This shoot em up game belongs in the heart of many gamers.
I'm really not so sure. There is no real story. You only destroy things on screen. No friendlies to worry about. Not even in a two player game. You die in one hit. There is no replayability. Why does such a game that brings so little in gameplay bring so much to the table.
Ever heard the phrase "great things come in small packages"?
Ikaruga is one of those small packages. Ikaruga is a game that does nothing new except give one major twist: Give the player the ability to absorb enemy fire depending on what mode or (shield color) your ship is in. For the sake of simplicity, the developers kept it at 2. Ikaruga is not designed to blow any game away graphically. Ikaruga does not have built in puzzles or a selection of ships. It doesn't even have your typical scaterring of power-ups that happen to appear magically when you destroy random ships on the screen. Instead, Ikaruga goes back to the old school days of gaming. Ikaruga hardly requires thinking but it does require one single thing from you - PURE SKILL
The game is unforgiving to players of all levels. You have a chance to practice levels but the game will never let you play and complete the game at an "easy setting". You must play on a "normal" setting to complete the game. For some reason, the game seems impossible but for some reason you feel compelled to play more wishing to beat the game. It is almost as if the developers put the game together in such a way that you'll be sucked in the more you lose. The game really puts your reflexes to the test but as you play the game more and more, you realize that it's really testing your patience as well. I'm not sure how the guys at Treasure do this but you never seem frustrated to go on. In fact, if you were to play the game in front of others, people are compelled to play even if they have seen how difficult and time consuming the game can get. Think of it as the Defender arcade game of this era. I'm not sure if this is deliberate, but Ikaruga seems designed to get you addicted but test your patience as well.
Ikaruga is an excellent shooter with a great soundtrack, great levels, and good graphics that works well even as a party game. People will want to take their chances to play the game, especially if you play in pairs. Remember the times when Nintendo games really pushed your skills to the limit. Ikaruga takes you down that path of memory lane except this time it is repaved. People will also want to show off their Ikaruga skills which can be very admirable considering that it would take someone with the Jedi Force Powers to be able to complete the game.
Go ahead. Buy Ikaruga and add it to your collection. radcastro.com