Featured Game 8.27.07: Ikaruga

[OatBob]

Ikaruga

Console:	Nintendo GameCube
Region:	U
Year:	2003
RFG ID #:	U-076-S-01210-A
Part #:	DL-DOL-GIKE-USA
UPC:	722242519781
Publisher:	Infogrames, Inc.
Developer:	Treasure Co. Ltd
Rating:	Everyone (ESRB): Violence
Genre:	Shooter
Sub-genre:	2D Vertical Shooter AKA Shoot'em up
Players:	1-2
Controller:	Standard Controller
Media Format:	GameCube Optical Disc

Game Page Address: http://www.rfgeneration.c...nfo.pl?ID=U-076-S-01210-A

Holy cats this one is hard.  If you tried this and had a hard time making it past the first chapter, I may recommend playing Duck Hunt (our other feature) instead.

One of the revolutionary things Treasure did year after the Japanese release was to make an "Appreciate's Video" of perfect plays for the hardcore fans.  They were the first to do this sort of thing, and encouraged more players to attempt to attain that "perfect combo".  Unfortunately, like Super Mario Bros. speedruns it is a short game clocking in around 15 minutes, and favors skill over entertainment. 

I know there has been some chatter about this game on the forums recently, so let me know what you think about it.

[GameRiley]

I've been looking for this game for along time and can not find it. Every time I go in a place that has Gamecube games I look for it, I never saw one copy in my life. I guess I'll just keep looking.

I've seen some videos, it looks very hard. It looks like a game I could enjoy.

Looks great, if I see it I'll pick it up.

[Grim Fandango]

I bought mine at xmas time at ebgames, went in looking for a present for my brother in law and ended up only buying stuff for me haha

[Tynstar]

I have always wanted this game. But the few times I have seen it I didn't pick it up.

[JWKobayashi]

I was lucky enough to get to try this out on the Dreamcast. After I found out it was coming out on the Gamecube, I HAD to have it. I went to Gamestop on the day it came out (back in April of 03) and picked it up. Glad I did because I haven't seen it anywhere since. Surely one of the harder to find Gamecube games (but also so worth it).

[Edit] Also, if you ever thought you were good at the game, watch this and see how good you really are:

[Tynstar]

What's the deal with the 2 colored shields? Dark absorbs dark bullets and white absorbs white bullets right?

[JWKobayashi]

Yeah, there is a button on the controller that changes your ship's color between black and white.

Black ships absorb black bullets and deal twice the damage to white enemies.
White ships absorb white bullets and deal twice the damage to black enemies.

Also, when you shoot a black enemy with a black shot (or vice versa), you release the same colored energy to collect (collecting both this energy and bullets fills the gauge on the left side of the screen).

You can use the energy in the gauge to release homing shots.

Hitting three enemies of the same color in a row starts a chain. As long as you keep hitting three white or black in a row, the chain will go up. The highest chain I've ever had was in the 50's or 60's. The guy in that video gets one on the 130's. Insane.

[Tynstar]

Sounds to complicated to me. LOL

[OatBob]

Thats the easy part actually.  For shooters, its the bullet patterns that are the difficult part.

Level four has two spirals spinning in opposite directions.  Heck, I can't even put it into words, so another video should explain it better than me.




BTW, there's no health, so it is one hit (of the opposite color) and you're destroyed.

[Tynstar]

Thats the easy part actually.  For shooters, its the bullet patterns that are the difficult part.

Level four has two spirals spinning in opposite directions.  Heck, I can't even put it into words, so another video should explain it better than me.




BTW, there's no health, so it is one hit (of the opposite color) and you're destroyed.

I don't like having to remember patterns. One hit = 1 kill would piece me off to no end.

[cyberfluxor]

I'm finally making my first post after being here for well over a year.


Well anyhow. I do remember seeing this game every time I went to Game Stop or EB Games back in '03 and into '04, but just never dropped $20 for it because I was too busy looking at their Sega, Nintendo and older PC games for far less money (as I also didn't make much at this time either). Over time it just disappeared and I haven't seen it on a shelf anywhere new/used since. It's a real bummer because I've just wanted it more and more but still prefer to find the darn thing locally instead of entering a bidwar online with others.

So, fast foward to July this year and I finally got to play it at Otakon in Baltimore and must say it's a fantastic shooter! I found it later in the evening of Saturday just before they were shutting the game room down so at least I got a bit of play time in. It wasn't setup on Sunday (or maybe it was moved elsewhere) so I didn't get another chance to crack away at it but it's an even bigger ambition to find it. The colors and gameplay are fantastic and the learning curve is very fast, just it takes a lot of time to master it.

[Tynstar]

I'm finally making my first post after being here for well over a year.


Well anyhow. I do remember seeing this game every time I went to Game Stop or EB Games back in '03 and into '04, but just never dropped $20 for it because I was too busy looking at their Sega, Nintendo and older PC games for far less money (as I also didn't make much at this time either). Over time it just disappeared and I haven't seen it on a shelf anywhere new/used since. It's a real bummer because I've just wanted it more and more but still prefer to find the darn thing locally instead of entering a bidwar online with others.

So, fast foward to July this year and I finally got to play it at Otakon in Baltimore and must say it's a fantastic shooter! I found it later in the evening of Saturday just before they were shutting the game room down so at least I got a bit of play time in. It wasn't setup on Sunday (or maybe it was moved elsewhere) so I didn't get another chance to crack away at it but it's an even bigger ambition to find it. The colors and gameplay are fantastic and the learning curve is very fast, just it takes a lot of time to master it.

Welcome man and post some more!

[Tan]

The Dreamcast version was also among the first games to have near perfect compatibility with DC emulators. Definately a game I'd buy on a whim for either system if I ever see them in the wild.

[cyberfluxor]

Welcome man and post some more!

Yeah, I need to. I've mainly just lurked in that time, looking at other people's collections and stuff.

[Tondog]

We're a nice bunch of people. Join us.