Screenshots :.
Ikaruga
GameCube
Matt
04-06-2007
"Yeah it's as insane as it looks!"
"Do these games ever get old though?"
"There's a guy on Youtube playing the co-op mode with himself. It's insane."
Has video gaming become an easier pastime these days? Probably. Big publishers seem wary that the mass-market needs to be entertained and not frustrated, resulting in your average *insert genre here* title being littered with various systems to keep them alive/undamaged/progressing no matter what the game throws their way.
It’s mainly due to this that Ikaruga seems so difficult by comparison. The latest 2D top-down shooter from the boffins at Treasure and sequel to the eBay-tastic Saturn title Radiant Silvergun, the game features the rather succinct premise that you get one chance to avoid bullets and one chance only. One hit, you die. It’s unrelenting stuff, but at the same time almost trance-inducing and utterly addictive, no matter how many times you feel like throwing your controller at the telly screen.
Despite looking deceptively simple, Ikaruga actually offers the player a great tactical experience. Controlling your way through 5 levels of oncoming obstacles and enemies, you have the ability to change the colour of your ship between black and white. This isn’t merely for fun though – not by a long shot. Your enemies come in a selection of both colours, and which polarity you are at various moments becomes utterly crucial to your survival.
Fly over a black bullet as a black ship and you’ll absorb it, gaining extra power. Fly over it as a white ship, meanwhile, and you’ll instantly die. The same obviously applies the other way, meaning that you’ll have to carefully watch the opposite colour of bullet and dodge them whilst simultaneously flying around the bullets of the matching polarity to absorb them. Hectic? Oh yes.
That doesn’t even take into account you having to shoot at your enemies. The same principal applies in this case, with black enemies succumbing quicker to white bullets and vice-versa. Switching between colours will be something you will have to learn to do instinctively and often within a split-second of timing as you attempt to navigate your way through each level. Learning your path and memorising it thus becomes key to your progress.
It all sounds – and looks – insanely difficult when you’re not playing the game. Heck, I’ve sometimes even managed things myself during play which later analysis showed to be pretty impressive. The fact that Ikaruga is so addictive will keep you coming back for turn after turn, and despite proving a tasking and merciless title for those who are fresh to the genre it will suddenly just slot into a groove in your brain and you will be dodging, weaving and shooting on impulse. It is frustrating, yes, but it’s also massively rewarding.
The game does offer three difficulty levels to choose from, with the easiest setting giving you the chance to learn your craft in an environment free of the lethal bullets that spray out of each enemy that you defeat. Even so it is still a wickedly difficult challenge. Continued play is rewarded with unlockables such as art galleries or the option to play the mode in test form upon spending enough time on the game.
Two player mode is also chucked in there, although obviously it’s paramount that you find someone with a reasonable level of skill and not, say, your sister who will flail around as uselessly as mine did in her short time on the game. Don’t go thinking that this will make things easier either; both ships explode instantly upon colliding with each other, effectively meaning that along with the bullets, the colour-changing and the enemies you have an added variable thrown into the mix. Nonetheless, with two good players it is great fun, verging on acting itself out as a beautifully choreographed dance routine rather than a hectic shooting session.
As you can probably tell, I adore Ikaruga. It’s packed with old-school charm, is simple in concept but enormously difficult to master and is as addictive as sherbet dibdabs. It’s not particularly long and some gamers will find the learning curve too steep, but for anyone up for a challenge and who will sit through initial frustration, Ikaruga serves up an exhilarating and absorbing portion of gaming
It’s mainly due to this that Ikaruga seems so difficult by comparison. The latest 2D top-down shooter from the boffins at Treasure and sequel to the eBay-tastic Saturn title Radiant Silvergun, the game features the rather succinct premise that you get one chance to avoid bullets and one chance only. One hit, you die. It’s unrelenting stuff, but at the same time almost trance-inducing and utterly addictive, no matter how many times you feel like throwing your controller at the telly screen.
Despite looking deceptively simple, Ikaruga actually offers the player a great tactical experience. Controlling your way through 5 levels of oncoming obstacles and enemies, you have the ability to change the colour of your ship between black and white. This isn’t merely for fun though – not by a long shot. Your enemies come in a selection of both colours, and which polarity you are at various moments becomes utterly crucial to your survival.
Fly over a black bullet as a black ship and you’ll absorb it, gaining extra power. Fly over it as a white ship, meanwhile, and you’ll instantly die. The same obviously applies the other way, meaning that you’ll have to carefully watch the opposite colour of bullet and dodge them whilst simultaneously flying around the bullets of the matching polarity to absorb them. Hectic? Oh yes.
That doesn’t even take into account you having to shoot at your enemies. The same principal applies in this case, with black enemies succumbing quicker to white bullets and vice-versa. Switching between colours will be something you will have to learn to do instinctively and often within a split-second of timing as you attempt to navigate your way through each level. Learning your path and memorising it thus becomes key to your progress.
It all sounds – and looks – insanely difficult when you’re not playing the game. Heck, I’ve sometimes even managed things myself during play which later analysis showed to be pretty impressive. The fact that Ikaruga is so addictive will keep you coming back for turn after turn, and despite proving a tasking and merciless title for those who are fresh to the genre it will suddenly just slot into a groove in your brain and you will be dodging, weaving and shooting on impulse. It is frustrating, yes, but it’s also massively rewarding.
The game does offer three difficulty levels to choose from, with the easiest setting giving you the chance to learn your craft in an environment free of the lethal bullets that spray out of each enemy that you defeat. Even so it is still a wickedly difficult challenge. Continued play is rewarded with unlockables such as art galleries or the option to play the mode in test form upon spending enough time on the game.
Two player mode is also chucked in there, although obviously it’s paramount that you find someone with a reasonable level of skill and not, say, your sister who will flail around as uselessly as mine did in her short time on the game. Don’t go thinking that this will make things easier either; both ships explode instantly upon colliding with each other, effectively meaning that along with the bullets, the colour-changing and the enemies you have an added variable thrown into the mix. Nonetheless, with two good players it is great fun, verging on acting itself out as a beautifully choreographed dance routine rather than a hectic shooting session.
As you can probably tell, I adore Ikaruga. It’s packed with old-school charm, is simple in concept but enormously difficult to master and is as addictive as sherbet dibdabs. It’s not particularly long and some gamers will find the learning curve too steep, but for anyone up for a challenge and who will sit through initial frustration, Ikaruga serves up an exhilarating and absorbing portion of gaming
9/10
