"Pretentious"

Black and White. The Yin and the Yang. The Good and the Bad.

Metaphorically speaking, Ikaruga, Treasure’s latest GameCube vertical shooter, is in fact a tribute to the mystique of oriental religions. Your small ship represents the seed of life going through trials and tribulations toward self-purification and the destruction of the dark forces that have corrupted our chaotic world. The only way to accomplish this is to become one with the pilot, to feel the trajectories of enemy projectiles and enter a state of near-complete trance comparable to the meditation of a Tibetan monk.

What… the… hell?

Of course, this is just part of Treasure’s foolish plan to make you believe that their Gamecube title is a gaming revolution, an experience that cannot be described through mere human words. They want you to think that Ikaruga is more than a videogame.

It’s not.

Don’t believe the hype, Ikaruga is no more avant-gardiste than the disappointing Rez and is to Buddhism what Disney’s Aladdin is to Islam. Its classy explosions and pretty colors can easily be marketed as snobbish symbolisms, acid-trip memories, or whatever cover-up the developer feels like elaborating to make a quick buck and justify the presence of an obsolete genre on next-generation systems, but the fact remains that this game, with its non-existent storyline, is really nothing more than a simple side-scrolling shooter disguised as the messiah.

And a damn good one at that. As expected, its aesthetics benefit from Treasure’s uber-long experience with shooters: Ikaruga packs fast and intense action and has very stylish environments. While the action is defiantly two-dimensional, the stunning visuals make great use of 3D effects and perfectly convey the illusion that Ikaruga belongs to this age.

Just load the game and dive into this epic conflict in deep space, start fighting a multitude of huge decaying machines highly reminiscent of Macross and other science-fiction gems --such as the boss of the opening level, a giant mech that takes up half of the screen and uses a large shield to gather powerful lasers-- in tumultuous neo-punk cities or in the midst of impressive spaceship fleets! Although they don’t match the creativity of the 16-bit (aka golden age) classics, Ikaruga’s backgrounds are all varied and unique, with a predominance of yellowish shades and cloudy skies. Its universe isn’t always beautiful, it’s but a mere token of the real world we live in. With a solid concept, fierce fighting and consistent level design, this game is definitely worth a closer look. If this sounds tempting, that’s probably because it is.

But make no mistake, this is still no Radiant Silvergun. The gameplay here is all about memorization and puts very little emphasis on reactionary skills. The enemies always appear in the same places, their bullets always take the same path and your losses are very likely to always occur at the same spots. Because Ikaruga is not just challenging, it’s insanely cruel and frustrating –its damned fourth level seems almost unbeatable at times. After blasting through the first levels trying to blow everything up before getting his ass handed to him on a platter a couple of times, the neophyte will undoubtedly start wondering what the point of this mess is.

It might even take a while for shooter veterans to find their marks here, since Ikaruga persists in rewarding you for playing the game with finesse and intelligence. Thus, quickly clocking this game with a barbarian mentality will simply leave most customers feeling empty, and rightly so, since they’ll completely miss the point.

In typical old-school fashion, Ikaruga requires you to constantly push your limits and run after your high-score. Doing so can only be performed by mastering the peculiar game engine and its addictive ‘chain’ system. The on-screen enemies and the bullets they shoot are divided into two categories, as evidenced by the color of their equipment: black and white. It’s also possible to switch the polarity of your ship at any moment by the push of a button: you deal extra damage to enemies of the opposite color and can absorb the bullets of the same color to fill up a special meter.

Warning! No Refuge! Warning!

Once full, this gauge allows you to unleash a devastating homing laser shot –this being only power-up available in the game. Furthermore, destroying three enemies of the same color is considered as a ‘chain’, which performed several times in a row can earn you massive points. Naturally, the game tries hard to make it horrendously difficult to stay alive while chaining as much as possible. Thankfully this is where the engine's simplicity shines through and the controls come close to perfection on an arcade stick (otherwise, the digital pad isn’t too bad).

However, the strength of its concept is also its main weakness: the quest for perfection only remains fun for so long, and after the novelty wears off the gameplay starts getting slightly repetitive. While one could argue that this is common to all shooters, it’s even truer in this case because of the rigid bullet paths and the lack of alternate artillery. To make matters worse, Ikaruga is disappointingly short as it features only five levels, each of decent length. Similarly, the two-player mode isn’t particularly interesting since it defeats the whole purpose of chaining.

It’s truly a shame, because Ikaruga is actually a very solid title and this GameCube port is vastly superior to the original arcade and Dreamcast versions. It features a demonstration mode that shows the player an idea path, as well as a slow mode that ends up being very useful to learn how to improve one’s score on some of the most difficult areas. Among other unlockable extras, there is also a myriad of artworks or the possibility to play with infinite credits. Perhaps in a conscious attempt to lengthen its replay value, this version allows you to post your high-scores and be ranked online.

The ecstatic electric tunes perfectly fit the frenetic yet dark mood of the game and capture the violence of the game: Ikaruga scores a great, sharp techno soundtrack. The same can be said about the sound effects apart from the irritating robotic voice that announces the arrival of the bosses, although they aren’t really noticeable during the game, greatly overshadowed by the music itself.

Although Ikaruga may be surprisingly unique with its bipolar gameplay, it remains far from being a revolution. Unless you completely adhere to the concept and decide to memorize all the levels, it probably won’t be a rewarding purchase. On the other hand, shooter fanatics and hardcore gamers in search of a worthy challenge will be more than pleased with this anachronistic title, a rare occurrence on the ‘kiddy’ GameCube.

BATTLE REPORT

Not for everyone.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/29/03, Updated 04/30/03