Ikaruga

"Mom! I'm having a seizure!"

Ikaruga is a fast-paced (very fast) and difficult arcade shooter. In fact, it made its debut in the arcades of Japan. Later, it found its way to the great, but dying (if not already dead) Sega Dreamcast, but it was only released in Japan. Fans of Treasure's work must have wanted the true sequel to Radiant Silvergun to come to the U.S. because, now, it has arrived on the Gamecube!

My eyes are burning!!!

The visuals in Ikaruga are mostly based off two colors: black and white. Not much to see if you're one of those people who like to look at the scenery. In fact, you won't likely be looking at the scenery because the game is so action-packed and fast-paced. If you take your eyes off the screen for two seconds, kiss Ikaruga (or Ginkei), the name of your ship, goodbye. But just because there is no scenery doesn't mean the game's graphics aren't good. In fact, they're great! Your ship, numerous enemy ships, the huge bosses, the surroundings are all 3D, and they look gorgeous. The framerate is wonderful! From start to finish, there are so many things happening on screen, but there is not one bit of slowdown to be found. There is slowdown after a boss battle when it explodes, but I think it was used purposely to symbolize victory.

Must... not... blink!!!

As I've mentioned before, Ikaruga is a very fast-paced game. Most of the time, there are hundreds (okay maybe not) of enemies all firing at you so if you take your eyes off the screen for too long, you'll most likely feel your controller start to rumble signaling the explosion of your ship. To make it worse, since there are the dark and white polarities, you'll constantly have to avoid a color while absorbing to other. This makes the game frustrating yet fun.

What's this music? I like it.

The music in Ikaruga fits the game. It's like the music found in other shooters like Panzer Dragoon Orta (except for the mellow stuff found in some levels in PDO). The music pumps you up for a high-action shooting spree.

''Press start button'' (in robotic voice)

Sound effects in this game are just as good as the musical score. Some might dislike the robotic announcer because he can't be understood sometime, but it fits the game perfectly. If you could go through Panzer Dragoon Orta's voices, you can survive this one. Other sound effects like the shooting of the lasers and explosions are clear and crisp as well.

*Pulls out hair*

Just to warn all you people with limited patience, this game is extremely difficult, even on easy! Sometime, just looking at the screen filled with all those enemies will result in death. If you thought Panzer Dragoon Orta was hard, Ikaruga makes PDO look like child's play.

Change to light! No, change back to dark!

Changing polarity is a major part of Ikaruga's gameplay. Polarity is separated into two colors, as mentioned before, black and white. Enemies are also either dark or light. Your enemies also fire projectiles that are the same color as them (so do you). If you are the same color as the projectile fired at you, you will absorb it and store it up as energy for your homing lasers, but if you hit a projectile that is of a different polarity as you, you'll die instantly. However, if you're a daring person, you can choose to play having the opposite polarity as your enemies. Doing this has one big advantage. Your lasers do double damage! This is very useful for boss battles if you're good enough.

Simple controls make for a great game.

The controls in the game are few and simple. You only need the control stick to move, the ''B'' button to fire regular lasers (default), the ''A'' button to change polarity (default), and the ''R'' button (or ''A''+''B'') to fire homing lasers (default). ''Z'' is used to display the number of chain attacks you've performed. I prefer switch the fire and change polarity buttons because, since the ''A'' button is so big, you could accidentally tap it and change polarity at the wrong moment, which could mean your doom.

How many chains can you get?

Another part of gameplay is the chain attack. If you kill three enemies of the same polarity, you've performed a chain attack. The bigger the chain, the more points you earn. Masters of the game can chain together every enemy in a level except the boss and earn HUGE points.

Easier or harder with two people?

Ikaruga features cooperative play for two people. The first play is always the Ikaruga fighter, and the second is the Ginkei fighter. Both fighters are the same except the Ginkei looks sleeker. But just because there are two people, don't think that makes the game any easier. You're friend might hog all the energy balls to him/herself leaving you with nothing. Also, it's easy to mix up one fighter from the other even though they look differently so keep a sense as to where on the screen your fighter is.

Over already?

While the game is short (if you've somehow manage to beat it), only five chapters, this is not the type of game that is meant to be beaten once and stashed away. Since it's an arcade shooter, it is meant to be played over and over again to hone in on your skills and to gain the highest score. Also, there are many ways to get through a level. In some levels, you can get up to the boss without firing a shot. Can you do that?

Buy or rent?

If you're a person that likes fast-paced shooters with loads of action (who doesn't?), have a high tolerance level with a friend who also share these traits, buy the game now. If you're more of a ''play it once and put it away'' type of person, rent it. Either way, you can't go wrong with Ikaruga.

Overall score: 8.7

Ikaruga is really a great game. It truly is. It has everything a person could want in a game: lots of options, lots of modes of play, lots of replay value. I love it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/25/03, Updated 04/25/03