Ikaruga is a 2D shooter in the classical sense - avoid crashing into everything and shoot everything. The action is unrelenting, with the screen constantly brimming with enemies above beatifully rendered 3D backdrops. One twist on the gameplay is the "polarity" of your ship - you can toggle between white and black opposing polarities. When white, you're impervious to white-colored firepower/bullets launched by foes, but you can be destroyed by black-colored firepower. (And vice versa.) So when your ship's white polarity, you can waltz through a wall of white bullets, toggle your polarity, and then waltz throug a wall of black bullets. Shooting and dodging only represent half the skills you need to master this game. The other is switching your polarity - timing is often super-critical - but it adds a uniquely fun twist to the game. The action is extremely fast and furious right from the start, and as intense as it gets, and the graphics are drop-dead gorgeous compared with any other 2D shooter I've ever seen. It's that good. I've had problems with some shooters where the backdrops are so colorful that you can visually "lose" enemy fire in the elaborate backgrounds - this is NEVER the case with this game. Enemy fire is always very distinct - a complete mightmare to avoid at times - but visible, at least! While the gameplay is intense and the game itself is pure fun, for me, it's one of those games that I'll play for a good 15-30 minutes every time I turn on my 'cube. Playing for hours on end might be sensory overload for some - but this is one great game that if you have, say, 15 or 30 minutes to kill before going out, or whatever, it's instant fun (no stupid dialogue, fluff, or save points to wade through). It's even great fun re-playing levels you've already played. It's a $40 game, and definitely a must-buy if you like games that get your adrenaline going, truly test your reflexes, and give your hand-eye coordination a real workout. Never mind any type of plot or story line here - this is intense gaming for gaming's sake, and by far one of my favorite GC titles. It fills an excellent niche in my GC library, and I'll be be playing it for many months to come. I'd love to see more of the same - a sequel, or perhaps enhanced Dreamcast ports of other such titles like Mars Matrix. Kudos to Treasure for having the sense (and the guts) to port this excellent game to the GC and release it in the states. I really hope it's successful, and other developers follow suit and bring other excellent recent 2D shooters to the platform. Let's hope...
Ikaruga comes from the same team as the ill-fated Radiant Silvergun on the Saturn, which some have claimed to be “the greatest shooter of all time”. With that kind of heritage, it should be expected to have some impressi... Read Full Review
Chances are, you fall into one of two categories. Either you imported the Dreamcast release of Ikaruga last year and are already hopelessly addicted, or you’ve never heard of it before. For those of you who fit into the ... Read Full Review
