Ikaruga confirmed for North America

Infogrames has officially announced that the GameCube version of Treasure's arcade shooter Ikaruga will be released in North America. Originally released in arcades and then on the Dreamcast in Japan, Ikaruga is a top-down shooter in which players can change the color of their ship to inflict additional damage on enemies of the opposite color or absorb enemy projectiles of the same color to charge up a missile gauge located on the side of the screen. The GameCube version features a number of new options not found in its Dreamcast counterpart, including a world ranking feature that ranks players on the official Ikaruga site using a password system.

"The buzz around Ikaruga precedes it and we are thrilled to be importing this Japanese arcade hit to America for the Nintendo GameCube," said Nancy MacIntyre, vice president of marketing for Infogrames' Beverly studio. "Stunning graphics and intense gameplay make for a powerful sensory experience and fans of Ikaruga will agree that this is the best space battle ever."

Ikaruga is scheduled for release in April.