Platform	Dreamcast
Genre	Shooter
Developer	Treasure

I've never played Ikaruga in the arcades, so trying it out on the DC was a new experience.

Let's start with the graphics. Ikaruga's looks extremely nice. I would rate it higher than Zero Gunner 2 in that respect -- very slick appearance. It holds up well in the face of recent games. One interesting aspect is how each level starts -- you play through an "Intro" section of a level, then the regular stage music starts up showing you boosting into the stage with a "Chapter #" overlay (With # being the number of the stage).

It uses 34 blocks for a save file, and there's an autosave option available. The game records your time played. (The clock only moves when you are playing the game I believe, not during attract mode or at menus.)

Bonuses can be unlocked either by meeting certain requirements (such as beating the game), or by having the play time reach a certain amount of hours. There are 4 extras to unlock in the Appendix.

Menu selections are primarily in English, so it's easy to get around even if you can't read Japanese. There are four "monitor types" that you can choose. Horizontal 1 allows you to see the whole playing field, but the left and right sides are black bars. Adding them together might be around 1/4 of the screen. Horizontal 2 zooms in a little, making the gameplay area take up more of your screen. Naturally, the tradeoff is that you do not see the whole play field. Vertical 1 flips it to the side for those of you who are brave enough to turn your TV. Vertical 2 is the same thing, but changes your controls so that you can play the game as a side scroller with your TV in the regular position.

The game itself works thus: you only have one weapon, which is your standard laser. If you hold it down, it fire a stream of 2, and if you tap it, it will fire single shots. The primary gameplay mechanic is two "sides" -- a "WHITE" and a "BLACK" side. This applies to both your ship, and the enemies around you. At any time, you can press the "CHANGE" button to flip your ship over in order to switch between each color. This affects two things, the color of your shots, and your ability to absorb bullets.

"WHITE" enemies will fire "WHITE" bullets. "BLACK" enemies will fire "BLACK" bullets. If your ship matches the same color as the bullets, you will be able to absorb them without taking any damage (this applies to everything, even huge lasers which push you back while you're absorbing them). Instead, the bullets will fill up a bar which allows you to press the right trigger to "RELEASE" the power you have accumulated. The amount of homing lasers that come out when you "RELEASE" is related to how far the bar has been filled out. The color of your homing lasers is determined by which ship side you are using when you "RELEASE."

If you are touched by a bullet of the opposite color or collide with an enemy, you will explode. For example, if you are on the "BLACK" side of your ship, and a "WHITE" bullet touches you, your ship will explode instead of absorbing the bullet.

Another aspect of the system is that when you destroy an enemy using the same color as them, small bullets will fall out of them which you can absorb or be destroyed by. If you shoot an enemy of the opposite color, then you will do 2X damage and the particles will not spawn from the explosion.

It might sound overly complicated, but it's pretty simple in practice! It's a fun gameplay mechanic that allows them to throw a ton of bullets and such on the screen without it being utterly impossible. Success is based around determining the advantage each color will give to you. You'll often be swapping between the two colors quickly as you try to slip between cracks in the bullets.

There is also a chain system for those who go for the points. Basically, every time you destroy a enemies of the same color in sets of three you will add to the chain. You'll break it when you destroy an enemy of a different color before adding up 3. For example if W is white enemy destroyed, and B is black enemy destroyed, this is a valid chain: WWW|BBB|BBB|WWW|WWW|BBB|WWW. That would net you a 7 chain. It doesn't matter if you swap between colors, but they must be obtained in threes. This for example, would break the chain: WWW|BBB|WWW|WWW|BW. It would be broken during the 5th chain, because a different color was destroyed before a set of 3 was completed. Getting chains sometimes makes firing single shots worthwhile sometimes, since you can try to ensure that you only destroy the specific colors you want.

This game is very tough, even when you aren't going for the chains. I don't play many 2D shooters and this game beat my weak skills into the ground. It's something that I'll have to give many play throughs before I beat it. In this case, that's a good thing.

Two player is a little chaotic, since sometimes its hard to keep track of where you are. The second player isn't necessarily using the same color as you, and so can blow up enemies making small bullets spill out that you don't notice. In addition, the two players' ships do not overlap each other. They just push one another around. This can be troublesome when tight spots need to be negotiated.

Ultimately, Ikaruga is a fun shooter that is certainly worthwhile if you're into the genre. It's not packed with extras like Mars Matrix, so when making your decision, you'll definately want to consider the replayability of the game on its own merits. Are you the type who replays 2D shooters simply to improve your score, or are you someone who plays them once and doesn't touch them again?. Those who are more in the second camp may want to consider if it's really worth the 6,800 yen.

Another point to keep in mind, is that if you aren't huge on 2D shooters, then you may want to wait for the Gamecube version, as it supposedly has extras that the Dreamcast version does not. But if you want a great shooter now, then it's tough to go wrong with Ikaruga.


By: Onigiri