Ikaruga
Publisher: Infogrames
Developer: Treasure
Genre: Top-down Shooter
Opinion: Andrew Weir
Gameplay mechanics come no better than the dual-world idea. Every game designer knows of the dual-world idea, it's just so versatile. Take for example, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. You have the light world and the dark world. In Ocarina of Time, you had dual worlds of Link as a child and link as an elder. Even a game like Tales of Symphonia puts that idea into effect. But what if you take that "dual" property, use it new and exciting ways, to revolutionize an old and tired genre? That's exactly what our good pals at Treasure have done with the top-down shooter, Ikaruga.
Now don't get me wrong, I've been playing these kinds of shoot 'em ups since the days of Pop and Twinbee on the NES, so I could understand the reservations people make when tinkering is made. And while people fear change in a tried and true formula, Ikaruga is still the definition of a 100% shooter. Treasure manages to change the mechanics and makes the genre even more hectic than it already is, while retaining the familiarity. Think of it like this. Mix Pop and Twinbee, "Dual-World" gameplay, and crack cocaine together, and in some weird analogical world you'll end up with Ikaruga.
The premise of the game revolves around your special fighter craft, which is capable of shooting dark energy and light energy, and in return, absorbing dark energy and absorbing light energy. Something similar to Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, though we can't vouch for how well Prime 2 pulls it off. While you're in your ‘dark' mode, you deal extra damage to white enemies and can absorb black enemy fire. When you switch to white, it goes vice versa. This leads you to frantically switching back and forth, not only dodging bullets but purposefully running into them, to charge up your attack to unleash a super beam. Your coordinative skills need to be extremely honed to take on this game, and your reflexes will be on constant overload.
If you think about it, switching between two modes really doesn't do much for the genre. That's like taking two games and mixing it into one. In reality, this idea could have easily been executed as a gimmick, but Treasure shows its innovative prowess and uses mode switching to the extreme. This is what really sets Ikaruga apart from the pack: the smart level design coupled with its incredibly hard difficulty level. Because the developers knew absorbing bullets made your job easier, they made the levels harder. Ten times harder. At times there are literally hundreds of bullets surrounding the screen, and as you're swathing your own way through by absorbing bullets, you're given only the smallest window of opportunity to switch modes and make a new path. And its not just enemy fire, the levels themselves were created with this light/dark theme in mind, forcing you to always look ahead. Thank goodness the game was expertly fashioned, allowing you to not get frustrated as you fail to go beyond level 3.
Ikaruga is definitely the most overlooked title on the GameCube and Dreamcast for BOTH generations. You can't find it at a higher price than $20 even if you wanted to. That's probably not true but there are dozens of places on the Internet, or even right next to your home that has it at bottom-feeder prices. Bottom line: don't even bother to call yourself a top-down shooter fan if you haven't played this. An essential eBay purchase.
