Remember the days when the side-scroller arcade games were the most played genres? During the late 80s and early 90s, I remember myself stepping into an arcade, where most of the consoles were based on side-scrollers – action and fast paced shooters from the likes of Raiden, 1942, Axelay, Thunderforce, and of course, Gradius. You see, we all miss those days when pure skill actually outweighed luck in video games. Of course, this was the case when space shooters only gave players around three lives or less in any given continue. After playing Infogrames’ port of Ikaruga, which was released previously on the Dreamcast as one of its final titles in Japan, I thought two things to myself: “Were fast-paced shooters still popular,” and the ever popular “I wish I had more lives.”

Sure there were plenty of space shooter copycats, if you will, during the early days of the video-game craze. However, we challenge ourselves to pick out the shooter games. Ikaruga, pronounced 'EE-KAH-rue-gah' for the GameCube, will really change our views on the space-shooter genre.

It’s back in business.

Game Features:

Feels like the brother of Radiant Silvergun

Forced Vertical Scrolling

Three levels of difficulty

1 – 2 Players

Progressive Scan Support

Supports true vertical mode, where gamers can turn their television sets on their side to take advantage of the full vertical display resolution

Five Very Different Stages, Each Increasingly Difficulty By Far

Gameplay:

Ikaruga is a game that will take time for you to learn and love, because of its steep difficulty… and very steep it is. Ikaruga features no power-ups at all, but rather focuses on fast dodging and bullet eating. Sounds weird doesn’t it? Using only a single fire button and a homing laser button for your main weapon controls, and a “shield-switching button,” Ikaruga’s perception of the classic space-shooter is very well justified. There are two types of enemies and enemy fire in the game: dark black and light white. The shield-switching button is used to change your ship from either a dark or white shield, both of which will be important throughout the game. For example, when the ship turns white, and white bullets hit it, the ship absorbs all of that energy, keeping it both alive, and strengthening the homing laser, which gets powered up by the more bullets you absorb. Of course, when gathering black bullet energy, the same effect comes through. However, if you are caught with the opposite shield color than which a bullet hits you, your ship will simply explode. Throughout the game, different energy weapons are fired at you, from the traditional bullets, to huge beams, which can absorb homing laser energy even faster than the regular bullets. The laser can be used by pressing simply both shield and firing buttons, which unleashes multiple energy missiles, useful for taking out large groups of enemy ships. This gameplay mechanic is very similar to that of Silhouette Mirage.

Shield switching will test your skill in staying alive in Ikaruga. Specific firing patterns are obstacles are placed within your ship to keep it from getting out of the frenzy alive. Some of the better experiences that I had with Ikaruga were the zooming scenarios, where you must dodge ships in front of you, while closely watching the multiple bullets and beams, most of which are inter-crossed beams of black and white. You can’t stay at a specific shield color and expect to live. You’ll have to be fast on your throttle to keep from dying in this space-shooter. Even after a bit of practice and patience, you’ll still find yourself finding difficulty gathering point-combos, while crossing your eyes to avoid the different colored beams.

Ikaruga requires all of your attention – all of it. Take your eye off the screen or blink for longer than a second or so, and you may find yourself in certain doom. With all the multiple Surprises (and notice the capitalization), Ikaruga is a very challenging title that should post even abnormal for veterans of the genre.

Graphics:

Uber – the adjective that best describes this title – is truly deserving. Ikaruga has so many colors and action on the screen at one time that it’ll either make you frustrated at you losing, or having you feel that the rush is right behind you. The gigantic bosses and myriad of space fighters, all trying to kill you, makes this title feel like it was crafted by a genius. By the way, the space ship looks very Evangelion-like as well.

Sound:

The music is looped with the same soundtrack used for each level. But in this case it’s perfect. The slow-powered beats keep you from going maniac-crazy, while the true ironic thing is that – the action is way too fast for you to handle. The balance is well done. Explosions, laser blasts, and of course deaths, sound just right.

Final Comments:

With a very clever game design and a difficulty curve destined to keep you playing the game until you’re one of the worldwide best players at it, Ikaruga is highly recommended for players who have ever enjoyed a space-shooter in the past, and want something that won’t disappoint.