"A Straight Up Review from a non-shooter fan"

After the death of the Dreamcast, I was still hankering to get some more life out of my favorite system. I tried the 2D fighters, music games, and even some sports games, but the just couldn't settle my hunger. I wanted ACTION. PURE ACTION. So when I heard about this new game ''Ikaruga'', I immediately got a copy. After hearing all the excellent reviews and all the praise I heard, it would have to be great, even though I hate shooters. I was pleasantly surprised.

Graphics: 10/10

Without a doubt, the graphics are my favorite thing about the game. They are beautiful and fluid, and possibly the best I have seen on the system. The backgrounds are breathtaking, the ship models are outstanding, and the explosions are marvelous. You will love the graphics, I can tell you that right now.

Sound FX/ Music: 9/10

Now if I had separated these two, Sound would have gotten a 10 and Sound FX maybe a 6. But the reason it is still a 9 is because the music is great. The music really gets you pumped. But the sound effects on the other hand, well... they don't. They are pretty generic, but I really can't count this against the game, because they don't matter much, and there really wasn't that much room for a wide variety of them. But overall, the sound department is great.

Gameplay: 8/10

This is the part that I was worried about when I played the game. I knew I wasn't going to like it very much, but as it turns out, I was addicted. The only problem is, I just don't think it is very good. But that is how I have always thought this type of gameplay to be, since I just find it boring. But this game is an exception. It is fast and furious and requires skill at the same time. It goes like this: Your ship can have 2 colors, black and white. When an enemy ship is white, fire black on it to do 2x the damage and vice versa. But fire it with the same color, and a tiny burst of pellets comes at you, which in turn you can absorb to charge up your homing attack. Overall, I really liked the gameplay.

Replay: 6/10

The only reason to replay the game would be to improve your skills, which you will most certainly do. You can also unlock an art gallery. That's it.

Overall grade: 8/10

This is a solid buy on a dying system. I recommend this and give it a B (8/10)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/30/02, Updated 09/30/02