Ikaruga

This article is about the video game. For the town of the same name, see Ikaruga, Nara.

Ikaruga
Ikaruga Japanese Dreamcast box art
Developer(s)	Treasure G.rev
Publisher(s)	JP/NA/PAL: Atari
Director(s)	Hiroshi Iuchi
Producer(s)	Masato Maegawa
Designer(s)	Yasushi Suzuki
Programmer(s)	Atsutomo Nakagawa
Composer(s)	Hiroshi Iuchi
Platforms	Arcade, Dreamcast, GameCube, Xbox Live Arcade, Android, Windows
Release date(s)	December 20, 2001 Arcade (NESiCAxLive) Dreamcast GameCube Xbox Live Arcade Android Microsoft Windows
Genre(s)	Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Cabinet	Upright
Arcade system	Sega NAOMI
Display	Raster (Vertical)

Ikaruga (斑鳩, Ikaruga, lit. Japanese grosbeak) is a vertical manic shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Treasure. It was originally released in Japanese arcades in 2001 on the Sega NAOMI. Subsequently, it was released on the Dreamcast in Japan, and then worldwide on the Nintendo GameCube. An enhanced port was released on Xbox Live Arcade in 2008 and later ported to Microsoft Windows in 2014. Ikaruga is the spiritual sequel to Radiant Silvergun.

The gameplay consists of shooting enemies who come in one of two polarities: black or white (sometimes called red or blue). The player can alter their ship between either polarity at will. When the player ship is black, it may absorb black bullets, but it takes longer to shoot down black ships (vice versa for white). 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 and is considered one of the best shoot 'em up games of all time.

Gameplay

Ikaruga's polarity system allows the player to absorb enemy fire.

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.

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.

Characters and ships

Many of the ships are named after bird species. Ikaruga (斑鳩, イカルガ), the titular ship which is controlled by player one, is named for the Japanese grosbeak. Ikaruga is often mistranslated to English as mottled dove (a literal reading of the two separate kanji) or as turtledove (by reading the kanji as traditional Chinese).

The name of player two's ship, Ginkei (銀鶏, ギンケイ), refers to the Lady Amherst's pheasant.

Characters

• Shinra (森羅), the protagonist (pilot of Ikaruga)
• Kagari (篝), a mercenary (pilot of Ginkei)
• Amanai (天内)
• Shinkai (新海)
• Horai Tenro (鳳来 天楼)
• Kazamori (風守)
• Asami (浅見)
• Kira (鬼羅)

Enemy craft:

• Utatsugumi (歌鶇) — song thrush
• Toratsugumi (虎鶇) — scaly thrush
• Renjaku (連雀) — Japanese waxwing
• Torafuzuku (虎斑木菟) — long-eared owl
• Ajisashi (鯵刺) — common tern
• Isuka (交喙) — red crossbill
• Misosazai (鷦鷯) — Eurasian wren
• Toki (朱鷺) — crested ibis
• Shigi (鷸) — sandpiper
• Chōgenbō (長元坊, チョウゲンボウ) — Eurasian kestrel
• Shirasagi (白鷺) — egret, a rendering of this ship appears in the game's appendix gallery, although not used in the final game.

Chapter bosses:

• Chapter 1: Eboshidori (烏帽子鳥) — Knysna turaco
• Chapter 2: Buppōsō (仏法僧) — dollarbird
• Chapter 3: Uzura (鶉) — Japanese quail
• Chapter 4: Misago (鶚) — osprey
• Final chapter: Tageri (田鳧, タゲリ) — northern lapwing

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 Shinra (森羅).

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 Amanai (天内) with the help of Kazamori (風守) 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 Kagari (篝), 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.rev, 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 in 2004. 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 auctions.

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. A version for Taito's NESiCAxLive arcade digital distribution system was released on August 8, 2013 which included a 3-button control mode an supported 3 different game modes (arcade, prototype, chapter select). In October 2013, Treasure placed the title on the Steam Greenlight process to bring the game (based on the Xbox 360 version) to Microsoft Windows, with hopes to bring their other titles to the platform later.

Reception and legacy

Reception
Review scores Publication Score GC PC Xbox 360 CVG N/A N/A 90/100 Eurogamer 80/100 N/A 80/100 IGN 83/100 N/A 90/100 PC Gamer (US) N/A 92/100 N/A Metro (UK) N/A 9/10 N/A Aggregate scores GameRankings 85.54% 91% 87.45% Metacritic 85/100 84/100 87/100

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%. Metacritic gives the Gamecube version a metascore of 85/100.

On release, Weekly Famitsu magazine scored the Dreamcast version of Ikaruga a 36 out of 40, 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". 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.[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.

External links

• Official websites for Arcade, Dreamcast, and NESiCAxLive versions (Japanese)
• Taito's NESiCAxLive page
• Ikaruga at MobyGames
• Ikaruga at the Killer List of Videogames