 23
| 46
| 69
| 92
| －
| －
| －
| －
|}

From these values, it is theorized that enemy tables change when:

*10(Shot level)+8(Sword level)+5(Shield level) reaches or surpasses the next multiple of 115 in Easy and Normal Mode

*9(Shot level)+7(Sword level)+4(Shield level) reaches or surpasses the next multiple of 80 (up to 1520) in Hard Mode

These formulae make a little more sense when you consider that the enemy table switch happens when you get to (Shot level, Sword level, Shield level) = (5n, 5n, 5n) for n being a positive integer below 20 for Easy and Normal Mode, and when you get (4n, 4n, 4n) for Hard Mode. The enemy tables are the same in all difficulty modes, but Hard Mode gives you later enemy tables earlier. There are a total of 20 sets of tables, and the tables will not change anymore when you reach the final 20th set of tables.

This can be regarded as the [[rank]] system of this game, but the "rank management" here is very different from ones in other games: Especially in early game, where you level up quickly, you can strategically level up each weapon to control the timing of the table switch and avoid encountering unfavorable enemies.

===Bullet Conversion Scoring===
----
The bullet conversion scoring technique involves continuously obtaining bullet conversion items in bullet-heavy sections, usually initiated by spawning items by taking damage a few times. This advanced and luck-dependent strategy is much harder in later ports than in the NAOMI version due to a lack of slowdown. Having too many items on screen can cause a game crash (freeze) in some versions, including NAOMI.

The most popular place to do this trick is the 2nd boss fight. A good way to use it there is to level up by carefully picking bullet conversion and experience point items, taking full advantage of the slowdown. If you execute this very well and get lucky, you can reach level so high that stage 3 starts with a flying enemy formation consisting of shuffled box enemies, which is the starting formation of the 20th table. Then the players can do the strategy wherever it is considerably more lucrative than quick-killing enemies.

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous

2026-05-31T18:38:56Z

Mirashar: /* Advanced Strategy */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns.

Each stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by D.F.S. worms it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 some of Shigi's messages.

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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets.

One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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))''

== Basic Strategy ==
This section is mainly for defeating TLB without continuing.

To defeat bosses in later stages, you would like to have the defensive strength of level 50+ Shield and the destructive force of level 50+ sword. Also, hidden items in stages 4 and 5 require inflicting enough damage with Shield on the hidden spot, so you need to level up Shield by that.

It is commonly advised to quickly level up Shield in the first stage, primarily because most flying enemies in the early game table are so weak that you can quickly defeat with Shield, secondarily because using Shield a lot is almost the only way to chain D.F.S. in low level. Additionally, it is a good practice to collect speed-up items from item carriers in stage 1 because it helps with destroying as many flying enemies with Shield in one D.F.S. activation as possible, thus earning your Shield experience quicker. The first item carrier you will encounter is very hard to destroy with underdeveloped Shield and Sword, but point blanking with Shot can eliminate it quickly, or damage it enough to finish with Shield. If you utilize D.F.S. well enough, you can get level 50 for Shield in one stage.

After you obtain level 50 Shield, you would want to upgrade Sword. However, defeating enemies with Sword will earn you less than half of the D.F.S. gauge increase than if you defeat the same number of enemies with Shield, and likely you would end up having to recharge D.F.S. gauge without D.F.S. activated. In that situation, the safest option is to hide behind Shield and attack with refshots, but hitting many Shots at enemies may be feasible as well.

==Advanced Strategy==
This section mainly includes information for scoring.

Enemy destruction score and score for getting point items are multiplied by the sum of the weapon levels, so you would want to level up early and increase your score multiplier quickly, then quickly defeat as many enemies as possible in the late game and get the actual score. The strategy described in the previous section did not mention Shot level (and you can defeat TLB with very low Shot level), but leveling up Shot is necessary for scoring.

===Milking Bosses===
----
[[File:Karous_Refshots_boss1.jpg|400px|thumb|Parking Shield on top of the launch port located on the head of boss 1. This image is for demonstrational purposes, and actually using this technique on boss 1 may not be optimal for score.]]
There are not many destructible parts on bosses for the length of boss fights, so you cannot recharge the D.F.S. gauge by destroying everything in sight with Sword. Instead, the primary way to get experience points and refill the D.F.S. gauge is by erasing enemy bullets (which there are many) and hitting with your weapons as many times as possible. You can take time as long as you do not get a time-out.

Bosses are so durable that you can shoot many Shots at them, especially when you point-blank or use the rapid-fire. Combined with D.F.S., boss fights are very good sources of Shot experience points.

As for Shield, there is a trick that you put Shield directly on a launch port while activating D.F.S. barrier, thereby reflecting all enemy bullets from said launch port. If you direct those refshots properly, you can efficiently damage the boss and gain Shield experience points for simply sweeping the boss with so many refshots.

Destroying boss parts is also lucrative, as those parts you do not have to dismantle in order to beat the boss tend to have a high base score. Though, the boss itself is more valuable than a part or two, therefore it is important to make sure you finish bosses and not get a time-out.

===Enemy Tables===
----
Enemy Tables change based on the weapon levels, not stage progression. You can see that when you look at the replays of a no-input clear of Easy Mode, normal gameplay, and one utilizing the bullet conversion technique to achieve level 300 early.
Later enemy tables give you stronger enemies with higher base score and you have higher score multiplier when you face them, so you get a large portion of total score in later stages.

When the weapon levels reach a certain threshold, both the flying enemy table and the mid-sized enemy table change simultaneously and the next flying enemy formation and the next mid-sized enemy wave you encounter are the first ones of the next set of enemy tables.

Enemy tables are interrupted by midbosses. If you end a midboss fight and do not trigger a table change, the current set of enemy tables continues from where it got cut off. However, the enemy tables reset between stages and the first enemy waves in the current set of enemy tables spawn at the beginning of each stage.

The tables below show the level value at which each table change happens if only the specific weapon is upgraded.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Hard Mode
|-
! Table
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |1
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |2
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |3
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |4
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |5
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |6
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |7
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |8
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |9
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |10
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |11
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |12
|-
! Shot
| 0
| 9
| 18
| 27
| 36
| 45
| 54
| 63
| 72
| 80
| 89
| 98
|-
! Sword
| 0
| 12
| 23
| 35
| 46
| 58
| 69
| 80
| 92
| －
| －
| －
|-
! Shield
| 0
| 20
| 40
| 60
| 80
| 100
| －
| －
| －
| －
| －
| －
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+Easy and Normal Mode
! Table
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |1
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |2
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |3
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |4
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |5
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |6
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |7
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |8
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |9
|-
! Shot
| 0
| 12
| 23
| 35
| 46
| 58
| 69
| 81
| 92
|-
! Sword
| 0
| 15
| 29
| 44
| 58
| 72
| 87
| －
| －
|-
! Shield
| 0
| 23
| 46
| 69
| 92
| －
| －
| －
| －
|}

From these values, it is theorized that enemy tables change when:

*10(Shot level)+8(Sword level)+5(Shield level) reaches or surpasses the next multiple of 115 in Easy and Normal Mode

*9(Shot level)+7(Sword level)+4(Shield level) reaches or surpasses the next multiple of 80 (up to 1520) in Hard Mode

These formulae make a little more sense when you consider that the enemy table switch happens when you get to (Shot level, Sword level, Shield level) = (5n, 5n, 5n) for n being a positive integer below 20 for Easy and Normal Mode, and when you get (4n, 4n, 4n) for Hard Mode. The enemy tables are the same in all difficulty modes, but Hard Mode gives you later enemy tables earlier. There are a total of 20 sets of tables, and the tables will not change anymore when you reach the final 20th set of tables.

This can be regarded as the [[rank]] system of this game, but the "rank management" here is very different from ones in other games: Especially in early game, where you level up quickly, you can strategically level up each weapon to control the timing of the table switch and avoid encountering unfavorable enemies.

===Bullet Conversion Scoring===
----
The bullet conversion scoring technique involves continuously obtaining bullet conversion items in bullet-heavy sections, usually initiated by spawning items by taking damage a few times. This advanced and luck-dependent strategy is much harder in later ports than in the NAOMI version due to a lack of slowdown. Having too many items on screen can cause a game crash (freeze) in some versions, including NAOMI.

The most popular place to do this trick is the 2nd boss fight. A good way to use it there is to level up by carefully picking bullet conversion and experience point items, taking full advantage of the slowdown. If you execute this very well and get lucky, you can reach level so high that stage 3 starts with a flying enemy formation consisting of shuffled box enemies, which is the starting formation of the 20th table. Then the players can do the strategy wherever it is considerably more lucrative than quick-killing enemies.

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous

2026-05-31T18:30:48Z

Mirashar: /* Hidden Items */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns.

Each stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by D.F.S. worms it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 some of Shigi's messages.

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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets.

One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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))''

== Basic Strategy ==
This section is mainly for defeating TLB without continuing.

To defeat bosses in later stages, you would like to have the defensive strength of level 50+ Shield and the destructive force of level 50+ sword. Also, hidden items in stages 4 and 5 require inflicting enough damage with Shield on the hidden spot, so you need to level up Shield by that.

It is commonly advised to quickly level up Shield in the first stage, primarily because most flying enemies in the early game table are so weak that you can quickly defeat with Shield, secondarily because using Shield a lot is almost the only way to chain D.F.S. in low level. Additionally, it is a good practice to collect speed-up items from item carriers in stage 1 because it helps with destroying as many flying enemies with Shield in one D.F.S. activation as possible, thus earning your Shield experience quicker. The first item carrier you will encounter is very hard to destroy with underdeveloped Shield and Sword, but point blanking with Shot can eliminate it quickly, or damage it enough to finish with Shield. If you utilize D.F.S. well enough, you can get level 50 for Shield in one stage.

After you obtain level 50 Shield, you would want to upgrade Sword. However, defeating enemies with Sword will earn you less than half of the D.F.S. gauge increase than if you defeat the same number of enemies with Shield, and likely you would end up having to recharge D.F.S. gauge without D.F.S. activated. In that situation, the safest option is to hide behind Shield and attack with refshots, but hitting many Shots at enemies may be feasible as well.

==Advanced Strategy==
This section mainly includes information for scoring (wip).

Enemy destruction score and score for getting point items are multiplied by the sum of the weapon levels, so you would want to level up early and increase your score multiplier quickly, then quickly defeat as many enemies as possible in the late game and get the actual score. The strategy described in the previous section did not mention Shot level (and you can defeat TLB with very low Shot level), but leveling up Shot is necessary for scoring.

===Milking Bosses===
----
[[File:Karous_Refshots_boss1.jpg|400px|thumb|Parking Shield on top of the launch port located on the head of boss 1. This image is for demonstrational purposes, and actually using this technique on boss 1 may not be optimal for score.]]
There are not many destructible parts on bosses for the length of boss fights, so you cannot recharge the D.F.S. gauge by destroying everything in sight with Sword. Instead, the primary way to get experience points and refill the D.F.S. gauge is by erasing enemy bullets (which there are many) and hitting with your weapons as many times as possible. You can take time as long as you do not get a time-out.

Bosses are so durable that you can shoot many Shots at them, especially when you point-blank or use the rapid-fire. Combined with D.F.S., boss fights are very good sources of Shot experience points.

As for Shield, there is a trick that you put Shield directly on a launch port while activating D.F.S. barrier, thereby reflecting all enemy bullets from said launch port. If you direct those refshots properly, you can efficiently damage the boss and gain Shield experience points for simply sweeping the boss with so many refshots.

Destroying boss parts is also lucrative, as those parts you do not have to dismantle in order to beat the boss tend to have a high base score. Though, the boss itself is more valuable than a part or two, therefore it is important to make sure you finish bosses and not get a time-out.

===Enemy Tables===
----
Enemy Tables change based on the weapon levels, not stage progression. You can see that when you look at the replays of a no-input clear of Easy Mode, normal gameplay, and one utilizing the bullet conversion technique to achieve level 300 early.
Later enemy tables give you stronger enemies with higher base score and you have higher score multiplier when you face them, so you get a large portion of total score in later stages.

When the weapon levels reach a certain threshold, both the flying enemy table and the mid-sized enemy table change simultaneously and the next flying enemy formation and the next mid-sized enemy wave you encounter are the first ones of the next set of enemy tables.

Enemy tables are interrupted by midbosses. If you end a midboss fight and do not trigger a table change, the current set of enemy tables continues from where it got cut off. However, the enemy tables reset between stages and the first enemy waves in the current set of enemy tables spawn at the beginning of each stage.

The tables below show the level value at which each table change happens if only the specific weapon is upgraded.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Hard Mode
|-
! Table
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |1
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |2
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |3
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |4
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |5
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |6
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |7
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |8
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |9
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |10
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |11
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |12
|-
! Shot
| 0
| 9
| 18
| 27
| 36
| 45
| 54
| 63
| 72
| 80
| 89
| 98
|-
! Sword
| 0
| 12
| 23
| 35
| 46
| 58
| 69
| 80
| 92
| －
| －
| －
|-
! Shield
| 0
| 20
| 40
| 60
| 80
| 100
| －
| －
| －
| －
| －
| －
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+Easy and Normal Mode
! Table
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |1
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |2
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |3
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |4
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |5
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |6
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |7
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |8
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |9
|-
! Shot
| 0
| 12
| 23
| 35
| 46
| 58
| 69
| 81
| 92
|-
! Sword
| 0
| 15
| 29
| 44
| 58
| 72
| 87
| －
| －
|-
! Shield
| 0
| 23
| 46
| 69
| 92
| －
| －
| －
| －
|}

From these values, it is theorized that enemy tables change when:

*10(Shot level)+8(Sword level)+5(Shield level) reaches or surpasses the next multiple of 115 in Easy and Normal Mode

*9(Shot level)+7(Sword level)+4(Shield level) reaches or surpasses the next multiple of 80 (up to 1520) in Hard Mode

These formulae make a little more sense when you consider that the enemy table switch happens when you get to (Shot level, Sword level, Shield level) = (5n, 5n, 5n) for n being a positive integer below 20 for Easy and Normal Mode, and when you get (4n, 4n, 4n) for Hard Mode. The enemy tables are the same in all difficulty modes, but Hard Mode gives you later enemy tables earlier. There are a total of 20 sets of tables, and the tables will not change anymore when you reach the final 20th set of tables.

This can be regarded as the [[rank]] system of this game, but the "rank management" here is very different from ones in other games: Especially in early game, where you level up quickly, you can strategically level up each weapon to control the timing of the table switch and avoid encountering unfavorable enemies.

===Bullet Conversion Scoring===
----
The bullet conversion scoring technique involves continuously obtaining bullet conversion items in bullet-heavy sections, usually initiated by spawning items by taking damage a few times. This advanced and luck-dependent strategy is much harder in later ports than in the NAOMI version due to a lack of slowdown. Having too many items on screen can cause a game crash (freeze) in some versions, including NAOMI.

The most popular place to do this trick is the 2nd boss fight. A good way to use it there is to level up by carefully picking bullet conversion and experience point items, taking full advantage of the slowdown. If you execute this very well and get lucky, you can reach level so high that stage 3 starts with a flying enemy formation consisting of shuffled box enemies, which is the starting formation of the 20th table. Then the players can do the strategy wherever it is considerably more lucrative than quick-killing enemies.

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous/Video Index

2026-05-31T07:30:33Z

Mirashar: /* Hard mode */

[[File:Karous - logo.png|thumb|right|200px]]

__TOC__

== Easy mode ==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center; width: 100%;"
! style="width:10%;" | Player
! style="width:10%;" | Score
! style="width:10%;" | Platform
! style="width:10%;" | Stage
! style="width:20%;" class="unsortable" | Video
! class="unsortable" | Comment
|-
| Mirashar
| 1,072,048,900
| Switch
| ALL
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IixTA6T6dw YouTube]
|
|-
| M.Knight
| 251,580
| Dreamcast
| ALL
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpQgpMlXG7k YouTube]
| no-shot no-sword no-DFS no-vertical no-horizontal no-death no-damage
|}

== Normal mode ==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center; width: 100%;"
! style="width:10%;" | Player
! style="width:10%;" | Score
! style="width:10%;" | Platform
! style="width:10%;" | Stage
! style="width:20%;" class="unsortable" | Video
! class="unsortable" | Comment
|-
| Radiance Alesta
| 1,026,624,930
| Wii
| ALL
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZepU9jpRCjQ YouTube]
|
|-
| Yakumov
| 884,677,430
| Arcade
| ALL
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq5VWTvpqCM YouTube]
|
|-
| JulianSeph 842 Gamez
| 835,043,120
| Dreamcast
| ALL
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMXP0ik0CYQ YouTube]
| Played on Flycast on PC.
|}

== Hard mode ==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center; width: 100%;"
! style="width:10%;" | Player
! style="width:10%;" | Score
! style="width:10%;" | Platform
! style="width:10%;" | Stage
! style="width:20%;" class="unsortable" | Video
! class="unsortable" | Comment
|-
| Eiden
| 17,475,298,740
| Arcade (PCB)
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/0SrPACuhwDE&t=17011 YouTube]
|
|-
| GOTYO
| 16,204,983,420
| Arcade (PCB)
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/XRZyY6tuS_A YouTube]
|
|-
| Eiden
| 15,229,823,670
| Arcade (PCB)
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/_KbCcbmCbpE YouTube]
|
|-
| GOTYO
| 13,653,507,670
| Arcade (PCB)
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/OZ-NXwnth2A YouTube]
|
|-
| Eiden
| 13,453,580,650
| Arcade (PCB)
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/buYQAV_jFwE?t=3136 YouTube]
|
|-
| GOTYO
| 12,628,038,480
| Arcade (PCB)
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/yXrXgQwJ3nw YouTube]
|
|-
| GOTYO
| 11,800,947,190
| Arcade (PCB)
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/WVUzzN-8NW8 YouTube]
|
|-
| GOTYO
| 10,063,554,600
| Arcade (PCB)
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/qn3DWbcLrWU YouTube]
|
|-
| GOTYO
| 9,849,231,760
| Arcade (PCB)
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/-E3puFmRZoU YouTube]
|
|-
| Eiden
| 5,728,490,990
| Arcade (PCB)
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/_wGOZHRvfhM YouTube]
|
|-
| phox
| 5,029,092,750
| Wii
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/Sx3Q2tloI5A YouTube]
| Video has been privated
|
|-
| TZW-ART?
| 4,925,656,920
| Arcade (PCB)
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/rd4f3MRx9EQ YouTube]
|
|-
| Eiden
| 4,386,449,450
| Steam
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/Jj_BVSMi4bo YouTube]
|
|-
| ふくちゃん
| 3,514,227,820
| Wii
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/buYQAV_jFwE?t=3137 YouTube]
|
|-
| M.Knight
| 3,406,138,710
| Dreamcast
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/845fgLP54c4 YouTube]
|
|-
| M.Knight
| 3,002,844,980
| Dreamcast
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/zac-Ga4fliQ YouTube]
|
|-
| M.Knight
| 2,961,692,700
| Dreamcast
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/EHhpifu-ShA YouTube]
| Score Art Online Season One run
|-
| Kiken Enryu
| 2,782,468,970
| Dreamcast
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/2mwl-XYbsdk YouTube]
|
|-
| Van Artic
| 2,538,350,240
| Steam
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/W7rUb8oHrTI YouTube]
|
|-
| Chinopolis
| 2,252,967,880
| Dreamcast
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/s634838MW8k YouTube]
|
|-
| Radiance Alesta
| 2,049,368,090
| Wii
| TLB ALL
| [https://youtu.be/1oGN15MQ-y4 YouTube]
|
|-
| Pearl
| 102,094,410
| Dreamcast
| ALL (No TLB)
| [https://youtu.be/1X8Y91cxA7Y YouTube]
|
|-
| Radiance Alesta
| 3,033,621,970
| Wii
| TLB ALL
| [https://www.youtube.com/live/YQwtu6EIh7Y?si=fmuJ-55zETTMwxvt&t=9477 YouTube]
| Shmup Slam 7 run
|}

[[Category:Video Index]]

Karous

2026-05-31T06:44:43Z

Mirashar: /* Enemy Tables */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns.

Each stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by D.F.S. worms it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets.

One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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))''

== Basic Strategy ==
This section is mainly for defeating TLB without continuing.

To defeat bosses in later stages, you would like to have the defensive strength of level 50+ Shield and the destructive force of level 50+ sword. Also, hidden items in stages 4 and 5 require inflicting enough damage with Shield on the hidden spot, so you need to level up Shield by that.

It is commonly advised to quickly level up Shield in the first stage, primarily because most flying enemies in the early game table are so weak that you can quickly defeat with Shield, secondarily because using Shield a lot is almost the only way to chain D.F.S. in low level. Additionally, it is a good practice to collect speed-up items from item carriers in stage 1 because it helps with destroying as many flying enemies with Shield in one D.F.S. activation as possible, thus earning your Shield experience quicker. The first item carrier you will encounter is very hard to destroy with underdeveloped Shield and Sword, but point blanking with Shot can eliminate it quickly, or damage it enough to finish with Shield. If you utilize D.F.S. well enough, you can get level 50 for Shield in one stage.

After you obtain level 50 Shield, you would want to upgrade Sword. However, defeating enemies with Sword will earn you less than half of the D.F.S. gauge increase than if you defeat the same number of enemies with Shield, and likely you would end up having to recharge D.F.S. gauge without D.F.S. activated. In that situation, the safest option is to hide behind Shield and attack with refshots, but hitting many Shots at enemies may be feasible as well.

==Advanced Strategy==
This section mainly includes information for scoring (wip).

Enemy destruction score and score for getting point items are multiplied by the sum of the weapon levels, so you would want to level up early and increase your score multiplier quickly, then quickly defeat as many enemies as possible in the late game and get the actual score. The strategy described in the previous section did not mention Shot level (and you can defeat TLB with very low Shot level), but leveling up Shot is necessary for scoring.

===Milking Bosses===
----
[[File:Karous_Refshots_boss1.jpg|400px|thumb|Parking Shield on top of the launch port located on the head of boss 1. This image is for demonstrational purposes, and actually using this technique on boss 1 may not be optimal for score.]]
There are not many destructible parts on bosses for the length of boss fights, so you cannot recharge the D.F.S. gauge by destroying everything in sight with Sword. Instead, the primary way to get experience points and refill the D.F.S. gauge is by erasing enemy bullets (which there are many) and hitting with your weapons as many times as possible. You can take time as long as you do not get a time-out.

Bosses are so durable that you can shoot many Shots at them, especially when you point-blank or use the rapid-fire. Combined with D.F.S., boss fights are very good sources of Shot experience points.

As for Shield, there is a trick that you put Shield directly on a launch port while activating D.F.S. barrier, thereby reflecting all enemy bullets from said launch port. If you direct those refshots properly, you can efficiently damage the boss and gain Shield experience points for simply sweeping the boss with so many refshots.

Destroying boss parts is also lucrative, as those parts you do not have to dismantle in order to beat the boss tend to have a high base score. Though, the boss itself is more valuable than a part or two, therefore it is important to make sure you finish bosses and not get a time-out.

===Enemy Tables===
----
Enemy Tables change based on the weapon levels, not stage progression. You can see that when you look at the replays of a no-input clear of Easy Mode, normal gameplay, and one utilizing the bullet conversion technique to achieve level 300 early.
Later enemy tables give you stronger enemies with higher base score and you have higher score multiplier when you face them, so you get a large portion of total score in later stages.

When the weapon levels reach a certain threshold, both the flying enemy table and the mid-sized enemy table change simultaneously and the next flying enemy formation and the next mid-sized enemy wave you encounter are the first ones of the next set of enemy tables.

Enemy tables are interrupted by midbosses. If you end a midboss fight and do not trigger a table change, the current set of enemy tables continues from where it got cut off. However, the enemy tables reset between stages and the first enemy waves in the current set of enemy tables spawn at the beginning of each stage.

The tables below show the level value at which each table change happens if only the specific weapon is upgraded.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Hard Mode
|-
! Table
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |1
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |2
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |3
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |4
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |5
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |6
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |7
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |8
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |9
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |10
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |11
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |12
|-
! Shot
| 0
| 9
| 18
| 27
| 36
| 45
| 54
| 63
| 72
| 80
| 89
| 98
|-
! Sword
| 0
| 12
| 23
| 35
| 46
| 58
| 69
| 80
| 92
| －
| －
| －
|-
! Shield
| 0
| 20
| 40
| 60
| 80
| 100
| －
| －
| －
| －
| －
| －
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+Easy and Normal Mode
! Table
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |1
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |2
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |3
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |4
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |5
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |6
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |7
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |8
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |9
|-
! Shot
| 0
| 12
| 23
| 35
| 46
| 58
| 69
| 81
| 92
|-
! Sword
| 0
| 15
| 29
| 44
| 58
| 72
| 87
| －
| －
|-
! Shield
| 0
| 23
| 46
| 69
| 92
| －
| －
| －
| －
|}

From these values, it is theorized that enemy tables change when:

*10(Shot level)+8(Sword level)+5(Shield level) reaches or surpasses the next multiple of 115 in Easy and Normal Mode

*9(Shot level)+7(Sword level)+4(Shield level) reaches or surpasses the next multiple of 80 (up to 1520) in Hard Mode

These formulae make a little more sense when you consider that the enemy table switch happens when you get to (Shot level, Sword level, Shield level) = (5n, 5n, 5n) for n being a positive integer below 20 for Easy and Normal Mode, and when you get (4n, 4n, 4n) for Hard Mode. The enemy tables are the same in all difficulty modes, but Hard Mode gives you later enemy tables earlier. There are a total of 20 sets of tables, and the tables will not change anymore when you reach the final 20th set of tables.

This can be regarded as the [[rank]] system of this game, but the "rank management" here is very different from ones in other games: Especially in early game, where you level up quickly, you can strategically level up each weapon to control the timing of the table switch and avoid encountering unfavorable enemies.

===Bullet Conversion Scoring===
----
The bullet conversion scoring technique involves continuously obtaining bullet conversion items in bullet-heavy sections, usually initiated by spawning items by taking damage a few times. This advanced and luck-dependent strategy is much harder in later ports than in the NAOMI version due to a lack of slowdown. Having too many items on screen can cause a game crash (freeze) in some versions, including NAOMI.

The most popular place to do this trick is the 2nd boss fight. A good way to use it there is to level up by carefully picking bullet conversion and experience point items, taking full advantage of the slowdown. If you execute this very well and get lucky, you can reach level so high that stage 3 starts with a flying enemy formation consisting of shuffled box enemies, which is the starting formation of the 20th table. Then the players can do the strategy wherever it is considerably more lucrative than quick-killing enemies.

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous

2026-05-31T06:43:30Z

Mirashar: /* Enemy Tables */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns.

Each stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by D.F.S. worms it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets.

One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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))''

== Basic Strategy ==
This section is mainly for defeating TLB without continuing.

To defeat bosses in later stages, you would like to have the defensive strength of level 50+ Shield and the destructive force of level 50+ sword. Also, hidden items in stages 4 and 5 require inflicting enough damage with Shield on the hidden spot, so you need to level up Shield by that.

It is commonly advised to quickly level up Shield in the first stage, primarily because most flying enemies in the early game table are so weak that you can quickly defeat with Shield, secondarily because using Shield a lot is almost the only way to chain D.F.S. in low level. Additionally, it is a good practice to collect speed-up items from item carriers in stage 1 because it helps with destroying as many flying enemies with Shield in one D.F.S. activation as possible, thus earning your Shield experience quicker. The first item carrier you will encounter is very hard to destroy with underdeveloped Shield and Sword, but point blanking with Shot can eliminate it quickly, or damage it enough to finish with Shield. If you utilize D.F.S. well enough, you can get level 50 for Shield in one stage.

After you obtain level 50 Shield, you would want to upgrade Sword. However, defeating enemies with Sword will earn you less than half of the D.F.S. gauge increase than if you defeat the same number of enemies with Shield, and likely you would end up having to recharge D.F.S. gauge without D.F.S. activated. In that situation, the safest option is to hide behind Shield and attack with refshots, but hitting many Shots at enemies may be feasible as well.

==Advanced Strategy==
This section mainly includes information for scoring (wip).

Enemy destruction score and score for getting point items are multiplied by the sum of the weapon levels, so you would want to level up early and increase your score multiplier quickly, then quickly defeat as many enemies as possible in the late game and get the actual score. The strategy described in the previous section did not mention Shot level (and you can defeat TLB with very low Shot level), but leveling up Shot is necessary for scoring.

===Milking Bosses===
----
[[File:Karous_Refshots_boss1.jpg|400px|thumb|Parking Shield on top of the launch port located on the head of boss 1. This image is for demonstrational purposes, and actually using this technique on boss 1 may not be optimal for score.]]
There are not many destructible parts on bosses for the length of boss fights, so you cannot recharge the D.F.S. gauge by destroying everything in sight with Sword. Instead, the primary way to get experience points and refill the D.F.S. gauge is by erasing enemy bullets (which there are many) and hitting with your weapons as many times as possible. You can take time as long as you do not get a time-out.

Bosses are so durable that you can shoot many Shots at them, especially when you point-blank or use the rapid-fire. Combined with D.F.S., boss fights are very good sources of Shot experience points.

As for Shield, there is a trick that you put Shield directly on a launch port while activating D.F.S. barrier, thereby reflecting all enemy bullets from said launch port. If you direct those refshots properly, you can efficiently damage the boss and gain Shield experience points for simply sweeping the boss with so many refshots.

Destroying boss parts is also lucrative, as those parts you do not have to dismantle in order to beat the boss tend to have a high base score. Though, the boss itself is more valuable than a part or two, therefore it is important to make sure you finish bosses and not get a time-out.

===Enemy Tables===
----
Enemy Tables change based on the weapon levels, not stage progression. You can see that when you look at the replays of a no-input clear of Easy Mode, normal gameplay, and one utilizing the bullet conversion technique to achieve level 300 early.
Later enemy tables give you stronger enemies with higher base score and you have higher score multiplier when you face them, so you get a large portion of total score in later stages.

When the weapon levels reach a certain threshold, both the flying enemy table and the mid-sized enemy table change simultaneously and the next flying enemy formation and the next mid-sized enemy wave you encounter are the first ones of the next set of enemy tables.

Enemy tables are interrupted by midbosses. If you end a midboss fight and do not trigger a table change, the current set of enemy tables continues from where it got cut off. However, the enemy tables reset between stages and the first enemy waves in the current set of enemy tables spawn at the beginning of each stage.

The tables below show the level value at which each table change happens if only the specific weapon is upgraded.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Hard Mode
|-
! Table
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |1
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |2
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |3
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |4
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |5
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |6
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |7
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |8
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |9
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |10
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |11
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |12
|-
! Shot
| 0
| 9
| 18
| 27
| 36
| 45
| 54
| 63
| 72
| 80
| 89
| 98
|-
! Sword
| 0
| 12
| 23
| 35
| 46
| 58
| 69
| 80
| 92
| －
| －
| －
|-
! Shield
| 0
| 20
| 40
| 60
| 80
| 100
| －
| －
| －
| －
| －
| －
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+Easy and Normal Mode
! Table
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |1
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |2
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |3
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |4
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |5
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |6
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |7
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |8
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |9
|-
! Shot
| 0
| 12
| 23
| 35
| 46
| 58
| 69
| 81
| 92
|-
! Sword
| 0
| 15
| 29
| 44
| 58
| 72
| 87
| －
| －
|-
! Shield
| 0
| 23
| 46
| 69
| 92
| －
| －
| －
| －
|}

From these values, it is theorized that enemy tables change when:

*10(Shot level)+8(Sword level)+5(Shield level) reaches or surpasses the next multiple of 115 in Easy and Normal Mode

*9(Shot level)+7(Sword level)+4(Shield level) reaches or surpasses the next multiple of 80 (up to 1520) in Hard Mode

These formulae make a little more sense when you consider that the enemy table switch happens when you get to (Shot level, Sword level, Shield level) = (5n, 5n, 5n) for n being a positive integer below 20 for Easy and Normal Mode, and when you get (4n, 4n, 4n) for Hard mode. The enemy tables are the same in all difficulty modes, but Hard Mode gives you later enemy tables earlier. There are a total of 20 sets of tables, and the tables will not change anymore when you reach the final 20th set of tables.

This can be regarded as the [[rank]] system of this game, but the "rank management" here is very different from ones in other games: Especially in early game, where you level up quickly, you can strategically level up each weapon to control the timing of the table switch and avoid encountering unfavorable enemies.

===Bullet Conversion Scoring===
----
The bullet conversion scoring technique involves continuously obtaining bullet conversion items in bullet-heavy sections, usually initiated by spawning items by taking damage a few times. This advanced and luck-dependent strategy is much harder in later ports than in the NAOMI version due to a lack of slowdown. Having too many items on screen can cause a game crash (freeze) in some versions, including NAOMI.

The most popular place to do this trick is the 2nd boss fight. A good way to use it there is to level up by carefully picking bullet conversion and experience point items, taking full advantage of the slowdown. If you execute this very well and get lucky, you can reach level so high that stage 3 starts with a flying enemy formation consisting of shuffled box enemies, which is the starting formation of the 20th table. Then the players can do the strategy wherever it is considerably more lucrative than quick-killing enemies.

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous

2026-05-31T06:38:02Z

Mirashar: /* Enemy Tables */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns.

Each stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by D.F.S. worms it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets.

One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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))''

== Basic Strategy ==
This section is mainly for defeating TLB without continuing.

To defeat bosses in later stages, you would like to have the defensive strength of level 50+ Shield and the destructive force of level 50+ sword. Also, hidden items in stages 4 and 5 require inflicting enough damage with Shield on the hidden spot, so you need to level up Shield by that.

It is commonly advised to quickly level up Shield in the first stage, primarily because most flying enemies in the early game table are so weak that you can quickly defeat with Shield, secondarily because using Shield a lot is almost the only way to chain D.F.S. in low level. Additionally, it is a good practice to collect speed-up items from item carriers in stage 1 because it helps with destroying as many flying enemies with Shield in one D.F.S. activation as possible, thus earning your Shield experience quicker. The first item carrier you will encounter is very hard to destroy with underdeveloped Shield and Sword, but point blanking with Shot can eliminate it quickly, or damage it enough to finish with Shield. If you utilize D.F.S. well enough, you can get level 50 for Shield in one stage.

After you obtain level 50 Shield, you would want to upgrade Sword. However, defeating enemies with Sword will earn you less than half of the D.F.S. gauge increase than if you defeat the same number of enemies with Shield, and likely you would end up having to recharge D.F.S. gauge without D.F.S. activated. In that situation, the safest option is to hide behind Shield and attack with refshots, but hitting many Shots at enemies may be feasible as well.

==Advanced Strategy==
This section mainly includes information for scoring (wip).

Enemy destruction score and score for getting point items are multiplied by the sum of the weapon levels, so you would want to level up early and increase your score multiplier quickly, then quickly defeat as many enemies as possible in the late game and get the actual score. The strategy described in the previous section did not mention Shot level (and you can defeat TLB with very low Shot level), but leveling up Shot is necessary for scoring.

===Milking Bosses===
----
[[File:Karous_Refshots_boss1.jpg|400px|thumb|Parking Shield on top of the launch port located on the head of boss 1. This image is for demonstrational purposes, and actually using this technique on boss 1 may not be optimal for score.]]
There are not many destructible parts on bosses for the length of boss fights, so you cannot recharge the D.F.S. gauge by destroying everything in sight with Sword. Instead, the primary way to get experience points and refill the D.F.S. gauge is by erasing enemy bullets (which there are many) and hitting with your weapons as many times as possible. You can take time as long as you do not get a time-out.

Bosses are so durable that you can shoot many Shots at them, especially when you point-blank or use the rapid-fire. Combined with D.F.S., boss fights are very good sources of Shot experience points.

As for Shield, there is a trick that you put Shield directly on a launch port while activating D.F.S. barrier, thereby reflecting all enemy bullets from said launch port. If you direct those refshots properly, you can efficiently damage the boss and gain Shield experience points for simply sweeping the boss with so many refshots.

Destroying boss parts is also lucrative, as those parts you do not have to dismantle in order to beat the boss tend to have a high base score. Though, the boss itself is more valuable than a part or two, therefore it is important to make sure you finish bosses and not get a time-out.

===Enemy Tables===
----
Enemy Tables change based on the weapon levels, not stage progression. You can see that when you look at the replays of a no-input clear of Easy Mode, normal gameplay, and one utilizing the bullet conversion technique to achieve level 300 early.
Later enemy tables give you stronger enemies with higher base score and you have higher score multiplier when you face them, so you get a large portion of total score in later stages.

When the weapon levels reach a certain threshold, both the flying enemy table and the mid-sized enemy table change simultaneously and the next flying enemy formation and the next mid-sized enemy wave you encounter are the first ones of the next set of enemy tables.

Enemy tables are interrupted by midbosses. If you end a midboss fight and do not trigger a table change, the current set of enemy tables continues from where it got cut off. However, the enemy tables reset between stages and the first enemy waves in the current set of enemy tables spawn at the beginning of each stage.

The tables below show the level value at which each table change happens if only the specific weapon is upgraded.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Hard Mode
|-
! Table
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |1
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |2
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |3
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |4
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |5
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |6
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |7
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |8
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |9
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |10
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |11
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |12
|-
! Shot
| 0
| 9
| 18
| 27
| 36
| 45
| 54
| 63
| 72
| 80
| 89
| 98
|-
! Sword
| 0
| 12
| 23
| 35
| 46
| 58
| 69
| 80
| 92
| －
| －
| －
|-
! Shield
| 0
| 20
| 40
| 60
| 80
| 100
| －
| －
| －
| －
| －
| －
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+Easy and Normal Mode
! Table
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |1
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |2
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |3
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |4
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |5
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |6
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |7
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |8
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |9
|-
! Shot
| 0
| 12
| 23
| 35
| 46
| 58
| 69
| 81
| 92
|-
! Sword
| 0
| 15
| 29
| 44
| 58
| 72
| 87
| －
| －
|-
! Shield
| 0
| 23
| 46
| 69
| 92
| －
| －
| －
| －
|}

From these values, it is theorized that enemy tables change when:

*10(Shot level)+8(Sword level)+5(Shield level) reaches or surpasses the next multiple of 115 in Easy and Normal Mode

*9(Shot level)+7(Sword level)+4(Shield level) reaches or surpasses the next multiple of 80 (up to 1520) in Hard Mode

These formulae make a little more sense when you consider that the enemy table switch happens when you get to (Shot level, Sword level, Shield level) = (5n, 5n, 5n) for n being a positive integer below for Easy and Normal Mode, and when you get (4n, 4n, 4n) for Hard mode. The enemy tables are the same in all difficulty modes, but Hard Mode gives you later enemy tables earlier. There are a total of 20 sets of tables, and the tables will not change anymore when you reach the final 20th set of tables.

This can be regarded as the [[rank]] system of this game, but the "rank management" here is very different from ones in other games: Especially in early game, where you level up quickly, you can strategically level up each weapon to control the timing of the table switch and avoid encountering unfavorable enemies.

===Bullet Conversion Scoring===
----
The bullet conversion scoring technique involves continuously obtaining bullet conversion items in bullet-heavy sections, usually initiated by spawning items by taking damage a few times. This advanced and luck-dependent strategy is much harder in later ports than in the NAOMI version due to a lack of slowdown. Having too many items on screen can cause a game crash (freeze) in some versions, including NAOMI.

The most popular place to do this trick is the 2nd boss fight. A good way to use it there is to level up by carefully picking bullet conversion and experience point items, taking full advantage of the slowdown. If you execute this very well and get lucky, you can reach level so high that stage 3 starts with a flying enemy formation consisting of shuffled box enemies, which is the starting formation of the 20th table. Then the players can do the strategy wherever it is considerably more lucrative than quick-killing enemies.

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous

2026-05-31T06:17:07Z

Mirashar: /* Enemies Spawning */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns.

Each stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by D.F.S. worms it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets.

One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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))''

== Basic Strategy ==
This section is mainly for defeating TLB without continuing.

To defeat bosses in later stages, you would like to have the defensive strength of level 50+ Shield and the destructive force of level 50+ sword. Also, hidden items in stages 4 and 5 require inflicting enough damage with Shield on the hidden spot, so you need to level up Shield by that.

It is commonly advised to quickly level up Shield in the first stage, primarily because most flying enemies in the early game table are so weak that you can quickly defeat with Shield, secondarily because using Shield a lot is almost the only way to chain D.F.S. in low level. Additionally, it is a good practice to collect speed-up items from item carriers in stage 1 because it helps with destroying as many flying enemies with Shield in one D.F.S. activation as possible, thus earning your Shield experience quicker. The first item carrier you will encounter is very hard to destroy with underdeveloped Shield and Sword, but point blanking with Shot can eliminate it quickly, or damage it enough to finish with Shield. If you utilize D.F.S. well enough, you can get level 50 for Shield in one stage.

After you obtain level 50 Shield, you would want to upgrade Sword. However, defeating enemies with Sword will earn you less than half of the D.F.S. gauge increase than if you defeat the same number of enemies with Shield, and likely you would end up having to recharge D.F.S. gauge without D.F.S. activated. In that situation, the safest option is to hide behind Shield and attack with refshots, but hitting many Shots at enemies may be feasible as well.

==Advanced Strategy==
This section mainly includes information for scoring (wip).

Enemy destruction score and score for getting point items are multiplied by the sum of the weapon levels, so you would want to level up early and increase your score multiplier quickly, then quickly defeat as many enemies as possible in the late game and get the actual score. The strategy described in the previous section did not mention Shot level (and you can defeat TLB with very low Shot level), but leveling up Shot is necessary for scoring.

===Milking Bosses===
----
[[File:Karous_Refshots_boss1.jpg|400px|thumb|Parking Shield on top of the launch port located on the head of boss 1. This image is for demonstrational purposes, and actually using this technique on boss 1 may not be optimal for score.]]
There are not many destructible parts on bosses for the length of boss fights, so you cannot recharge the D.F.S. gauge by destroying everything in sight with Sword. Instead, the primary way to get experience points and refill the D.F.S. gauge is by erasing enemy bullets (which there are many) and hitting with your weapons as many times as possible. You can take time as long as you do not get a time-out.

Bosses are so durable that you can shoot many Shots at them, especially when you point-blank or use the rapid-fire. Combined with D.F.S., boss fights are very good sources of Shot experience points.

As for Shield, there is a trick that you put Shield directly on a launch port while activating D.F.S. barrier, thereby reflecting all enemy bullets from said launch port. If you direct those refshots properly, you can efficiently damage the boss and gain Shield experience points for simply sweeping the boss with so many refshots.

Destroying boss parts is also lucrative, as those parts you do not have to dismantle in order to beat the boss tend to have a high base score. Though, the boss itself is more valuable than a part or two, therefore it is important to make sure you finish bosses and not get a time-out.

===Enemy Tables===
----
Enemy Tables change based on the weapon levels, not stage progression. You can see that when you look at the replays of a no-input clear of Easy Mode, normal gameplay, and one utilizing the bullet conversion technique to achieve level 300 early.
Later enemy tables give you stronger enemies with higher base score and you have higher score multiplier when you face them, so you get a large portion of total score in later stages.

When the weapon levels reach a certain threshold, both the flying enemy table and the mid-sized enemy table change simultaneously and the next flying enemy formation and the next mid-sized enemy is the first ones in the next set of enemy tables.

The tables below show the level value at which each table change happens if only the specific weapon is upgraded.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Hard Mode
|-
! Table
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |1
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |2
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |3
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |4
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |5
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |6
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |7
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |8
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |9
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |10
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |11
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |12
|-
! Shot
| 0
| 9
| 18
| 27
| 36
| 45
| 54
| 63
| 72
| 80
| 89
| 98
|-
! Sword
| 0
| 12
| 23
| 35
| 46
| 58
| 69
| 80
| 92
| －
| －
| －
|-
! Shield
| 0
| 20
| 40
| 60
| 80
| 100
| －
| －
| －
| －
| －
| －
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+Easy and Normal Mode
! Table
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |1
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |2
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |3
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |4
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |5
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |6
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |7
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |8
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |9
|-
! Shot
| 0
| 12
| 23
| 35
| 46
| 58
| 69
| 81
| 92
|-
! Sword
| 0
| 15
| 29
| 44
| 58
| 72
| 87
| －
| －
|-
! Shield
| 0
| 23
| 46
| 69
| 92
| －
| －
| －
| －
|}

From these values, it is theorized that enemy tables change when:

*10(Shot level)+8(Sword level)+5(Shield level) reaches the next multiple of 115 in Easy and Normal Mode

*9(Shot level)+7(Sword level)+4(Shield level) reaches the next multiple of 80 (up to 1520) in Hard Mode

These formulae make a little more sense when you consider that the enemy table switch happens when you get to (Shot level, Sword level, Shield level) = (5n, 5n, 5n) for n being a positive integer below for Easy and Normal Mode, and when you get (4n, 4n, 4n) for Hard mode. The enemy tables are the same in all difficulty modes, but Hard Mode gives you later enemy tables earlier. There are a total of 20 sets of tables, and the tables will not change anymore when you reach the final 20th set of tables.

Especially in the early game, where you level up quickly, you can strategically level up each weapon to control the timing of the table switch and avoid encountering unfavorable enemies.

===Bullet Conversion Scoring===
----
The bullet conversion scoring technique involves continuously obtaining bullet conversion items in bullet-heavy sections, usually initiated by spawning items by taking damage a few times. This advanced and luck-dependent strategy is much harder in later ports than in the NAOMI version due to a lack of slowdown. Having too many items on screen can cause a game crash (freeze) in some versions, including NAOMI.

The most popular place to do this trick is the 2nd boss fight. A good way to use it there is to level up by carefully picking bullet conversion and experience point items, taking full advantage of the slowdown. If you execute this very well and get lucky, you can reach level so high that stage 3 starts with a flying enemy formation consisting of shuffled box enemies, which is the starting formation of the 20th table. Then the players can do the strategy wherever it is considerably more lucrative than quick-killing enemies.

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous

2026-05-30T19:18:42Z

Mirashar: /* Advanced Strategy */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns. A stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by D.F.S. worms it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets.

One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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))''

== Basic Strategy ==
This section is mainly for defeating TLB without continuing.

To defeat bosses in later stages, you would like to have the defensive strength of level 50+ Shield and the destructive force of level 50+ sword. Also, hidden items in stages 4 and 5 require inflicting enough damage with Shield on the hidden spot, so you need to level up Shield by that.

It is commonly advised to quickly level up Shield in the first stage, primarily because most flying enemies in the early game table are so weak that you can quickly defeat with Shield, secondarily because using Shield a lot is almost the only way to chain D.F.S. in low level. Additionally, it is a good practice to collect speed-up items from item carriers in stage 1 because it helps with destroying as many flying enemies with Shield in one D.F.S. activation as possible, thus earning your Shield experience quicker. The first item carrier you will encounter is very hard to destroy with underdeveloped Shield and Sword, but point blanking with Shot can eliminate it quickly, or damage it enough to finish with Shield. If you utilize D.F.S. well enough, you can get level 50 for Shield in one stage.

After you obtain level 50 Shield, you would want to upgrade Sword. However, defeating enemies with Sword will earn you less than half of the D.F.S. gauge increase than if you defeat the same number of enemies with Shield, and likely you would end up having to recharge D.F.S. gauge without D.F.S. activated. In that situation, the safest option is to hide behind Shield and attack with refshots, but hitting many Shots at enemies may be feasible as well.

==Advanced Strategy==
This section mainly includes information for scoring (wip).

Enemy destruction score and score for getting point items are multiplied by the sum of the weapon levels, so you would want to level up early and increase your score multiplier quickly, then quickly defeat as many enemies as possible in the late game and get the actual score. The strategy described in the previous section did not mention Shot level (and you can defeat TLB with very low Shot level), but leveling up Shot is necessary for scoring.

===Milking Bosses===
----
[[File:Karous_Refshots_boss1.jpg|400px|thumb|Parking Shield on top of the launch port located on the head of boss 1. This image is for demonstrational purposes, and actually using this technique on boss 1 may not be optimal for score.]]
There are not many destructible parts on bosses for the length of boss fights, so you cannot recharge the D.F.S. gauge by destroying everything in sight with Sword. Instead, the primary way to get experience points and refill the D.F.S. gauge is by erasing enemy bullets (which there are many) and hitting with your weapons as many times as possible. You can take time as long as you do not get a time-out.

Bosses are so durable that you can shoot many Shots at them, especially when you point-blank or use the rapid-fire. Combined with D.F.S., boss fights are very good sources of Shot experience points.

As for Shield, there is a trick that you put Shield directly on a launch port while activating D.F.S. barrier, thereby reflecting all enemy bullets from said launch port. If you direct those refshots properly, you can efficiently damage the boss and gain Shield experience points for simply sweeping the boss with so many refshots.

Destroying boss parts is also lucrative, as those parts you do not have to dismantle in order to beat the boss tend to have a high base score. Though, the boss itself is more valuable than a part or two, therefore it is important to make sure you finish bosses and not get a time-out.

===Enemy Tables===
----
Enemy Tables change based on the weapon levels, not stage progression. You can see that when you look at the replays of a no-input clear of Easy Mode, normal gameplay, and one utilizing the bullet conversion technique to achieve level 300 early.
Later enemy tables give you stronger enemies with higher base score and you have higher score multiplier when you face them, so you get a large portion of total score in later stages.

When the weapon levels reach a certain threshold, both the flying enemy table and the mid-sized enemy table change simultaneously and the next flying enemy formation and the next mid-sized enemy is the first ones in the next set of enemy tables.

The tables below show the level value at which each table change happens if only the specific weapon is upgraded.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Hard Mode
|-
! Table
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |1
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |2
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |3
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |4
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |5
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |6
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |7
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |8
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |9
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |10
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |11
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |12
|-
! Shot
| 0
| 9
| 18
| 27
| 36
| 45
| 54
| 63
| 72
| 80
| 89
| 98
|-
! Sword
| 0
| 12
| 23
| 35
| 46
| 58
| 69
| 80
| 92
| －
| －
| －
|-
! Shield
| 0
| 20
| 40
| 60
| 80
| 100
| －
| －
| －
| －
| －
| －
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+Easy and Normal Mode
! Table
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |1
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |2
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |3
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |4
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |5
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |6
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |7
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |8
! scope="col" style="width: 1.5em;" |9
|-
! Shot
| 0
| 12
| 23
| 35
| 46
| 58
| 69
| 81
| 92
|-
! Sword
| 0
| 15
| 29
| 44
| 58
| 72
| 87
| －
| －
|-
! Shield
| 0
| 23
| 46
| 69
| 92
| －
| －
| －
| －
|}

From these values, it is theorized that enemy tables change when:

*10(Shot level)+8(Sword level)+5(Shield level) reaches the next multiple of 115 in Easy and Normal Mode

*9(Shot level)+7(Sword level)+4(Shield level) reaches the next multiple of 80 (up to 1520) in Hard Mode

These formulae make a little more sense when you consider that the enemy table switch happens when you get to (Shot level, Sword level, Shield level) = (5n, 5n, 5n) for n being a positive integer below for Easy and Normal Mode, and when you get (4n, 4n, 4n) for Hard mode. The enemy tables are the same in all difficulty modes, but Hard Mode gives you later enemy tables earlier. There are a total of 20 sets of tables, and the tables will not change anymore when you reach the final 20th set of tables.

Especially in the early game, where you level up quickly, you can strategically level up each weapon to control the timing of the table switch and avoid encountering unfavorable enemies.

===Bullet Conversion Scoring===
----
The bullet conversion scoring technique involves continuously obtaining bullet conversion items in bullet-heavy sections, usually initiated by spawning items by taking damage a few times. This advanced and luck-dependent strategy is much harder in later ports than in the NAOMI version due to a lack of slowdown. Having too many items on screen can cause a game crash (freeze) in some versions, including NAOMI.

The most popular place to do this trick is the 2nd boss fight. A good way to use it there is to level up by carefully picking bullet conversion and experience point items, taking full advantage of the slowdown. If you execute this very well and get lucky, you can reach level so high that stage 3 starts with a flying enemy formation consisting of shuffled box enemies, which is the starting formation of the 20th table. Then the players can do the strategy wherever it is considerably more lucrative than quick-killing enemies.

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous

2026-05-30T03:49:34Z

Mirashar: /* Difficulty Modes */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns. A stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by D.F.S. worms it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets.

One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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))''

== Basic Strategy ==
This section is mainly for defeating TLB without continuing.

To defeat bosses in later stages, you would like to have the defensive strength of level 50+ Shield and the destructive force of level 50+ sword. Also, hidden items in stages 4 and 5 require inflicting enough damage with Shield on the hidden spot, so you need to level up Shield by that.

It is commonly advised to quickly level up Shield in the first stage, primarily because most flying enemies in the early game table are so weak that you can quickly defeat with Shield, secondarily because using Shield a lot is almost the only way to chain D.F.S. in low level. Additionally, it is a good practice to collect speed-up items from item carriers in stage 1 because it helps with destroying as many flying enemies with Shield in one D.F.S. activation as possible, thus earning your Shield experience quicker. The first item carrier you will encounter is very hard to destroy with underdeveloped Shield and Sword, but point blanking with Shot can eliminate it quickly, or damage it enough to finish with Shield. If you utilize D.F.S. well enough, you can get level 50 for Shield in one stage.

After you obtain level 50 Shield, you would want to upgrade Sword. However, defeating enemies with Sword will earn you less than half of the D.F.S. gauge increase than if you defeat the same number of enemies with Shield, and likely you would end up having to recharge D.F.S. gauge without D.F.S. activated. In that situation, the safest option is to hide behind Shield and attack with refshots, but hitting many Shots at enemies may be feasible as well.

==Advanced Strategy==
This section mainly includes information for scoring (wip).

Enemy destruction score and score for getting point items are multiplied by the sum of the weapon levels, so you would want to level up early and increase your score multiplier quickly, then quickly defeat as many enemies as possible in the late game and get the actual score. The strategy described in the previous section did not mention Shot level (and you can defeat TLB with very low Shot level), but leveling up Shot is necessary for scoring.

===Milking Bosses===
----
[[File:Karous_Refshots_boss1.jpg|400px|thumb|Parking Shield on top of the launch port located on the head of boss 1. This image is for demonstrational purposes, and actually using this technique on boss 1 may not be optimal for score.]]
There are not many destructible parts on bosses for the length of boss fights, so you cannot recharge the D.F.S. gauge by destroying everything in sight with Sword. Instead, the primary way to get experience points and refill the D.F.S. gauge is by erasing enemy bullets (which there are many) and hitting with your weapons as many times as possible. You can take time as long as you do not get a time-out.

Bosses are so durable that you can shoot many Shots at them, especially when you point-blank or use the rapid-fire. Combined with D.F.S., boss fights are very good sources of Shot experience points.

As for Shield, there is a trick that you put Shield directly on a launch port while activating D.F.S. barrier, thereby reflecting all enemy bullets from said launch port. If you direct those refshots properly, you can efficiently damage the boss and gain Shield experience points for simply sweeping the boss with so many refshots.

Destroying boss parts is also lucrative, as those parts you do not have to dismantle in order to beat the boss tend to have a high base score. Though, the boss itself is more valuable than a part or two, therefore it is important to make sure you finish bosses and not get a time-out.

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

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous

2026-05-29T18:35:53Z

Mirashar: /* Advanced Strategy */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns. A stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by D.F.S. worms it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets. One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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))''

== Basic Strategy ==
This section is mainly for defeating TLB without continuing.

To defeat bosses in later stages, you would like to have the defensive strength of level 50+ Shield and the destructive force of level 50+ sword. Also, hidden items in stages 4 and 5 require inflicting enough damage with Shield on the hidden spot, so you need to level up Shield by that.

It is commonly advised to quickly level up Shield in the first stage, primarily because most flying enemies in the early game table are so weak that you can quickly defeat with Shield, secondarily because using Shield a lot is almost the only way to chain D.F.S. in low level. Additionally, it is a good practice to collect speed-up items from item carriers in stage 1 because it helps with destroying as many flying enemies with Shield in one D.F.S. activation as possible, thus earning your Shield experience quicker. The first item carrier you will encounter is very hard to destroy with underdeveloped Shield and Sword, but point blanking with Shot can eliminate it quickly, or damage it enough to finish with Shield. If you utilize D.F.S. well enough, you can get level 50 for Shield in one stage.

After you obtain level 50 Shield, you would want to upgrade Sword. However, defeating enemies with Sword will earn you less than half of the D.F.S. gauge increase than if you defeat the same number of enemies with Shield, and likely you would end up having to recharge D.F.S. gauge without D.F.S. activated. In that situation, the safest option is to hide behind Shield and attack with refshots, but hitting many Shots at enemies may be feasible as well.

==Advanced Strategy==
This section mainly includes information for scoring (wip).

Enemy destruction score and score for getting point items are multiplied by the sum of the weapon levels, so you would want to level up early and increase your score multiplier quickly, then quickly defeat as many enemies as possible in the late game and get the actual score. The strategy described in the previous section did not mention Shot level (and you can defeat TLB with very low Shot level), but leveling up Shot is necessary for scoring.

===Milking Bosses===
----
[[File:Karous_Refshots_boss1.jpg|400px|thumb|Parking Shield on top of the launch port located on the head of boss 1. This image is for demonstrational purposes, and actually using this technique on boss 1 may not be optimal for score.]]
There are not many destructible parts on bosses for the length of boss fights, so you cannot recharge the D.F.S. gauge by destroying everything in sight with Sword. Instead, the primary way to get experience points and refill the D.F.S. gauge is by erasing enemy bullets (which there are many) and hitting with your weapons as many times as possible. You can take time as long as you do not get a time-out.

Bosses are so durable that you can shoot many Shots at them, especially when you point-blank or use the rapid-fire. Combined with D.F.S., boss fights are very good sources of Shot experience points.

As for Shield, there is a trick that you put Shield directly on a launch port while activating D.F.S. barrier, thereby reflecting all enemy bullets from said launch port. If you direct those refshots properly, you can efficiently damage the boss and gain Shield experience points for simply sweeping the boss with so many refshots.

Destroying boss parts is also lucrative, as those parts you do not have to dismantle in order to beat the boss tend to have a high base score. Though, the boss itself is more valuable than a part or two, therefore it is important to make sure you finish bosses and not get a time-out.

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

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous

2026-05-29T18:30:08Z

Mirashar: /* Advanced Strategy */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns. A stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by D.F.S. worms it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets. One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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))''

== Basic Strategy ==
This section is mainly for defeating TLB without continuing.

To defeat bosses in later stages, you would like to have the defensive strength of level 50+ Shield and the destructive force of level 50+ sword. Also, hidden items in stages 4 and 5 require inflicting enough damage with Shield on the hidden spot, so you need to level up Shield by that.

It is commonly advised to quickly level up Shield in the first stage, primarily because most flying enemies in the early game table are so weak that you can quickly defeat with Shield, secondarily because using Shield a lot is almost the only way to chain D.F.S. in low level. Additionally, it is a good practice to collect speed-up items from item carriers in stage 1 because it helps with destroying as many flying enemies with Shield in one D.F.S. activation as possible, thus earning your Shield experience quicker. The first item carrier you will encounter is very hard to destroy with underdeveloped Shield and Sword, but point blanking with Shot can eliminate it quickly, or damage it enough to finish with Shield. If you utilize D.F.S. well enough, you can get level 50 for Shield in one stage.

After you obtain level 50 Shield, you would want to upgrade Sword. However, defeating enemies with Sword will earn you less than half of the D.F.S. gauge increase than if you defeat the same number of enemies with Shield, and likely you would end up having to recharge D.F.S. gauge without D.F.S. activated. In that situation, the safest option is to hide behind Shield and attack with refshots, but hitting many Shots at enemies may be feasible as well.

==Advanced Strategy==
This section mainly includes information for scoring (wip).

Enemy destruction score and score for getting point items are multiplied by the sum of the weapon levels, so you would want to level up early and increase your score multiplier quickly, then quickly defeat as many enemies as possible in the late game and get the actual score. The strategy described in the previous section did not mention Shot level (and you may end up defeating TLB with very low Shot level), but leveling up Shot is necessary for scoring.

===Milking Bosses===
----
[[File:Karous_Refshots_boss1.jpg|400px|thumb|Parking Shield on top of the launch port located on the head of boss 1. This image is for demonstrational purposes, and actually using this technique on boss 1 may not be optimal for score.]]
There are not many destructible parts on bosses for the length of boss fights, so you cannot recharge the D.F.S. gauge by destroying everything in sight with Sword. Instead, the primary way to get experience points and refill the D.F.S. gauge is by erasing enemy bullets (which there are many) and hitting with your weapons as many times as possible. You can take time as long as you do not get a time-out.

Bosses are so durable that you can shoot many Shots at them, especially when you point-blank or use the rapid-fire. Combined with D.F.S., boss fights are very good sources of Shot experience points.

As for Shield, there is a trick that you put Shield directly on a launch port while activating D.F.S. barrier, thereby reflecting all enemy bullets from said launch port. If you direct those refshots properly, you can efficiently damage the boss and gain Shield experience points for simply sweeping the boss with so many refshots.

Destroying boss parts is also lucrative, as those parts you do not have to dismantle in order to beat the boss tend to have a high base score. Though, the boss itself is more valuable than a part or two, therefore it is important to make sure you finish bosses and not get a time-out.

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

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

File:Karous Refshots boss1.jpg

2026-05-29T18:21:22Z

Mirashar:

== Licensing ==
{{Non-free game screenshot}}

Karous

2026-05-28T16:22:04Z

Mirashar: /* Advanced Strategy */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns. A stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by D.F.S. worms it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets. One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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))''

== Basic Strategy ==
This section is mainly for defeating TLB without continuing.

To defeat bosses in later stages, you would like to have the defensive strength of level 50+ Shield and the destructive force of level 50+ sword. Also, hidden items in stages 4 and 5 require inflicting enough damage with Shield on the hidden spot, so you need to level up Shield by that.

It is commonly advised to quickly level up Shield in the first stage, primarily because most flying enemies in the early game table are so weak that you can quickly defeat with Shield, secondarily because using Shield a lot is almost the only way to chain D.F.S. in low level. Additionally, it is a good practice to collect speed-up items from item carriers in stage 1 because it helps with destroying as many flying enemies with Shield in one D.F.S. activation as possible, thus earning your Shield experience quicker. The first item carrier you will encounter is very hard to destroy with underdeveloped Shield and Sword, but point blanking with Shot can eliminate it quickly, or damage it enough to finish with Shield. If you utilize D.F.S. well enough, you can get level 50 for Shield in one stage.

After you obtain level 50 Shield, you would want to upgrade Sword. However, defeating enemies with Sword will earn you less than half of the D.F.S. gauge increase than if you defeat the same number of enemies with Shield, and likely you would end up having to recharge D.F.S. gauge without D.F.S. activated. In that situation, the safest option is to hide behind Shield and attack with refshots, but hitting many Shots at enemies may be feasible as well.

==Advanced Strategy==
This section mainly includes information for scoring (wip).

Enemy destruction score and score for getting point items are multiplied by the sum of the weapon levels, so you would want to level up early and increase your score multiplier quickly, then quickly defeat as many enemies as possible in the late game and get the actual score.

===Bosses===
----

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

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.

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous

2026-05-28T16:21:51Z

Mirashar: /* Advanced Strategy */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns. A stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by D.F.S. worms it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets. One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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))''

== Basic Strategy ==
This section is mainly for defeating TLB without continuing.

To defeat bosses in later stages, you would like to have the defensive strength of level 50+ Shield and the destructive force of level 50+ sword. Also, hidden items in stages 4 and 5 require inflicting enough damage with Shield on the hidden spot, so you need to level up Shield by that.

It is commonly advised to quickly level up Shield in the first stage, primarily because most flying enemies in the early game table are so weak that you can quickly defeat with Shield, secondarily because using Shield a lot is almost the only way to chain D.F.S. in low level. Additionally, it is a good practice to collect speed-up items from item carriers in stage 1 because it helps with destroying as many flying enemies with Shield in one D.F.S. activation as possible, thus earning your Shield experience quicker. The first item carrier you will encounter is very hard to destroy with underdeveloped Shield and Sword, but point blanking with Shot can eliminate it quickly, or damage it enough to finish with Shield. If you utilize D.F.S. well enough, you can get level 50 for Shield in one stage.

After you obtain level 50 Shield, you would want to upgrade Sword. However, defeating enemies with Sword will earn you less than half of the D.F.S. gauge increase than if you defeat the same number of enemies with Shield, and likely you would end up having to recharge D.F.S. gauge without D.F.S. activated. In that situation, the safest option is to hide behind Shield and attack with refshots, but hitting many Shots at enemies may be feasible as well.

==Advanced Strategy==
----
This section mainly includes information for scoring (wip).

Enemy destruction score and score for getting point items are multiplied by the sum of the weapon levels, so you would want to level up early and increase your score multiplier quickly, then quickly defeat as many enemies as possible in the late game and get the actual score.

===Bosses===

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

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.

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous

2026-05-28T16:04:53Z

Mirashar: /* Basic Strategy */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns. A stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by D.F.S. worms it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets. One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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))''

== Basic Strategy ==
This section is mainly for defeating TLB without continuing.

To defeat bosses in later stages, you would like to have the defensive strength of level 50+ Shield and the destructive force of level 50+ sword. Also, hidden items in stages 4 and 5 require inflicting enough damage with Shield on the hidden spot, so you need to level up Shield by that.

It is commonly advised to quickly level up Shield in the first stage, primarily because most flying enemies in the early game table are so weak that you can quickly defeat with Shield, secondarily because using Shield a lot is almost the only way to chain D.F.S. in low level. Additionally, it is a good practice to collect speed-up items from item carriers in stage 1 because it helps with destroying as many flying enemies with Shield in one D.F.S. activation as possible, thus earning your Shield experience quicker. The first item carrier you will encounter is very hard to destroy with underdeveloped Shield and Sword, but point blanking with Shot can eliminate it quickly, or damage it enough to finish with Shield. If you utilize D.F.S. well enough, you can get level 50 for Shield in one stage.

After you obtain level 50 Shield, you would want to upgrade Sword. However, defeating enemies with Sword will earn you less than half of the D.F.S. gauge increase than if you defeat the same number of enemies with Shield, and likely you would end up having to recharge D.F.S. gauge without D.F.S. activated. In that situation, the safest option is to hide behind Shield and attack with refshots, but hitting many Shots at enemies may be feasible as well.

==Advanced Strategy==
This section mainly includes information for scoring (wip).

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.

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.

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous

2026-05-28T15:51:28Z

Mirashar: /* Basic Strategy */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns. A stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by D.F.S. worms it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets. One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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))''

== Basic Strategy ==
This section is mainly for defeating TLB without continuing.

To defeat bosses in later stages, you would like to have the defensive strength of level 50+ Shield and the destructive force of level 50+ sword. Also, hidden items in stages 4 and 5 require inflicting enough damage with Shield on the hidden spot, so you need to level up Shield by that. Most flying enemies in the early game table are so weak that you can quickly defeat with Shield.

Therefore, it is commonly advised to quickly level up Shield in the first stage. Additionally, it is a good practice to collect speed-up items in stage 1 because it helps with destroying as many flying enemies with Shield in one D.F.S. activation as possible, thus earning your Shield experience quicker. The first item carrier you will encounter is very hard to destroy with underdeveloped Shield and Sword, but point blanking with Shot can eliminate it quickly, or damage it enough to finish with Shield. If you utilize D.F.S. well enough, you can get level 50 for Shield in one stage.

After you obtain level 50 Shield, you would want to upgrade Sword. However, defeating enemies with Sword will earn you less than half of the D.F.S. gauge increase than if you defeat the same number of enemies with Shield, and likely you would end up having to recharge D.F.S. gauge without D.F.S. activated. In that situation, the safest option is to hide behind Shield and attack with refshots, but hitting many Shots at enemies may be feasible as well.

==Advanced Strategy==
This section mainly includes information for scoring (wip).

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.

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.

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous

2026-05-27T17:12:32Z

Mirashar: /* Basic Strategy */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns. A stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by D.F.S. worms it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets. One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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))''

== Basic Strategy ==
This section is mainly for defeating TLB without continuing (wip).

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.

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

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

==Advanced Strategy==
This section mainly includes information for scoring (wip).

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.

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.

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous

2026-05-27T17:11:19Z

Mirashar: /* Scoring/Strategy */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns. A stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by D.F.S. worms it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets. One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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))''

== Basic Strategy ==
This section is to include helpful information for defeating TLB without continuing (wip).

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.

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

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

==Advanced Strategy==
This section mainly includes information for scoring (wip).

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.

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.

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous

2026-05-27T01:43:30Z

Mirashar: /* D.F.S. */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns. A stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by D.F.S. worms it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets. One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous

2026-05-26T14:55:44Z

Mirashar: /* Difficulty Modes */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns. A stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by a D.F.S. worm it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets. One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

Enemies have 1.5x the base score (rounded down to the nearest 10) of those in other modes.

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous

2026-05-26T14:49:44Z

Mirashar: /* Gameplay Overview */

{{GameInfobox
|bordercolor = black
|title = Karous
|background = #ffffff
|image = Karous_title.png
|width = 324px;
|imagecaption = Title screen
|imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Milestone]]/[[RS34]]
|music = Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
|program = Manabu Matsumoto, Junpei Isshiki (Milestone)/Jiro Hamaya (RS34)
|
|releasedate = '''Arcade''' '''JP''' : November 15, 2006 <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20061016200358/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product/krs/krs_top.html</ref> '''Dreamcast''' '''JP''' : March 8, 2007 <ref name="msproduct">https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070604fw_/http://www.mile-stone.co.jp/product.html</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 1 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : April 10, 2008 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''KO''' : 19 December 2008 <ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/ultimate-shooting-collection/release-info</ref> '''US''' : 23 January 2009<ref>https://www.nintendolife.com/games/wii/ultimate_shooting_collection</ref> '''Milestone Shooting Collection 2 (Wii)''' '''JP''' : December 30, 2012 <ref name="msproduct" /> '''Sakura Flamingo Archives (X360) ''' '''JP''': November 27, 2014<ref>https://www.mobygames.com/game/sakura-flamingo-archives</ref> '''Switch/PS4/PS5''': '''JP''': November 27, 2025 '''Steam''': January 22, 2026<ref>https://store.steampowered.com/app/4090420/_/</ref>
|
|previousgame = [[Radirgy|Radirgy]]
|nextgame = [[Illmatic Envelope (Illvelo)|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.

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== Gallery ==
<div style='text-align: center;'>
''See [[Karous/Gallery]] for our collection of images and scans for the game.''
</div>

== 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 ===
----
[[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.

===HP and Hazards===
----
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|-
! HP !! Gauge
|-
| 2 || [[File:Karous_2HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 12 || [[File:Karous_12HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 14 || [[File:Karous_14HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 28 || [[File:Karous_28HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 30 || [[File:Karous_30HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 36 || [[File:Karous_36HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 48 || [[File:Karous_48HP.png|145px]]
|-
| 60 || [[File:Karous_60HP.png|145px]]
|}

In the default settings, You have 30 HP at the start of the game. You take damage when you get hit by enemy bullets or lasers, but you do not take damage from touching enemies.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px"
|-
! Hazard !! Damage
|-
| Destructible bullets (square) || 12
|-
| Indestructible bullets (round)|| 10
|-
| Lasers || 8
|}

A full HP gauge represents 30 HP. When you have more than 30 HP, the excess HP is shown by the second green layer of the HP gauge. Your HP does not exceed 60.

The HP gauge turns red when it is 12 HP or below. If you take damage and the HP reaches zero, you get a game over if you do not continue.

Continuing resets your score, your HP, and your D.F.S. gauge, but does not reset your weapon levels and experience points.
 

=== Log ===
----
When you get multiplied scores, it is shown in the log like
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|''base score''(''total level'')=''score''
|}
where ''score'' = ''base score'' ×''total level''.

The log also shows when you take damage, when D.F.S. is ready, when a weapon level increases, and when an item is obtained.

=== Enemies Spawning ===
----
[[File:Karous_formation.png|200px|thumb|right|An enemy formation. Its captain is in the center.]]
Karous features a dynamic wave spawning system, where once all enemies in a wave disappear (either by being destroyed or leaving the screen), the next enemy wave spawns. A stage starts with a flying enemy table and a mid-sized enemy table starts a little later.

A wave in the flying enemy table consists of one flying enemy formation with one captain. A captain has a flashing outline.

A wave in the mid-sized enemy table consists of at least one mid-sized enemy. A mid-sized enemy has multiple parts you can destroy.

The tables are interrupted by midbosses in stages 3, 4, and 5. After a certain amount of time has passed, both of the enemy tables stop and a boss appears.

There are no ground enemies except for hidden item spots.

===Weapons and Level-up Mechanics===
----
Your machine (Defect) has Shot, Sword, Shield and a special attack called D.F.S. As you use each of Shot, Sword and Shield, you get experience points and level up that weapon. They start at level 0 and can be leveled-up to a maximum of 100.

You get experience points when:
*You hit enemies/enemy parts with a weapon
*You erase bullets with a weapon
*Enemies/enemy parts get in the barrier D.F.S. generates
*Defeat enemies/Destroy enemy parts

You get more experience if you defeat the captain enemy before any other enemies in the formation, or defeat all enemies in a formation.

If you do something that results in you getting experience points for a certain weapon, an experience chip of that weapon's color appears where that action takes place and starts flying towards the level display. The size and the appearance of the experience chip indicate how many experience points you obtain. When it reaches the level display, the experience point is added to your weapon, and the chip is converted to a D.F.S. chip and sent to the D.F.S. gauge.
[[File:Karous_experiencechip.png|frame|none|600px|Various shield experience chips: small stars, large stars, stones, small crystals, and large crystals.]]

Your weapons become more powerful as you level up, but the enemy tables also change and give you stronger enemies and trickier enemy patterns.

====Shot====
At level 0, Shot consists of a pair of forward shots and a pair of spread shots. forward shots are faster and stronger than spread shots.
Shots become bigger, faster and hit harder in higher levels.
They destroy square bullets upon contact.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 10 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 26 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 30 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 50|| A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 52 || The forward shots change their appearance.
|- bgcolor="#D1E9FF"
| 60 || A pair of spread shots are added.
|}
When you hold down your Shot button, forward shots are fired every 8 frames and spread shots are fired every 11 frames. The fire rate is boosted when you [[point-blank]].
If you use rapid-fire, all shots are fired every 6 frames and deal less damage to enemies. You can use rapid-fire for efficient leveling and filling up the D.F.S. gauge because of more shots hitting enemies.

====Sword====
Sword hits enemies near the front of your machine. Although it has a limited range, it can deal a significant amount of damage especially when it is leveled up.

You can use Shot and Sword at the same time, but doing so will make both attacks weaker.

Sword can also destroy square bullets.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 20 || The second slash with a greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor="#C5E9C1"
| 50 || The third slash with an even greater range is added. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}
Defect keeps swinging Sword when you are holding the Sword button.

====Shield====
Shield blocks square and round bullets, and deals contact damage. Although its attack power is weaker than Shot or Sword, the reflect shots of high-level Shield make a good offensive and defensive weapon against bosses.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level-up threshold !! Special Effect
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 20 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects one out of every few dozen (depending on Shield level) bullets and shoot reflect shots, or "ref-shots." Ref-shots can delete bullets they touch. They are also fired when Shield is dealing contact damage. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|- bgcolor ="#FFDDC1"
| 50 || Shield changes its appearance and it reflects every bullet it touches. A "Ver. Up+" effect is shown and your machine changes its appearance.
|}

In the entire game, Defect can go through 5 visual upgrades. On DC and Wii versions, however, its form resets at the beginning of each stage due to a glitch.

====D.F.S.====
If the D.F.S. gauge is full, you can activate D.F.S. It deploys a barrier around your machine and makes you invincible for about 3 seconds. Enemies and enemy parts that touch or get in the barrier will be attacked by a D.F.S. worm it generates. When you destroy enemies under the influence of D.F.S., you earn more experience points and a greater increase in the D.F.S. gauge than when they are not infected. When you do not, the D.F.S. worms continuously deal damage for a few seconds after they get out of the barrier, then disappear with bloodshed effects.
Also, all enemy bullets that get in the barrier are converted into experience points.

You can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge while D.F.S. is still active, but you cannot use it until the current D.F.S. is deactivated.

Defeating an enemy with Shield gives you more D.F.S. refill than doing it with Shot and Sword. Also, you need to kill less enemies to level up Shield compared to other weapons.
[[File:Karous_weapon_conparison.gif|frame|none|Defeating all enemies in the very first enemy formation in Karous with Shot (left), Sword (middle), and Shield (right) while D.F.S. is activated. Only Shield can fully recharge the D.F.S. gauge and get to level 3.]]

====Weapon Immunity====
Some enemies are invulnerable unless they are hit with a specific weapon. They flash in a color of the correct weapon to attack when they are hit with incorrect weapons.

For example, enemies with rotating propellers do not take damage if you do not use Sword. Box enemies (F5) have a variation of all weapon immunity, including those that do not get hurt unless they are affected by D.F.S.

=== Items ===
----

==== Normal Items ====
A small point item spawns when you defeat all enemies in a formation of flying enemies or when you defeat enemy captain first. 10 small point items and a D.F.S. Charge item spawn when you take a damage.
Slashing a normal item with sword pushes it upwards and can change it into another normal item.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Item (translated) !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:Karous_P.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_P_en.png|100px]]|| '''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''
|-
| [[File:Karous_EXP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_EXP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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
|-
| [[File:Karous_Shield.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Shield_en.png|100px]]|| '''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!
|-
| [[File:Karous_Change.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_Change_en.png|100px]]|| '''Bullet Conversion:''' Changes all enemy bullets on the screen into small point items. || ITEM CHANGED!!
|-
| [[File:Karous_life.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_life_en.png|100px]]|| '''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'')
|-
| [[File:Karous_SP.png|100px]]|| [[File:Karous_SP_en.png|100px]]|| '''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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Description !! Log
|-
| [[File:karous_ShotLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SwordLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_ShieldLv.png|80px]] || '''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'')
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedUp.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_SpeedDown.png|80px]] || '''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)
|-
| [[File:karous_Heart.png|80px]] || '''Recovery:''' Gives you 10 HP. Your HP does not exceed 60. When you reach a score extend threshold, this item flies to your machine. 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 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.

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.

===Difficulty Modes===
----
====Easy Mode====
You can play the first 3 stages in Easy Mode. Enemies only shoot a small amount of destructible square bullets. One notable feature is that no player input is required to clear this mode. If you start an Easy Mode game and do not use any controls, the flying enemy table is just 9 formations looping for the most part of the game. This happens because you only slowly level up Shield and the enemy tables are stuck at the easiest one. When your Shield reaches level 23 near the end of stage 3, the enemy tables change to the 2nd ones and a different enemy formation appears. Enemies in the 1st and the 2nd enemy tables do not shoot anything, so only item carriers and bosses throw bullets in this no-input playthrough. If you do level up and get harder enemy tables, the enemy attack patterns are still designed so that all enemy bullets either do not hit Defect or are cancelled by Shield if you do not move from the starting position, which is not true in Normal Mode or Hard Mode.

If you play this mode normally, you can quickly enjoy the destructiveness of high-level weapons, thanks to the faster leveling.
====Normal Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Normal Mode. Enemies are more durable and shoot many more bullets including indestructible round ones. Some bosses in later stages also shoot lasers. Lasers cannot be cancelled by D.F.S. or Shield.
====Hard Mode====
You can play all 5 stages in Hard Mode. Enemies are even more durable and enemy bullets are bigger. The bullet count is not increased, so you do not recharge the D.F.S. gauge quicker.

== 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 ==

# 1CC Log for Shmups (https://1cclog.blogspot.com/2015/09/karous-dreamcast.html)
# Manual for the Steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/manual/4090420?l=english)

Karous

2026-05-26T02:54:16Z

Mirashar: /* Weapons and Level-up Mechanics */

Karous

2026-05-26T01:37:44Z

Mirashar: /* D.F.S. */

Karous

2026-05-25T18:04:23Z

Mirashar: /* Weapon Immunity */

Karous

2026-05-25T18:04:04Z

Mirashar: /* D.F.S. */

Karous

2026-05-25T18:01:30Z

Mirashar: /* Gameplay Overview */

Karous

2026-05-24T18:20:26Z

Mirashar: /* Weapons and Level-up Mechanics */

Karous

2026-05-24T18:17:48Z

Mirashar: /* Weapons and Level-up Mechanics */

Karous

2026-05-24T18:04:22Z

Mirashar: /* Shield */

Karous

2026-05-24T18:00:41Z

Mirashar: /* Gameplay Overview */

File:Karous experiencechip.png

2026-05-24T14:56:58Z

Mirashar: 5 types of Shield experience chips and some D.F.S. chips.

== Summary ==
5 types of Shield experience chips and some D.F.S. chips.
== Licensing ==
{{Non-free game screenshot}}

File:Karous weapon conparison.gif

2026-05-24T07:18:23Z

Mirashar: Mirashar uploaded a new version of File:Karous weapon conparison.gif

== Licensing ==
{{Non-free game video}}

File:Karous weapon conparison.gif

2026-05-24T07:09:56Z

Mirashar:

== Licensing ==
{{Non-free game video}}

Karous

2026-05-24T05:05:20Z

Mirashar: /* Normal Items */ typo

Karous

2026-05-24T04:28:47Z

Mirashar: /* Log */

Karous

2026-05-23T17:50:35Z

Mirashar: /* Enemy Spawning */

Karous

2026-05-23T17:46:40Z

Mirashar: /* Enemy Spawning */

Karous

2026-05-23T17:43:08Z

Mirashar: GameInfoBox and more

File:Karous formation.png

2026-05-23T17:25:01Z

Mirashar: Steam v1.0.6

== Summary ==
Steam v1.0.6
== Licensing ==
{{Non-free game screenshot}}

File:Karous 60HP.png

2026-05-23T14:51:50Z

Mirashar: Steam v1.0.6

== Summary ==
Steam v1.0.6

File:Karous 48HP.png

2026-05-23T14:51:37Z

Mirashar: Steam v1.0.6

== Summary ==
Steam v1.0.6

File:Karous 36HP.png

2026-05-23T14:49:19Z

Mirashar: Steam v1.0.6

== Summary ==
Steam v1.0.6

File:Karous 30HP.png

2026-05-23T14:48:58Z

Mirashar: Steam v1.0.6

== Summary ==
Steam v1.0.6

File:Karous 28HP.png

2026-05-23T14:48:38Z

Mirashar: Steam v1.0.6

== Summary ==
Steam v1.0.6
== Licensing ==
{{Non-free game screenshot}}

File:Karous 14HP.png

2026-05-23T14:48:11Z

Mirashar: Steam v1.0.6

== Summary ==
Steam v1.0.6

File:Karous 12HP.png

2026-05-23T14:47:42Z

Mirashar: Steam v1.0.6

== Summary ==
Steam v1.0.6
== Licensing ==
{{Non-free game screenshot}}