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NCS Game Synopsis
«©NCS»
Prior to Milestone's announcement of "Karous"
for the coin-op market, the word "Karous" did
not exist in Japan. Mutter "Karous" in Shijuku
and no one will respond. In the USA, there's a
word "Carouse" which means a drunken stupor but
that's about it. Karous is a bastardization of
the word "Karasu" which means a type of "Crow."
The crow reference may refer to the heroines in
the game who are all decked out in black outfits
that make them look like crows. Sort of. Maybe
crow references the feather motif in the game as
well where a heroine may ring her ship with a
barrier that blows outwards into a radiating
circle of feathers. Or maybe, just maybe, the
main heroine who is named "Karasu" got lucky and
got a game named after her.
The result of the union between a mortal man and
a female angel, Karasu is a 13 year-old girl who
lost her parents to war. Her best friend is
named Shigi who's a techno-whiz with a pair of
square-shaped glasses.
First Impressions
When NCS checked out Karous last year, we
figured that Milestone had a Rajirugi
Contruction Kit somewhere on the premises.
Visually, the game is similar to that earlier
effort but the game has enough wrinkles to
distinguish itself somewhat. The control scheme
looks like this:
Joystick: Movement
A-Button: Shoot
B-Button: Slash sword
C-Button: Special Attack
Press "A" and bullets will burst forward. Stop
shooting and a shield appears which blocks
oncoming fire. To attack with a swishing sword,
press the "B" button to smack anything that
meanders too close for comfort. Each weapon
system and the shield has an experience level as
indicated by three numbers on the upper left
corner of the screen. Furthermore, a cumulative
level of the ship's systems is tracked by a
number on the upper right corner which acts as a
score multiplier.
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