Ikaruga | DJcube

Don’t relax now! Your goal is to clear all of the stages.

JP release: 16th January 2003
NA release: 15th April 2003
EU release: 23rd May 2003
Developer: Treasure, G.rev
Publisher: Infogrames
NGC Magazine: 85%
Mods Used: None

Ikaruga (named after a Japanese bird) is a conversion of a Japanese-only vertical scrolling shoot-’em-up. While it came out on Dreamcast, the GameCube version was the first time the game was seen outside of Japan. One great thing about this conversion of Ikaruga is the amount of display options. As the arcade unit used a vertical display, a standard screen displayed black bars (although you can adjust the HUD to make some use of the empty space).

Ikaruga offers a few levels of zoom, but also lets you display the game sideways, so that you can put your massive CRT onto its side for an authentic experience. For a full screen game without twisting your screen around, there’s also the option of rotating the controls so it plays vertically.

I’m truly bad at this kind of shooter, and Ikaruga is immensely difficult. Yet, it has interesting mechanics that allow me to enjoy it (with infinite lives, that is). Enemies and their projectiles are either black or white, and your ship can swap “polarity” between the two colours. You are immune to projectiles that are the same colour as you, however your shots do double damage against the opposite colour opponent. This creates an extremely elegant risk/reward system that reminds me a bit of Vertical Force in the Virtual Boy, but dialled up to 11.

This doesn’t just relate to enemies, but also stage hazards that shoot lasers at you. You have to constantly manage swapping colours to protect against what is heading towards you, but also when to switch to the opposite colour for extra damage. All while everything moves at a very swift pace and the screen is completely littered with bullets. It’s all very overwhelming, yet when you do manage to hit a flow, even if it’s for a brief period, it’s extremely exhilarating. All the failures and difficulty is worth it for those moments.

While there are only five levels, they require an immense amount of practice to actually complete. The game offers plenty of different options to test out and improve your skills at each level, and then if you manage to complete the game, there’s also a second difficulty to complete – as well as high scores. While I could never dream of managing that, I also can’t fault the game for that, and the moments where it does do well are a wonderful experience.

Great

Progression does reap rewards, though – even if it’s just for another glimpse of Treasure’s cruel imagination. The levels have been painstakingly constructed to milk every last drop of your skills. Every colour-switching scenario is explored, and every new (frankly stunning) boss will bring both confusion on meeting then sheer elation once beaten. The better you get, the more you can take vital seconds to appreciate the sublime aesthetics – especially where the amazing 3D backgrounds are concerned.
Geraint Evans, NGC Magazine #80

Remake or remaster?

There’s a remaster on PC and Switch, which offer some extra options and features.

Official Ways to get the game

You can get Ikaruga on Steam and Switch.