Let's get this straight right now. Viewtiful Joe is not hard. F-Zero GX's sweet little expert mode is not hard. Diablo II in hardcore mode is not hard. Ladies and gentlemen, Ikaruga is hard. Ikaruga, orginally released for the Dreamcast in 2002, is a furious old-school shooter with modern graphics. After you play this game for about two minutes, you'll see what the fuss is about. You've probably read about the central gimmick, the ability to shift your ship's color and weaponry from white to black in order to absorb particles of the same color, and to do more damage to enemies of the opposite color. This sounds like nothing special on paper, but it's a recipe for glorious madness when the entire screen is filled with black and white particles through which you can discern some vague pattern, but even considering the rate at which you'll have to speed through your ship's colors is enough to drive you to the fringes of sanity. Beautiful. I'll be the first to admit this game isn't for everyone. There's no plot to speak of, and I was turned off at first by the fact that you really don't have any special weapons. You have your rapid fire cannon of doom that changes colors with your ship, and you have your powered-up super burst which builds in energy as you absorb particles of your ship's color. For the cybernetically enhanced gamers out there, after you beat Ikaruga, which I doubt you will, it offers further replay value by giving bonus points and spiritual fulfillment by way of "chains" as you play through the game. But let's be real. Unless the publisher just forgot to put my specially included hit of crystal meth in the box, there's no way any mortal is fast enough to get A ratings on every level. My feeble senses just refuse to believe it can be done. Regardless of the absurd level of difficulty, this game is a blast so long as you don't increase your investment by smashing your controller into bits from frustration.
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
