In the dying days of the Dreamcast, it seems that developers in Japan have chosen the shooter genre to supply the system's last few doses of oxygen. Ikaruga aside, Sega's swan song has seen two new shooters in the last six months: Border Down and PsyVariar 2. Though hardly enough to spark life back into the steadily receding Dreamcast, the games do provide a welcome shot of adrenaline. Ikaruga itself is probably the most testing of the games mentioned; and even if not, it's easily the most enjoyable.
I'll admit that the extent of my knowledge of the Japanese language is limited to what I've picked up from anime fan translations. Given this inability, I obviously couldn't understand the storyline and most of the text (some of the basic options are in English). From what I was able to gather, you take the role of a soldier who must man an impressive-looking ship and take on a relentless, well-funded army in a futuristic war zone spanning five levels. I figure this is a safe assumption given that EVERY shooter basically has the same inane premise.
While *only* five levels long, Ikaruga should not be underestimated. Its difficulty increases dramatically as you progress. Every boss has patterns and weak spots that need to be learned before any successful attack can be leveled against it. This, compounded by swarms of enemy fire and obstacle-laden levels, assures that even hardened shooter veterans will find themselves going through the levels multiple times before seeing any success.
Ikaruga's gameplay presents an innovative concept, perhaps the first one since Zero Gunner's fully rotational gunships. Every enemy, the ship you fly, and all fire can be grouped under one of two polarities: black or white. Hitting an enemy of a certain color with the opposite polarity of fire will deal more damage than if the same polarity is used. Your ship also absorbs enemy fire that matches its own color and builds up a meter in the process. After gathering a certain amount, you can unleash a special attack similar to Mars Matrix, only this one doesn’t pepper the enemy with as much firepower and, as expected, helps you out a lot less.
Although Ikaruga has essentially redefined the shooter, it is not better than its predecessors in every aspect. There is only one special move and it inflicts moderate damage regardless of polarity. And where are my power-ups and extra-continue packages floating around aimlessly in anticipation of being consumed by an expeditious fighter ship? Power-ups contribute variety to this genre, gifting the player with an alternative form of firepower with which to exacerbate foes. It's a shame that Treasure chose to exclude them.
Ikaruga is done mostly in 3D, with a few visual elements remaining in the two-dimensional realm for reasons of practicality (explosions and player/enemy fire). The game is done remarkably well in 3D, boasting beautifully designed backgrounds that fly by at rapid speeds without a glimpse of anti-aliasing problems. Level-ending bosses tilt and rotate without a hitch in animation; a beautiful effect given that, generally, most sh'mup bosses are rather inert. And Ikaruga does all of this without encountering slowdown or lapses in frame rate.
Also, in true shooter fashion, Treasure's spiritual sequel to Radiant Silvergun is presented in letterbox format, with scores and power-bars lining the black borders on either side of the action. This gives the game a vertical-scroller feel not unlike the Raiden Fighters series in the arcades.
Most of the sound effects, the burst of an enemy target upon destruction or the engine roar of a larger aircraft passing by, are generic and insipid, taking a backseat to even less spectacular music. An awful, mechanized voice announces each fulfillment of the special-bar (oddly enough, this nuisance is in English) and, barring nothing, that just about rounds out the mediocre aural score.
Ikaruga lacks the variety of other shooters (GunBird, for example) where power-ups let you destroy robots and beasts with a nice variety of missiles, lasers, flying purple birds and beam-shots that look like the holy cross. Setting that aside, Treasure's last Dreamcast offering is highly original and tops even its last game (Bangai-O) in graphics and playability. It is also difficult even when set to easy, assuring that even those with little confidence in their gaming skill will find no self-esteem boost here. Although the GameCube version is already out, I would recommend Treasure's Dreamcast version. With Radiant Silvergun going for 200 bucks on eBay and the Dreamcast progressively fading off into the annals of gaming history, Ikaruga has every chance of becoming a valuable rarity.
