Ikaruga

This is not the "best shooter ever". This is not the sequel to the "best shooter ever". This is not the second coming of gaming as we know it. It is, however, a damn fine game. Whether or not this game is the sequel to the vastly overrated Radiant Silvergun is debatable. Yes, there are similarities. Yes, it is by Treasure. Yes, it does say Project: RS2. Regardless, this game should be judged in it's own light. It does not deserve to live in the shadow of it's legendary "brother". Ikaruga can more than stand on it's own. Your feelings on Radiant Silvergun should not hamper, nor enhance, your enjoyment or distaste of Ikaruga. They are two separate games that happen to be in the same genre and are developed by the same company. Judge them on their own merits. Don't go into Ikaruga expecting another Radiant, go into it expecting a shooter. What I am getting at with all this mindless chatter is that just because you enjoyed or hated Radiant Silvergun, you shouldn't assume that you will feel the same way about Ikaruga.

Whew, now that that is out of the way, let's get down to business. At it's surface Ikaruga appears to be very "shallow" with only one weapon and no power ups. If you take the time to look deeper you will see that Ikaruga's complexity lies in it's apparent simplicity. In my opinion, if Ikaruga included multiple weapons, it would throw the whole game out of balance. All you need in Ikaruga is skill, not the best weapons you can get. The lack of multiple weapons ensures that you can still continue playing the later levels even if you die. Unlike Gradius or a similar game where you are screwed, for lack of a better term, if you approach the later levels without power ups. If multiple weapons and power ups are that important to you, look elsewhere. Just be informed that you are passing over a great game for a silly reason. In addition to the added balance, with the lack of multiple weapons, you are left to concentrate on the Light-Dark aspect of the gameplay rather than picking up that floating weapon upgrade. As I'm sure you know by now, your ship has two colors, a light and a dark. Enemies follow the same color scheme. Running into bullets becomes as important as dodging because when you touch bullets that are the same color of your ship, not only do you absorb them for your laser attack, they also add to your score. So rather than dodging all of the bullets, at times it is a good idea to switch colors constantly gobbling up all of the bullets you can. On normal difficulty, shooting an enemy off the same color results in it exploding and sending suicide bullets your way. At times these suicide bullets can be helpful to your score, while other times you'll wish they didn't exist. Always keep them in mind before switching colors. Something else that is worthy to note is the damage your bullets do. Shooting an enemy of the opposite color deals double damage. This especially comes in handy during boss fights, which are timed. The more time left over when you destroy a boss, the higher the bonus. So, while you often have to dodge a lot more, if you are going for score it is better to attack the boss with an opposite color.

Speaking of score, I think it's about time I told you of the chaining system. While it is completely optional, if you are going for score, you had better learn to use it. For every three enemies of the same color you kill, you get a chain. So, if you kill six light enemies and three dark enemies you would get a 3 chain. You can keep track of chains by looking at your VMU or listening for the announcer. Each chain you get gives you bonus points, the amount goes up until you reach max chain(9 and up). Max Chains give you 25,600 points for each. This chain continues until you mess it up. This is accomplished by hitting a dark and light enemy in the same chain. In other words, killing three light enemies then two dark and a light, your chain would break. Chaining is very important to garner a high score. In fact, half of the fun of the game for me, is to go through a level thinking about how I can make a chain last as far as possible and then attempting to execute it. To clear up a common misconception, your ship color does not matter when chaining. Also, keep in mind, that chaining is entirely optional. If you are not playing for score, you do not have to worry about it. Though, without the chaining, I don't think the game would be as addicting.

Something else I really enjoyed about the game is that Treasure made sure it was filled with non stop action. They reward the fast shooter with more enemies. If you clear out the screen before the next set of enemies are supposed to arrive, enemies that don't normally show up appear to make sure you have no time to rest. Thankfully, Treasure included a Practice mode where you can try your hand at any of the stages you've reached. This helps when you want to try out a chain on a later stage.

As is the case with most Treasure games, the bosses are nothing short of amazing and can seem impossible until you get their patterns down. The color switching really comes into play during these boss fights. Take the second boss for example. It has two shields over each of it's weak points. One light and one dark. Shooting the dark shield with light bullets does nothing, shooting it with darks bullets though, will pull it open like a drawer allowing you to sneak your ship in and blast the weak point. Slowly the shield will close, and when it gets close to your ship you can sneak out and shoot it some more to open it back up. All the while you have a barrage of both colored bullets being fired at you from all sides. Proper color switching is a must if you want to clear this boss without dying. It can get hectic at times. Just wait until you see the insanity that is the later bosses.

There are a total of five stages, or chapters as they are called in the game. They are about average size in length. This may not seem like much, but provided you don't credit feed it should take you a while to become good enough to beat the game. Speaking of credit feeding, when you first start you have three credits at your disposal. Every hour of play one credit is added. After enough playtime you get Free Play. To everyone who hates actually playing games, the in-game clock only counts actual gameplay. Leaving the game on will do you no good in unlocking more credits. *GASP* Yes, you actually have to play the game, what horror. Maybe by the time you unlock free play you won't need it? In addition to the credits, you can also unlock two galleries, a sound test and a Prototype mode. There are two methods of unlocking these. A hard way, and an easy way. An example of the hard way would be clearing the game on one credit. Thankfully for the gamers that don't have the skill or time to master the game, you can also unlock them via time release. It takes about 20 hours of play to time release everything. The prototype mode is basically the same game only you have limited ammo that you can refill. It's a nice extra and something I wish more games included.

In addition to the so-called simplified gameplay, Ikaruga features simplified controls as well. You move with the D-pad and you have two buttons. One to shoot and one to switch colors. Pressing both of these buttons at once performs the laser attack which you charge via bullet absorption. They lasers are homing and do a nice amount of damage. You can also use a separate button for the laser attack rather than pressing the two at once. The analog stick is not supported, not like it matters as the d-pad is the superior choice anyway. In addition to the stock controller you can use an ASCII FT Pad and an Arcade Stick for that arcade at home feel.

Replay value is either high or low depending upon how you play shooters. If you have no qualms about using 50 continues to beat the game, you will grow tired quickly as there are only 5 stages and a lack of extra modes. On the other hand, if you strive to beat the game on one credit, get an absurdly large chain or work on getting a high score, the game is overflowing with replay. Speaking of High scores, Ikaruga has one of the best high score tables I've seen featuring a chart for each chapter, and an overall high score list. These lists are separated into each difficulty and one player or two player mode. Each list has twenty slots. So, your high score from a one player game on easy, is separate from your high score from a one player game on normal. Both of these are separate from the high score you received in a two player game. Something that is also of note is the grading system. At the end of each stage you will receive a grade. So, in addition to going for a high score, you could try to get the highest grade possible on each stage. Want another challenge? Try getting the infamous Dot Eater grade by beating the stage without firing a single shot. It is tougher than you may think.

This game is in English for the most part. There is some Japanese in the menus, but a voice tells you(in English) what each option is, so you shouldn't have a problem. You will miss out on the story, but there are translations all over the net, so just search a little if it matters that much to you.

The sound in this game is wonderful. The music seems to follow along with the action. So when the action on screen starts to get hectic, expect the music to follow suit. Rather than follow the typical shooter soundtrack, Treasure decided to go with music that would fit well in a movie and I feel it really suits the game. A robotic voice lets you know whenever you chain. Some find this annoying, but I enjoy it and it sure beats looking down at your vmu all the time.

The graphics are equally great and are probably the best I've seen on Dreamcast. the stages are very detailed and the entire game is done in 3D. The gameplay is smooth throughout and the only instance of slowdown that I have had, occurred during boss explosions. This is likely included for dramatic effect. You have a choice of four screen modes. Two letterboxed, and two tate. One letterbox features 75% of the screen and the other squeezes 80%. To get a full screen you must play in tate mode. This is accomplished either by flipping your TV or monitor on it's side or playing the game like a horizontal shooter. One Tate mode features normal controls for when you flip your TV, while the other "fixes" the controls so you can play it like a horizontal shooter without having to lay on your side.

Forget all the hype surrounding this game. If you go into it expecting the second coming, you will be disappointed. If you find yourself comparing it to RS and complaining that it is different, stop. It is not supposed to be the same. If you thought that, well, you should've done a little more research before buying this. At the end of the day, Ikaruga is a great shooter and one of the best on the system, nothing more. It is worth your money if you are a shooter fan. Get it, enjoy it, have a great time. Judge it for what it is, not what it isn't. Now, let me go say thank you to Treasure by playing some more Ikaruga.

©2002 Ed Finnegan

Back to Review Directory