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ikaruga
review entry |
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It's not often that you see a traditional shooter get this much attention. Sad as it is to the devoted fans of the genre, but shooters are dwindling in number, and the public is losing interest. Recent releases have sold miserably and fewer companies are willing to bring their games stateside. Despite this, Ikaruga has been gathering a lot of hype in the hardcore gaming community, and with good reason.
Living up to a Legacy
First and foremost the game is from Treasure, who, as I'm sure those of you reading this know, have quite the devoted cult. The second reason is that the game is the follow-up (or pseudo-sequel) to Radiant Silvergun, arguably one of the primary games responsible for building Treasure's reputation. Released in 1998 in arcades and on the aging Sega Saturn, RS was Treasure's first shooter, and first arcade game. The game garnered huge critical praise, and became widely hailed as the greatest shooter ever made. In 2000, Treasure divulged that they were working on Project RS-2, and the anticipation began building. Treasure, who has to this day never made a sequel (having to do sequels was one of the reasons why the company left Konami to begin with), would later reveal that the game was not a true sequel, but more of a deliberate follow-up to RS, and would in fact feature a whole new set of gameplay mechanics. If nothing else this was of note because the company had not made another arcade shooter since Radiant (they did produce a couple of console-exclusive shooters, but the Radiant team didn't work on these). Still, official or not, fans were anticipating a game to live up to Radiant's massive reputation, and those are some big shoes to fill. Is Ikaruga up to the task?
It would be unfair to say that Ikaruga was made by the Radiant Silvergun team. While all the members of the Ikaruga team did work on Radiant in some capacity, Ikaruga's team is a scant 3 people. Hiroshi Iuchi, one of Treasure's original members served as Radiant's writer, director, and background artist. This time he has taken on the additional task of composing all of the game's music as well. Quite alot for one man to handle, but fortunately Iuchi-san seems more than competent in all of these fields as the game excels in direction, art, and music. Atsumoto Nakagawa, one of the primary minds responsible for Sin and Punishment, returns to co-direct, and code, and E-Suzuki (also known as Yasushi Suzuki), one of the more minor artists in RS, and the main character artist for Sin and Punishment, gets his chance to shine as the game's sole character and enemy/object designer. That's about the entirety of Ikaruga's team. Despite the low budget, Ikaruga is seamless and really creates a stunning overall package that rivals games from companies 10 times their size.
So how do you follow up a game that has been elevated to near legendary status by the critical press? Do you try to refine what's there and try to take it further? Do you try to out-Radiant Radiant? Or do you go out and do something completely different in the hopes of recapturing the actual spirit of innovation that made Radiant stand out so much on the first place? Treasure has opted for the latter route, and I, for one, couldn't be happier. We already have a Radiant Silvergun. It's time for something new.
Seeing in Black and White
And new it is. Ikaruga introduces a new gameplay gimmick the likes of which the genre has not seen before. More than a simple shield or reflect gimmick, Treasure introduces a color based system somewhat similar to their earlier run and gun effort Silhouette mirage. All the enemies and fire in the game are either black or white. Your ship has the unique ability to change between black and white at any time. Attacks of the same color as your ship will allow you to charge up a super-laser which can get you out of a tight spot and deal some nice damage (It will NOT clear the screen like a megabomb however). Attacks of the opposite color will result in instant death. While you can kill enemies of like or opposite color, you will deal double the damge to enemies of opposite color. And that's about it. No power-ups, no alternate weapons, no leveling up.
This is quite the opposite of Radiant where you were given a full arsenal right from the get-go. Now you're flying with next to nothing... and that's a great feeling. Because there's no leveling up or multiple weapons, Ikaruga feels perfectly balanced. The learning curve is steady, and there's no frustration of being ill-equipped or scurrying for power-ups. Everything is left to the action, and the action is steady and relentless.
Ikaruga's black/white mechanic is much more than a gimmick. It really becomes the game. This is not like a reflect gimmick or the Radiant sword. The device is not limited. As the game gets harder bullet dodging takes a back seat to well-timed color changes. The game is less about waving in and out of bullets as much as razor sharp timing and accuracy. Scoring chains takes even greater precision. You get bonuses for destroying chains of consecutive enemies of like color. The game is carefully laid out with this in mind and scoring big chains takes some serious skill.
Of course by the time you reach level 4 chains will be the last thing on your mind. This game is freakin' hard. Treasure is known for hard games, but this one sets new standards in pain (surpassed only by Alien Soldier). The game employs some really ingenious firing patterns that take full advantage of the game's mechanisms. The device is exploited the fullest extent possible. I was truly impressed with the kinds of attacks the designer was able to come up with and it kept the game varied and challenging throughout. It's difficult to describe firing patterns and such, but believe me, you won't be disappointed. The black/white mechanic adds a whole new layer, and it's taken as far as it can go.
One of the things that really struck me was how this game seemed to be made as much to silence critics as to please fans. Ikaruga really addresses a lot of the core complaints about RS. First off, the game is no longer mostly bosses. The game follows a more traditional structure of a long stage followed by a boss. This may disappoint some as Treasure's bosses are usually the best parts of their games, but in this case its a good thing, as the designer has taken the opportunity to implement some truly ingenious level design, and the flow of the game is dramatically better as a result. As I mentioned before the balance issue has been addressed by completely removing any leveling system, and the challenge is much more consistent. Bosses no longer give bonuses based on parts destroyed anymore, but rather based on how fast you destroy them making them alot more fun on repeated plays, and more enjoyable to master.
A Feast for the Senses
The Naomi/Dreamcast hardware has already proven that it can turn out some attractive shooters. Games like Zero Gunner 2, Gigawing 2 and Cannon Spike are some of the nicest looking the genre has seen. None of them can touch Ikaruga's visuals. Not even close. The graphics in this game are unrivaled in the shoot-em-up world, both in terms of design and execution. While the visual upgrades on the GameCube are minimal it's hard not to marvel at the game's splendor.
Ikaruga's visual tone and design is departure from the usual Treasure fare. Gone are the cartoony character designs from the likes of HAN or Treasure's other staple character designers. As I mentioned before E-Suzuki gets his chance in the spotlight now. Now that he actually gets to do more than a few enemy designs its become apparent just how talented this guy really is. Ikaruga's character art and enemy design is both breathtaking distinctive and far surpasses his previous work in Sin and Punishment. I have a feeling big things are in store for this guy, as he holds his own with the best of them. An unlockable art gallery in the game gives you more goodness to drool over. The game's style is a lot more developed and a lot darker and gloomier than the typical Treasure fare, and along those lines it's a lot more dramatic and impactful. Background designs, done once again by Hiroshi Iuchi, are much more developed than those in Radiant, or in fact any of the games Treasure has done thus far. The detail is incredible, and you can really see the kind of vertigo, and the sense of traveling that Iuchi was going for with Radiant, but this time it has been perfectly realized. Texture detail is staggering, and yet amazingly the game has virtually non-existent loading times. The game's visuals hold up remarkably well, perhaps because nothing else in its genre can come close.
The music is even more of a departure for Treasure, who have almost always used upbeat music reminiscent of classic 80s games thanks to staple composers Nazo2 Suzuki and Norio Hanzawa. For Ikaruga, Iuchi-san has taken it upon himself to compose the game's music, and he has gone for a something very different. The game's music has a very cinematic feel to it. It's an orchestral-sounding gloomy score with techno elements to it. The music has even been coordinated to the events in the game. The music is very distinct and very memorable, and easily one of my favorite Treasure soundtracks thus far. My one complaint is that the synth quality could be better, and the game could have benefited from having the music redbooked, but this may have interfered with the loading in the game, which I believe is asynchronous (keeping loading times extremely short).
The Bottom Line
When all the dust has settled over Ikaruga, the question remains: Where does this game really stand amongst its peers? I wouldn't make the claim that Ikaruga is the best shooter ever. I will say that what Ikaruga does, no game has done better, and it is easily one of the most impressive games I've played on the Dreamcast and also one of the most enjoyable. Ikaruga has in no way replaced Radiant Silvergun (or Mars Matrix or Dodonpachi for that matter). I will still play them as much as ever. What it has done is once again proven that there is new life in the shooter genre, and there are new directions to be explored and it has shown us how when a simple idea lives up to 100% of its potential it really is something grand. The more I play this game the more addicted I become, and I'm sure I'll play it for years to come. The game is perfectly executed, challenging, and unique. It's was perfect sendoff for the DC, and now on the GameCube it's an affirmation that old school sensibilities and Treasure's trademark innovative gameplay have a home here, and it's the proof that Treasure still has that magic. Don't miss your chance at Ikaruga.
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Travis Fahs -
GameCubicle Reader |
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