Ikaruga
Encyclopedia
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. The player's ship can be either polarity, and can be switched at will. Treasure previously experimented with colors and polarity in the Sega Saturn
title Radiant Silvergun
as well as Silhouette Mirage
, released for both the Saturn and the PlayStation
. Ikaruga was well received by critics.
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
.
Meanwhile, a freedom federation called Tenkaku emerged to challenge Horai. Using fighter planes called Hitekkai, they fought with the hope of freeing the world from the grips of the Horai - but all their efforts were in vain. They were no match for the Horai and were eventually almost completely wiped out. Miraculously, however, one young man survived. His name was .
Shot down near a remote village called Ikaruga, inhabited by elderly people who had been exiled by the Horai's conquests, Shinra was dragged from the wreckage and nursed back to health. Shinra regained his health and pledged to defeat the Horai, and the villagers entrusted him with a fighter plane that they had built themselves, called the Ikaruga.
The Ikaruga was no ordinary plane, designed by former engineering genius with the help of and the village leaders. Hidden in a secret underground bunker and launched via the transportation device called the "Sword of Acala
", it is the first fighter built that integrates both energy polarities, and is capable of successfully switching between the two.
In a two-player game, Shinra is joined by , a mercenary of Horai defeated by Shinra. After Shinra spared her life, she decided to change sides and join the resistance. Her ship, Ginkei, is modified by the people of Ikaruga to give it identical capabilities to Shinra's ship.
, then an upstart company attempting to raise funds to develop Border Down
, provided several supporting team members on a contract basis. Development was long by arcade shooter standards, with over two years spent in development.
Ikaruga was the first game for which Treasure released an official Superplay video, the Ikaruga Appreciate DVD, before Konami released the Gradius V
"Options" and "Perfect" DVDs. The print run for the Dreamcast version was a very limited 50,000 copies, distributed only in Japan. For this reason, the Dreamcast version is considered rare and fetches high prices on internet auction
s.
An Xbox Live Arcade
version was released on April 9, 2008, and included online multiplayer co-op, leaderboards, and two screen modes (horizontal/pillarboxed and vertical) supported.
gives the Gamecube version a metascore of 85/100.
In its first week (2002/9/2–8), the Dreamcast version of Ikaruga debuted 5th on the Weekly Famitsū
Magazine Top 30 selling about 18,596 units. 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. 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.
ScrewAttack
voted Ikaruga the 2nd greatest 2D shooter of all time, while IGN
voted it the 3rd greatest. ScrewAttack also declared it #9 on Top Ten GameCube Games, along with Gametrailers rating it #5 on Top Ten Most Difficult Games.http://www.gametrailers.com/video/top-ten-gt-countdown/38283
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.
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
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
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, and was released on Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
on April 9, 2008. It is a spiritual sequel to Radiant Silvergun
Radiant Silvergun
is a vertically scrolling shooter video game, developed by Treasure. It was released in arcades on the ST-V platform in 1998 and subsequently ported to the Sega Saturn, with added cutscenes by noted animation studio Gonzo...
.
The gameplay consists of shooting enemies who come in one of two polarities: either black or white. The player's ship can be either polarity, and can be switched at will. Treasure previously experimented with colors and polarity in the Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
title Radiant Silvergun
Radiant Silvergun
is a vertically scrolling shooter video game, developed by Treasure. It was released in arcades on the ST-V platform in 1998 and subsequently ported to the Sega Saturn, with added cutscenes by noted animation studio Gonzo...
as well as Silhouette Mirage
Silhouette Mirage
Silhouette Mirage is a side-scrolling video game that was developed by Treasure. Initially published by ESP for the Sega Saturn on September 10, 1997 in Japan , the game was later ported to the PlayStation on July 23, 1998 in Japan. In 1999 Working Designs translated and published the game in...
, released for both the Saturn and the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
. Ikaruga was well received by critics.
Gameplay
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.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
Aspect ratio (image)
The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of the width of the image to its height, expressed as two numbers separated by a colon. That is, for an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this...
. 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
Sin and Punishment: Hoshi no Keishosha
Sin and Punishment, known in Japan as , is a rail shooter developed by Treasure and published by Nintendo. The game was released for the Nintendo 64 in Japan in 2000, and on the iQue Player in China in 2004....
for the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
.
Plot
Several years ago in the small island nation of Horai, the leader of the nation, Tenro Horai, discovered the Ubusunagami Okinokai—the Power of the Gods. This energy emanated from an object she dug up from deep underground and granted her unimaginable powers. Soon after, Tenro and her followers, who called themselves "The Divine Ones", began conquering nations one after another. "The Chosen People" carried out these conquests in "the name of peace".Meanwhile, a freedom federation called Tenkaku emerged to challenge Horai. Using fighter planes called Hitekkai, they fought with the hope of freeing the world from the grips of the Horai - but all their efforts were in vain. They were no match for the Horai and were eventually almost completely wiped out. Miraculously, however, one young man survived. His name was .
Shot down near a remote village called Ikaruga, inhabited by elderly people who had been exiled by the Horai's conquests, Shinra was dragged from the wreckage and nursed back to health. Shinra regained his health and pledged to defeat the Horai, and the villagers entrusted him with a fighter plane that they had built themselves, called the Ikaruga.
The Ikaruga was no ordinary plane, designed by former engineering genius with the help of and the village leaders. Hidden in a secret underground bunker and launched via the transportation device called the "Sword of Acala
Acala
In Vajrayana Buddhism, Ācala is the best known of the Five Wisdom Kings of the Womb Realm. He is also known as Ācalanātha, Āryācalanātha, Ācala-vidyā-rāja and . The Sanskrit term ācala means "immovable"; Ācala is also the name of the eighth of the ten completion stages of the Bodhisattva path...
", it is the first fighter built that integrates both energy polarities, and is capable of successfully switching between the two.
In a two-player game, Shinra is joined by , a mercenary of Horai defeated by Shinra. After Shinra spared her life, she decided to change sides and join the resistance. Her ship, Ginkei, is modified by the people of Ikaruga to give it identical capabilities to Shinra's ship.
Development and release
Ikaruga was developed by a core team of only three people at Treasure Co. Ltd led by lead game designer, BG graphic designer and music composer Hiroshi Iuchi, along with programmer Atsutomo Nakagawa, and illustrator and character/object designer, Yasushi Suzuki. G.revG.rev
G.rev is a Japanese arcade video game developer. The company was founded by former employees of Taito's arcade division who had worked on G-Darius and RayStorm, and is known primarily for their acclaimed arcade shoot 'em up games.-History:G.rev was founded with the mission of developing arcade...
, then an upstart company attempting to raise funds to develop Border Down
Border Down
is a horizontal scrolling shooter arcade game created by G.rev in 2003. It is a spiritual sequel to Metal Black, a favorite game of creator Hiroyuki Maruyama. As with most other Sega NAOMI titles, the game was later released on the Dreamcast in September 2003 in two incarnations: a normal edition,...
, provided several supporting team members on a contract basis. Development was long by arcade shooter standards, with over two years spent in development.
Ikaruga was the first game for which Treasure released an official Superplay video, the Ikaruga Appreciate DVD, before Konami released the Gradius V
Gradius V
Gradius V is a Japanese-developed shoot 'em up video game published by Konami for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console in 2004. Gradius V was largely developed under contract by the Treasure team responsible for Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga under supervision of Konami's internal development...
"Options" and "Perfect" DVDs. The print run for the Dreamcast version was a very limited 50,000 copies, distributed only in Japan. For this reason, the Dreamcast version is considered rare and fetches high prices on internet auction
Online auction business model
The online auction business model is one in which participants bid for products and services over the Internet. The functionality of buying and selling in an auction format is made possible through auction software which regulates the various processes involved.Several types of online auctions are...
s.
An Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
version was released on April 9, 2008, and included online multiplayer co-op, leaderboards, and two screen modes (horizontal/pillarboxed and vertical) supported.
Reception and legacy
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 85%. MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gives the Gamecube version a metascore of 85/100.
In its first week (2002/9/2–8), the Dreamcast version of Ikaruga debuted 5th on the Weekly Famitsū
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
Magazine Top 30 selling about 18,596 units. 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. 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.
ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack . is a video game-related website that showcases original entertainment for an audience of video game enthusiasts. Its content is also shown on GameTrailers and IGN...
voted Ikaruga the 2nd greatest 2D shooter of all time, while IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
voted it the 3rd greatest. ScrewAttack also declared it #9 on Top Ten GameCube Games, along with Gametrailers rating it #5 on Top Ten Most Difficult Games.http://www.gametrailers.com/video/top-ten-gt-countdown/38283
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.