Black and White
Ikaruga is a dying breed. Its the spiriual sequel of the Saturn Radiant Silvergun and just like that game, it's an old-school shoot-em-up and it's rock hard! But while most shooters in the past see you shooting everything in sight, this one has a twist. Instead of just shooting everything that moves, this game is different. The main focus of it all is the two main polarities (colours): black and white. These are the colours for the enemies and your ship. With a tap of the B button you can change your ship from White to Black. This also changes the colour of your fire. Also, all of the enemies are either black or white. Now here is the clever bit. White enimies shoot white fire. Black shoot black fire. Now if you are White and get hit by Black, then you die. But if you are White and get hit by White, you absorb the power into a special meter you build up that unleashes big combo shots, and vice-versa. If you shoot a White while White then the enemy will drop white power for you to collect, which also adds to your bar. The whole polarity facsimile adds many twists and turns to gameplay. I found myself navigating around mazes of trapped doors, while blasting away enemies and quickly changing polarities to absorb as much enemy fire as I can to build up my energy release. This can prove to be rather challenging and cumbersome simultaneously. Keeping up with the polarities require quick wits at levels that were never dreamed upon in previous shooters. Each level increasingly relies on efficient changing of the colour of your ship, especially the end of level bosses. Speaking of the bosses, they are excellent with each increasing in complexity and difficulty be it the giant Mech Knight of Level 1 to the huge reactor core seen in one of the later levels.
Ikaruga offers various different modes of play. Practice mode allows you to jump to any stage you have completed with a single credit, on either Easy, Normal, or Hard difficulty. Conquest mode allows you to practice as above, but also allows you to choose between Demo, Slow, and Normal speeds. This is great for learning how to get the best possible score on the level. Once more, only levels completed with a single credit are available. There are many unlockable surprises (which I'm not going to spoil here), and an unlockable prototype mode, which only allows a certain number of bullets to be fired. On top of this is the ability to generate a code to register your high score on the Ikaruga Web Site for all to see. Lastly, Ikaruga features a brilliant co-operative multiplayer mode. A lot of shooters have included a co-op mode, but they've never worked as well as this one. For starters, the player ships are able to collide, which provides an interesting dynamic in later, more restrictive levels where clever thought of 'shielding' the other player is essential.
If you really want to get good at this game and go for the high scores, this WILL take ages to master. The Chain system of racking up points is what the game is all about. By shooting 3 of the same colour enemies you complete a chain. While you will initally think that keeping chains going throughout whole levels is impossible to do, with pratice you begin to work out enemy patterns, paths and your own stategies to chain through each level. It's all incredibly well designed and works excellently and is essential for high scores.
Warning! Warning! Warning! No Refuge!
2D scroller it may be, but everything is polygonal, textured to perfection and very smooth. Ikaruga use a typical overhead 2D view used in shooters, but also mixes in some nice 3D backdrops for some sweet looking transition effects in-between levels and has some spectacular 3D models for bosses to boot. The thing I like about shooters is the massive explosions and blasts I come to expect out of them, Ikaruga has them in spades. Destroying a boss after a tremendous battle is a satisfying experience as I witnessed the huge explosion with a cool slow motion effect mixed in to up the wow factor. Even though the default camera is the directly-ported vertical view, there are a few extra unique camera options such as a horizontal perspective, and a view designed for you to play the game with your television (or preferably a Monitor though VGA) tipped on its side. The enemies are varied enough, and some of the boss designs are just inspired. Explosions look lurvly, as does your supercharged beam shot which sprays about all over the screen. Only real crititism are the Menu's. While they are clear and simple they lack a little bit of style I feel. Still far from bad though, and do actually fit the game well. The art direction is fantastic though.
Ikaruga has one hell of a soundtrack. The music is largely orchestral brass which mixes into the action perfectly. For example, after the first section of each level, there is a change in the music. Sometime it simple ups the volume and the tempo, and other times a new tune altogether is blended in. It really fits the game well and it certainly gets you in the mood for the game right from the start. What truly speaks volumes about the music is its sustainability - even after dozens of replays, the music never becomes irritating or repetitive. The explosions and sound effects are clear and thunderous and are suitibly meaty too. There's also an almost indiscernible robot-like voice that announces the arrival of a boss or the completion of a chain. It sounds exactly like something you'd hear from an arcade machine. Due to the nature of the game the lack of DPLII surround sound support was to be expected, so I can't really mark the game down for it.
IKARUUUUUUGAAAA!!!!!
If it's not clear already, I love this game to bits. The gameplay is pure old school shooting with a bit of thought mixed in, it's rock hard, the music is fantastic, and it sure looks the part. My only real crititism of the game is that there are only 5 levels, and while those 5 levels are full to the brim with action, and while it is enough, I wish there were more. Admittedly, learning to chain them all will take forever, but it would have been nice to have seen a few more levels. So in conlusion, not an absolute MUST-buy for GC owners as is the nature of shooters, but I STRONGLY recommend it to anyone who is even the slightest interest in it.
, but they're out of stock and I have no idea when (or, indeed, if) they'll get more in 
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