GENRE
	Shooter
	DEVELOPER
	Treasure
	PUBLISHER
	Atari/Infogrames
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-2
	CONNECTIVITY
	no
	BUY NOW AT

“Mom, can I have another quarter? Please!!!”

That was the line that fired from my mouth like a rapid fire burst every time my mom and I went to the local bakery to pick up bread. There was a Galaga arcade cabinet in the bakery and I just couldn’t get enough of it. That was a time when gamers’ agility, dexterity, cognition and sheer reaction speed were essential in order to get to the holy grail… top score. It was a brilliant game in a brilliant, white knuckle genre. Time has passed and with the introduction of full 3D visuals a lot of the old standards such as the scrolling shooters and 2D platformers have gone the way of the Dodo Bird.

With the advent of the third dimension, 3D gaming is now about exploration, massive levels, and environmental interaction. Up until now, however, no games have yet to rekindle that super fast-ninja feeling of the old shooters. None, that is, until the Atari’s incredible Ikaruga.

When I first turned on Ikaruga I was impressed that this game asks and delivers no mercy. It’s challenging to the point of frustration and yet you just can’t stop playing and challenging your previous score. This makes it true to the original shooters that left no room for error and filled the screen in a hail of bullets. Kudos to Atari for having the nads to publish a game that goes totally against the grain.

Yes, Atari has taken a chance by bringing a Dreamcast game to the GameCube that harkens back to those white-knuckle days of the shooting aces. Ikaruga represents the genre with a quality and challenge that has been missed for a long time. What is more is that the interest in Ikaruga proves absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder! Nintendo fan sites are crawling with information on the shooter and reverence for the game’s ingenuity and quality. Atari may have reawakened a sleeping giant here and they did so by releasing a top quality, top-shelf shooter. With luck, Atari will follow the success of Ikaruga with more excellent titles, but for now, with its blend of stunning visuals, excellent game play strategies including the “polarity” and excellent challenge, Ikaruga is yet another must own title for your GameCube.

visuals

Blazing Lasers. These two words zap me whenever I hear the word “Shooter.” The Turbo Grafix 16 shooting scroller was a thing of beauty and I can remember sitting in my best friend Remi Fanelli’s basement with the lights off watching the incredible power ups light up the room in blue light as they filled the screen.

With Ikaruga, Treasure has opted not to take the route of successional power ups that dazzle your eyes. Rather, there are hordes of enemies put in a 3d backdrop; the visual style developed as they approach you will floor you. Bosses will make you scream for mommy as you hearken back to yesteryear of quarter eating cabinets.

At first you’ll be taken aback by the 3D movement of the enemies but once you start getting into the “interior” levels where you have to blast through boxes that are spraying all kinds of bullets, you'll be stunned at the complexity of what you’re seeing on screen. Some of the spray patterns look more like artwork than a video game. Take that 3D!! 2D still rules!

As always, functionality is the basis for any feature in a great game. While you may feel a tad overwhelmed at all of the on-screen mayhem, you will never lose your place on the screen and you will always be able to find a way to navigate through the hail of bullets. It’s a shame that you’re so busy trying not to die that you can’t stop and smell the roses, because this game truly is a beauty. You’ll also have the opportunity to use several different screen layouts in order to give you the best view on the game. I suggest the widest vertical scroller. Oh, and don’t flip your mother’s TV on its side just to get the full screen please! That version is meant for a special monitor only.

audio

The “Domo-a-rigato-Mr.-Roboto” voice on the opening menu screen was the first signal I received that I was going to be transported to a pure and wonderful time of video gaming. Throughout the game you’ll find the audio as furiously paced as the visuals. A robotic voice will call out the chains you’re making and all of the explosions will be woven into the fast paced music of the title. Like most shooters of its ilk, the audio here is more of a splash than a succinct representation. The audio scape is designed to plaster a feeling of mayhem and action on the game and Ikaruga does that extremely well.

gameplay

The story of Ikaruga is right up there with 80's blockbuster The Last Star Fighter. You are the last fighter of the Tenkaku. Your name is Shinra and after your people were wiped out by the power wielding/conquesting Horai you took some time off in a remote vacation village called Ikaruga. The villagers decided it would be better if you were up in the skies kicking ass so they created a kickass super fighter known as Ikaruga. Now all that’s left is to take on the entire Horai army by yourself. BRING IT ON!

Treasure knows shooters like Bo knows sports. I’ve had a chance to play through some of their games and they certainly have the shooter genre nailed. What I love about Ikaruga is its play on subtlety and avoidance of some of the perptualities of the genre. The biggest exemplification of this is that Ikaruga refuses to lean on the “power up” method where you pick-up bigger and bigger lasers. In Ikaruga you only have single fire and rapid fire (tap or hold the b button).

In what I can only call a brilliant move, your ship operates and can switch polarities between black and white in a world where the enemies are either black or white and their bullets are black or white. So if you are white and a white enemy shoots at you, you simply absorb those white bullets. If you are white and you shoot a black enemy, your bullets will do double the damage and vice versa for both of these points. Sounds like it makes the game play too easy eh? Yeah right, try figuring out if you want to be white or black when 15,000 bullets of either color are all over the screen. It's a wicked idea and it extends the depth of this title to unbelievable proportions for a shooter.

You can also charge up a “special weapon”. What happens is that when you absorb like-colored bullets you charge your Energy Release Power Gauge. For every ten bullets you absorb you fill one bar on the gauge. Then by pressing R you release homing lasers that are ten times more powerful then the average shot from your ship. Also, shooting like-colored enemies in a row can lead to big scores via the chain bonuses.

There are several modes to work through as well. Conquest mode allows you to dissect every frame of Ikaruga in a practice session. You can even slow down the action to plan a way of attack. The two modes that intrigued me the most are prototype mode and bullet-eater mode. Prototype is nasty because it adds a new dimension to the game. You only have a limited number of bullets and you have to absorb enemy bullets to fill your stock. Excellent extension concept. Finally the “Bullet-Eater” mode; this isn’t a mode but a test of your will. You have to fly through the entire area without firing a shot. Good luck!

Overall the game play is flat out excellent. You’ll be scratching your head and retrying certain levels over and over again in conquest mode to try and figure out a way around it. Ikaruga is so old school outstanding it makes me want to break out a pair of Chuck Taylor Converse and super tight polyester shorts!!

multiplayer

You can play co-operatively in every mode except challenge mode. In keeping with the story line, Shinra shoots down a would be assassin from the Horai named Kagari. Kagari pilots the Ginkei which was the Horai version of the Canadian “Avro Arrow.” After some Amanai upgrades she fights along side Shinra and his Ikaruga. Well, at least when the player in the second controller slot presses start she does.

Getting back to my buddy Remi from way back in the playback, he’s definitely coming over and we’re going to kick some Horai ass. I’m really glad that Treasure added the two player simultaneous feature because taking turns can be fun because you see where the other guy fails but playing together is just a wicked rush!

One last thing here. Getting back to my opening comments about Top Score being the holy grail. Atari/Infogrames has done a great job here because they've included a score tracker whereby you take a 12 character password given to you by the game at www.ikaruga-atari.net and you're ranked on a global scale. How amazing is that for you old schoolers?!?! Remember the pride of having the top score on the local Galaga machine. Well imagine having the top global score!!

overall

Some of you pansy-asses out there have had it way too easy with your gameplay. A whole generation growing up with unlimited lives, long-ended environments that focus on exploring and slow paced action. Well, time to drop and give me fifty! Fifty swear words that is, because you will most definitely be swearing at your screen when you blast through Ikaruga, but you know what? You owe it to yourself to be this challenged. Ikaruga is a disorienting thrill ride of white/black strategy; an unbelievable roller coaster of shooting glory. It’s not the longest game, but improving your score and playing the prototype and bullet-eater modes will keep you busy until the sequel comes out. If the sequel is as good or better than Ikaruga, you can reserve my copy NOW!

Best of all, this killer title is ONLY FOR the GameCube!

9.1/10