Ikaruga -- old school greatness! (1 Viewer)

[Raphael]

Just got Ikaruga for the GCN, and I have to say that this old-school-shooter-with-a-twist is simply sublime. The gameplay is tough as nails but never unfair, the graphics are unnecessarily beautiful, and the sound takes you right back to the best of classic shoot-em-up games. In short, the game perfectly captures the magic and joy of classic arcade shooters, but with an added twist (the black-white system) that turns everything on its head and makes you rethink your entire gameplay style.

Everyone with a GCN should at least _rent_ this game to see if it is to their liking.

 

[EdR]

Yep. I'm loving it too. I'm totally down with the mix of puzzle, problem solving and frenetic shooter. This game definitely tests both your reflexes and your real-time pattern recognition/matching skills.

There's a depth in gameplay not common in shooters like this, and it's great to play one of these games, and not immediately feel like I have it figured out. I can see that I will enjoy many hours of playing this before I feel like I've come close to mastering it.

You're right about the graphics and sound, really beautiful and sharp. I have the game turned sideways to fill the screen, and even at 80" this game is detailed and sharp looking.

 

[Leo]

I too highly recommend this game. If you're any kind of shooter (aka SHMUP) fan, I say go ahead and buy this title. Hopefully this will prompt other companies to bring over more shooter titles to the US market. As it stands there are some great shooter titles only making it to the Japanese market for the PS2 (Psyvariar, DoDonPachi, XII Stag, (and the soon to be released) R-Type Final.

I purchased the original Japanese Dreamcast release of Ikaruga when there wasn't a thought of it making it to the US market. To this day I still play this title with my screen in TATE mode (vertical on a 17in Dell Monitor with VGA adapter to the Dreamcast).

 

[DaveGTP]

Agreed, I have played the DC version, great deep shooter, but definitely hard!

 

[Joe Szott]

Glad to see old school gameplay get the nod and modern treatment. Now if we can just get them to do a modern 2D Castlevania/Metroid on a console (not a handheld.) Could you even imagine the beauty of Castlevania in 1080i on an Xbox/PS2? Once you give up the 3D modeling, that frees up an awful lot of power for graphics/sound enhancements.

 

[BrianB]

Hmmm, have you seen Ikaruga, Joe? It /is/ 3D. Sure, the action is 2D, but the backgrounds etc are 3D.

 

[Scott_lb]

I'm going to have to pick this up. I love old shooters- one of my favorite games of all time is (not was) Thunderforce II for the Genesis.

I too would love a 2D Castlevania on a next gen system. When they reveal the new game at E3, I'm praying that it doesn't suck like the 3D version on the N64. I'm hoping for a Symphony of the Night-style game with getter graphics and sound.

 

[DaveGTP]

If they can make the new Castlevania like Devil May Cry 1 or Maximo, I am all for it. Although a 2D game on a modern console would be a sight to see.

 

[Marshall W. Carter]

I might well be wrong, but didn't Konami announce the first installment of the Castlevania series on the PS2 a while back? I'd have to think that it would almost have to be a 2D game, considering how ever 3D effort has turned out (mediocre to unreleased...).

As for Ikaruga, it's definitely on my "GAMES TO BUY" list. If Radiant Silvergun on the Saturn was any indicator, it should be a fine game.

 

[Sumir B]

It is a great game. I bought the dreacast version and was hooked. I constantly played each level until I could reach the 4th stage without continuing. I have yet to beat the game and I can't carry a chain halfway into level three but I can get an S++ rating on level 1!

 

[Romier S]

I might well be wrong, but didn't Konami announce the first installment of the Castlevania series on the PS2 a while back? I'd have to think that it would almost have to be a 2D game, considering how ever 3D effort has turned out

Castlevania has been rumored to appear on one of the next gen platforms for months but an official announcement came only a month and a half ago (end of Feb.) from Konami.

As far as the 2D/3D question, sources right now are pointing to a 2D/3D hybrid ala Klonoa or Pandemonium. I would love to see a straight hand drawn 2D Castlevania but I'm willing to keep my mind open especially considering that Koji Igarashi (Symphony of the Night, Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow) is heading up the project.

 

[Angel Pagan]

I went to EB yesterday during my lunch break to pick up BackYard Baseball for my kid and saw the employees playing Ikaruga. Just seeing how amazing this game is prompted an immediate purchase. I was looking forward to playing when I got home but realized that the disc was loose inside the case. Since EB was closed today due to Easter, I now have to wait til tomorrow to exchange and play. Can't wait.

 

[Raphael]

I was looking forward to playing when I got home but realized that the disc was loose inside the case.

You too? Maybe there's something about Ikaruga -- I've never had a GCN game be loose in a case before. But I couldn't wait, so I inspected the disc closely and only saw one or two very minor scratches. I took it home and played it anyways -- no problems so far! Besides, if it doesn't work, you can always bring it back and exchange it within 14 days (and anything that goes wrong will certainly go wrong within the first few weeks, I think).

 

[Angel Pagan]

Raphael, you're right about the 14 day return option but I didn't want the game to be scratched in case I'd want to trade it later on. I took it in and the store employee opened the sealed game and found a scratch that looked like it would cause problems. A replacement was issued without a problem. So, maybe tonight.