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ikaruga
review entry |
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Hardcore
shooter fans rejoice! Treasure's arcade shooter, Ikaruga, has
finally arrived on the Nintendo GameCube! Originally released in
Japanese arcades, then ported to the Dreamcast, Treasure's shooter
is sure to please those not only shooter fans, but also those who
can pronounce the games name!
Ikaruga is all about giving back classic gameplay to next-gen gamers
seeking new games of the old. What I'm trying to say is that Ikaruga
supports all the clichés of past shooters, yet is a visual
masterpiece for 2d next-gen gaming.
Many shooters in the past lack a good story. I can safely say that
Ikaruga is similar, but a little different then past shooters.
Players of the game will not realize what the game's story is all
about by just playing the game, they need to actually do some
research (like read the instruction manual) to figure it out. This
is a trait that is reminiscent of old-school gaming, and I for one,
appreciate small details like that.
The story of Ikaruga goes a little like this, the story focuses on
the land
of Horai,
which used to be just a small island nation. Several years ago, one
of the most powerful men of the nation, Tenro Horai, discovered the
Ubusunagami Okinokai, otherwise known as the Power of the Gods. This
energy emanated from an object he dug up from deep within the earth
and gave him powers of unimaginable strength. Soon after, Tenro and
his followers, who called themselves the "Divine Ones,"
began to conquer other nations one by one. They saw themselves as
"The Chosen People" and carried out their conquests in,
"the name of peace".
Meanwhile, a freedom federation called Tenkaku emerged to challenge
the Horai. By using fighter planes called Hitekkai, they fought with
the hope of freeing the world from the Horai's conquests. But all
their efforts were in vain. They lost battle after battle and were
eventually wiped out completely. Miraculously, however, one young
man survived. His name was Shinra. Refusing to accept defeat, Shinra
set off again for Horai to wage another battle. This time he was
shot down. He crashed in a remote village called Ikaruga, inhabited
by a group of aged people who had been forced into exile there as by
Horai's conquests.
Kazamori, the village leader, and the other inhabitants pulled
Shinra from the wreckage of his plane and nursed him back to health.
Once he regained his strength, Shinra announced that he was
determined to continue battling Horai. The villagers entrusted him
with a fighter plane that they had built themselves called the
Ikaruga. The Ikaruga is the first fighter built that integrates two
energy polarities, black and white, and is capable of successfully
switching between the two. This is basically where the game starts.
To summarize how the game works I guess I'll have to use
descriptions from the game's website.
"One of the many ways that Ikaruga sets itself apart from other
arcade shooters is that both you and your enemy have use of two
polarities: you can both fire black bullets and white bullets, which
come from corresponding black ships and white ships. With this
scenario, you can do more than just dodge enemy fire - you can
actually absorb bullets that are the same color as your ship. In
fact, doing so adds power to your assault. This concept - the
ability to absorb enemy fire - separates Ikaruga from other
conventional shooting games and requires new levels of strategy and
ability. In this section, learn more about this idea and the game's
details.
As you absorb enemy bullets, the Energy Release Power Gauge gains
power - ten absorbed enemy bullets result in one increment of power.
Once you have accumulated enough energy in the Power Gauge, you can
fire an Energy Release, a massive homing laser 10 times more
powerful than a normal bullet. You can store enough power for up to
12 lasers at one time.
Activating the Energy Release at the right time can help players
sneak out of sticky situations that might be otherwise impossible to
escape. It can clear trouble out of the way... but only temporarily.
There are three ways to score points in Ikaruga: destroy enemy
ships, absorb enemy bullets and complete Chain Attacks."
New to the GameCube version of the game is a mode known as challenge
mode. Challenge mode allow players to compete against each other
simply by posting high scores on the Ikaruga website. After playing
the mode, the game gives players a small passcode to enter on the
net. Once the code is entered, their name is put in a top 100
ranking. This is much like the internet ranking modes found in most
Japanese games such as Dance Dance Revolution. The top players may
receive promotional items from Treasure or something it is not known
yet.
The game, along with the main arcade mode, also features a mode
known as conquest mode. The tale of Ikaruga is told throughout five
levels of shooter action, totaling 18 stages of play. In Conquest
Mode, you can begin the game at any level you've previously
unlocked, and start from any stage within that chapter. This allows
you to sharpen your Ikaruga skills within a particular chapter and,
more specifically, from within any stage in that chapter. Conquest
mode also features a demo mode, which allows you to watch a
demonstration on the best ways to beat each stage, and a mode known
as slow play mode. Slow play mode brings the speed of the game down
to allow players the ability to enhance their skills. If a second
player wants to join in the game, they simply have to hit start on
another plugged-in controller. Be warned though, each time the
second player joins in, they use up a game credit. Initially, you
only start each game with 3 credits, but after each hour of play,
you can earn another credit. Very helpful for those who actually
want to complete the game!
The graphics of Ikaruga are something special. They take shooting
games to the next level. Everything in Ikaruga is 3d. As each level
progresses, the background of the stage moves at a current with your
ship making the game feel very cinematic, for a shooter at least. As
you approach bosses, start, or end a stage, the level's camera pans
around to shift your ships location. It is very beautiful to see a
2d shooter move you around the world so fluently. Aside from these
backgrounds, each ship in the game is beautifully designed as is the
rest of the games art. The only noticeable downside I've seen with
the games graphics deals with the boss explosions. After creaming a
boss, a multitude of explosive waves fill the screen, much like
Treasures previous effort Bangai-O! The only problem I have with
this is that the game starts to slowdown considerably. It isn't too
bad, in fact, I think Treasure intentionally put it their. It
doesn't detract from the gameplay, and that is a good thing.
The original arcade version of Ikaruga ran at a different resolution
than the console versions. To make up for this, Treasure has
implemented three screens modes to play as. The first 2 scale the
game down a bit to fit in a normal TV. Bar bars fill the unused
space. The third option rotates the screen horizontally, and if
players turn their tvs 90 degrees counter-clockwise, then they can
play the game as if it were in the arcade. I wouldn't recommend the
third option though, it could possibly damage your TV!
Sound in Ikaruga is another thing I like about the game. The music
is ambient and flows well with the game. Each enemy makes small
robotic clicks and whirs, and gun shots can be heard throughout the
game. It isn't anything too fantastic, but it works well with the
game and is good for the games genre.
All in all, after playing Ikaruga for the Nintendo GameCube, I have
to say, this is one of the most addictive shooters ever made. Even
if you aren't a big fan of shooters, one play through of this game
and you will want to come back for more. Sure the game only contains
5 levels, but the difficulty of the game, the finesse, and
beautifully crafted challenges will keep players playing for months,
if not years. Ikaruga, if you haven't already gotten it for the Sega
Dreamcast, is a must have for your GameCube’s library.
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James F. - Blinky's
"R" Us |
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