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RTTP: Ikaruga

ikaruga-android.jpg


My dad one day came home with Ikaruga on Dreamcast. He said "You have to play this. This is the best shooter I've seen." It is still possibly the best shooter I've ever played. I own Ikaruga on Dreamcast, Gamecube, and Xbox 360. Through the new Backwards Compatability function of the Xbox One I started up the game again and it's just as wonderful as the first day I started it up on the Dreamcast.

Ikaruga is full of depth for every type of skill level for shooters. Each level feels like it is training you for the next level and both teaches you and tests you challenges and mechanics.

It can be overwhelming at first. I was very often switching to the wrong polarities and what did more damage to what but now looking back its very simple. Black absorbs black, white absorbs white. Opposites do higher damage, same colors are weaker. Opposites kill you, same colors will give you energy. After getting a hang of the simple concepts there is a huge learning curve. Training yourself to see all bullets on the screen. Not just the bullets coming at you, but the ones coming right after those, when to avoid, when to switch, when to absorb and even when to fire back.

First level helps you understand how the game works and its mechanics, with the boss simple switching between black/red and white/blue, with 2 small turrets shooting both colors. Very easy boss, just alternate between the 2 as the boss does, and dodge the very few turret bullets or just destroy them and not deal with them at all.

Second level throws in very easy puzzles with moving colored blocks, showing you that it is important to know when to use opposite colors to kill things faster or when to stay the same color to absorb the bullets some blocks will fire back at you. It also gives you the choice of just using your own bullets to get through these obstacles or to absorb their shots and fire back. The boss of this stage is more complicated than the first with multiple mechanics. Black and White weak points with guards that need to be shot with the same color as the weak point to reveal it. Switching colors to open the guards while he's shooting alternating colors as well with a smattering of random black and whites again, can be very confusing and is easy to panic.

I just played the first 2 levels just now on default arcade settings so I don't remember the last 3 levels super well, but the way that each level trains you for whats coming in the level after it is great, introducing new mechanics but only one at a time so you can learn without being frustrated. Once level one can be beaten easily, level 2 should be beatable. Once level 2 is easily beaten, level 3 is beatable.

Then there's the chaining for score. I'm not at the skill level of this game where I can focus on chaining kills for score, but I do not feel like I am missing out for not doing it. For people who are skilled enough to play through the whole game in the default settings (I need infinite lives for stages 4 and 5) they have open to them a whole other way to play for higher scores. when you kill 3 of the same color you get 1 chain. Kill another set of 3 you get 2 chains, and so on and so forth. With how often you must switch colors, and the amount of enemies and how they are mixed together with the different colors, this is very difficult for me. Especially difficult to worry about what types of enemies im shooting at with how many bullets are coming at me and switching polarities and absorbing and dodging.

Whether it is absorbing or avoiding, switching for extra damage or sticking to one color, chaining or just wanting to beat the game, I'm constantly surprised at how much depth this simple game has. I often enjoy just beating the first stage without ever changing polarities in one life, but then there's people who can beat the game playing as 2 different ships at once which is CRAZY to me. There's just always room for improvement and different ways to approach each scenario and it keeps it fresh for me every time.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzhCa5l5AFA

^^^ Chapter 4. 1 player, 2 ships. Arcade.

(also chapter 4 is the best stage)
 

DJ_Lae

Member
I still love it even if I suck at it. Can never get past the beginning of level 4 without running out of lives so my leaderboard scores were never particularly high. Usually I die midway through 3.

Brute force my way through the final two levels and it's still fun.
 

ElTopo

Banned
Amazing Shmup. Easily in the top 10. HATE the boss of level 3. And level 4 can suck my nut. The rest of the game is perfect.
 

gnexus

Member
Arguably the best game from the most legendary shmup developer ever.

Fan-fucking-tastic. The music, the gameplay mechanics, the artwork. Everything is just so good.
 

ghibli99

Member
I love shooters, I love Treasure, but this game somehow never clicked with me. Thanks to XBO BC this week, though, I think I'll give it another go. :)
 
Played this last night when I was going through my 360 titles on the XB1. Game looks and sounds great but I'll still dog-awful at it. Maybe someday I'll dedicate a couple evenings to it and see if I can't power through the game by sheer force of will.
 

Curufinwe

Member
I never got good at it but I still loved it. Those little poems and the music give more atmosphere than plenty of AAA games.
 

Yasawas

Member
i always get crushed at level 3 :(

Same. Dozens of hours on the game too, one of my top ten.

I've just realised that the old laptop someone gave me last week can probably run this, haven't played it since my last 360 died about four years ago. To Steam!
 
ENERGY MAX
ENERGY MAX
ENERGY MAX
ENERGY MAX

I was legit shocked with just how much depth the simple act of adding polarity does for the game when i first playing it on DC. I recall Radiant Silvergun doing the chain scoring thing, but with three colors, it always seemed like way too high of a bar for me to really bother with the rote memorization needed to exploit it.
 

magnetic

Member
One of Treasures most polished game, that's for sure. The scoring system is also super sleek, even if it relies too much on memorization for my taste.

The polarity idea is so cool that it makes you wonder how nobody had this idea earlier. Gigawing was halfway there with the bullet reflection idea, but literally having two layers of bullets and having this idea consistent through the whole game is brilliant.

Radiant Silvergun feels overly complicated and slow by comparison, even if I love it.

Also, play Dodonpachi and then come back to Ikaruga later. Many people had Ikaruga as their first serious attempt at a shooter, and dodging bullets AND keeping the polarity in mind can be very overwhelming. Dodonpachi is a fantastic entry into the genre.
 

andymcc

Banned
it's an ok shooter. really overrated but i think the aesthetics carry it for a lot of people. polarity is neat but i can't stand stage long chaining in treasure games.

Radiant Silvergun feels overly complicated and slow by comparison, even if I love it.

if there is one compliment i can give to ikaruga, at least the chaining mechanic is way more streamlined than in radiant silvergun.
 
J

Jotamide

Unconfirmed Member
Chaining sucks balls as a scoring mechanic but the artstyle and soundtrack are baller. It's a shame the OST never got a proper release in any format.
 

magnetic

Member
Chaining sucks balls as a scoring mechanic but the artstyle and soundtrack are baller. It's a shame the OST never got a proper release in any format.

It's weirdly similar to Guwange in that way. Both have killer presentation, Japanese themes, and aggravating scoring mechanics.
 
I think this was one of the first games I rented from Gamefly.

Great music, great game play, but tough spot so nails.

I think I was at the second to last stage before I used my last continue.
 

ChazAshley

CharAznable's second cousin
LOVE THIS GAME. Probably in my top 5 games - Is video game an art arguments aside, I honestly believe it's one that can be appreciated as an art. When I first played this game on the Dreamcast - I thought it was your typical bullet hell shoot em up. Thought the polarity system was cool but thought nothing of it.

But then (back then when Youtube was still somewhat of a baby) I remember seeing videos of pros playing through the game and chaining. To see them actively take weird paths and shoot enemies in a certain order to keep the chain going opened up my eyes. This was truly a game that was more than just shooting and dodging bullets. I played through it again, trying to chain more and more and truly discovering what the game was REALLY about.

When the Gamecube version came out, bought a copy immediately and practiced everyday to get up to the ranks. I actually got rank 21st in Prototype mode before the list was taken down.

Random note: For some stupid reason I put my ranking under misc facts about myself on my resume for my first job - and the HR guy noticed it - asked me if I played video games. When I said yes, we basically talked about how much we enjoyed games.

I got the job the next day.
 
the main takeaway i got from this is that op's dad is incredibly baller

You have a good father OP

Damn your dad fuckin' rocks nan

Haha thanks guys!!

He used to wake up really early because of his work schedule, so he'd wake my brother and I up way before school so we could play House of the Dead. My uncle's (he's 10 years younger than my dad) neighbor used to get everything launch day while my uncle had to wait till Christmas or his birthday and the other kid would rub all his new games in his face. So my dad bought my uncle a Super Famicon so that he'd finally have something before him. He also made sure to play Battlefield 1942 during its last days online as it was his favorite FPS.

Lots of good gaming memories, could go on for a long time.
 

Nzyme32

Member
Still love Ikaruga, but not exactly amazing at it. My best is getting an S rank on the first level and an A on the second. The third level just slays me unless I forget about the combos, in which case finishing the game is obviously a lot easier.

Now I started playing again with the Steam Controller getting the S rank for the first level, but I've completely forgotten the patterns for the second level. Will have to keep practising again
 
This is still my favorite Shmup. Such a gorgeous audio-visual experience, and great gameplay to boot. Have it on Steam currently - I should hook up my arcade stick and play it again. I used to be good at it, but not anymore I'm afraid.
 
One of my all time favourite shoot em ups.Absolutely awesome,have it on Dreamcast.Its on steam but I don't know what that's like,might have to give it a try
 

ksan

Member
If 10/10 actually meant that the game was perfect, Ikaruga would be a great example, I think it does what it's supposed to do perfectly.
On top of that, it's a pretty amazing game, and a special kind of shmup.
 
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