About this item

• Ikaruga (斑鳩 Ikaruga?, lit. Japanese Grosbeak) is a shoot 'em up video game developed by Treasure. It was released in the arcades in 2001 on the Sega NAOMI, subsequently released on Dreamcast in Japan and then worldwide on the Nintendo GameCube, and was released on Xbox Live Arcade on April 9, 2008. It is a spiritual sequel to Radiant Silvergun. The gameplay consists of shooting enemies who come in one of two polarities: either black or white (sometimes called red or blue). The player's ship can be either polarity, and can be switched at will. Treasure previously experimented with colors and polarity in the title Silhouette Mirage, released for both the Sega Saturn and the PlayStation. Ikaruga was well received by critics.
• Ikaruga's gameplay centers primarily around the polarity mechanic. Only bullets of an opposite polarity can kill the player. Same-color bullets are absorbed and converted into energy for the game's special weapon, a homing laser. Switching the ship's polarity also changes the color of the ship's bullets, and shooting an enemy using opposite-polarity bullets will cause double damage. Thus, much of the challenge of Ikaruga comes from careful polarity-switching, choosing between high damage and (relative) invulnerability. This is especially true when fighting bosses, as they often fire bullets of both colors in overlapping patterns. The game also presents navigational challenges where the player must maneuver through continual streams of weapons fire, using their shields to absorb one color while avoiding the others. Stage 2 boss fight; the player uses the polarity system to absorb the enemy fire. Skilled players may also perform combination "chains" for points. A chain occurs when three enemies of the same polarity are destroyed consecutively. The more sets of three enemies that are dispatched in a row, the more points are acquired, eventually rewarding the player with an extra chance/life. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the entirely original "bullet eater" or "dot eater" strategy, wherein the player does not shoot enemies, including bosses, which retreat after a set period.
• Despite the fact that only four people are responsible for its creation, Ikaruga features full three-dimensional landscapes and a soundtrack. The home console releases also feature TATE mode - the ability to rotate the game's display by ninety degrees while the player's monitor rests on its left side, for full-screen arcade size. This same mode can be used without rotating the monitor by configuring the controls, in essence changing the game from a vertical scrolling shooter to a horizontal one. When the game is played with the display in a normal orientation (YOKO mode), the sides of the screen are blank because the game field itself is taller than it is wide. If it is turned on its side, it can take up the whole screen and still have the same aspect ratio. An interesting feature of the arcade release, which is also included in the home formats, is the 'Trial Game' mode, where infinite lives are awarded for a single credit on the first level, but only the first two chapters of the game can be played, offering a good way to practice. In addition, Ikaruga features a two-player simultaneous mode, an in-depth slow-motion tutorial mode, with stage tutorials becoming accessible to players who reach them in the main game, and an in-game art gallery featuring character and mechanical designs by Yasushi Suzuki, who did designs for Treasure's Sin and Punishment: Hoshi no Keishōsha for the Nintendo 64.
• Developer(s) Treasure G.rev Publisher(s) WW Treasure JP Sega JP ESP Software JP/NA/PAL Atari Director(s) Hiroshi Iuchi Producer(s) Masato Maegawa Designer(s) Yasushi Suzuki Programmer(s) Atsutomo Nakagawa Composer(s) Hiroshi Iuchi Platform(s) Arcade, Dreamcast, GameCube, Xbox Live Arcade, Android, Microsoft Windows Release date(s) Arcade JP December 20, 2001 Dreamcast JP September 5, 2002 GameCube JP January 16, 2003 NA April 15, 2003 PAL May 23, 2003 Xbox Live Arcade WW April 9, 2008 Android WW January 18, 2013 Genre(s) Shoot 'em up Mode(s) Single-player, Multiplayer Distribution Download Cabinet Upright Arcade system Sega NAOMI Display Raster (Vertical)
• Reception and legacy[edit] Although it garnered modest sales, it is among the most successful and recognized arcade shooter ports of the 2000s. GameRankings places the average review score for Ikaruga at 86%.[4] Metacritic gives the Gamecube version a metascore of 85/100.[5] On release, Weekly Famitsu magazine scored the Dreamcast version of Ikaruga a 36 out of 40,[6] and in its first week (2002/9/2–8) the game sold about 18,596 units to debut 5th on the magazine's "Top 30".[citation needed] The following week it dropped off the chart. In its first week (2003/1/13–19), the Gamecube version of Ikaruga debuted at number 20. It sold about 6,916 units.[citation needed] By the next week, it dropped off the chart. Though the official online scoreboard is now defunct, players to this day exchange high scores and game play videos in online forums.[7] ScrewAttack voted Ikaruga the 2nd greatest 2D shooter of all time,[8] while IGN voted it the 3rd greatest.[9] ScrewAttack also declared it #9 on Top Ten GameCube Games, along with Gametrailers rating it #5 on Top Ten Most Difficult Games.[1] Ikaruga was used in Trial Mode as a competition between two 2-player teams for the Final Round of the Omegathon at PAX East 2011. Another testament to Ikaruga's enduring popularity are the model kits created by Japanese model manufacturer Kotobukiya. Three models of the Ikaruga have been released, and in September 2012, the second-player ship, Ginkei, was made available.[10]