A beautiful shmup game from back in the day, simple and challenging, crazy bosses, wonderful designs. This game has always looked so stunning if only because of the wild red and white bullet patterns, but the enemy and boss designs were quintessential cyberpunk from a time when that genre hadn't really been milked to death.

As far as shooters go the gameplay is fun, switching between the two energy types keeps you thinking and adds a layer of complexity to an already challenging genre that makes it stand out as one-of-a-kind and hasn't been replicated since.

This is one of those games where I totally get the hype around it, it's absolutely a well-crafted game with lots of great design ideas, but *I* personally just cannot vibe with this game and enjoy it much. It's a difficult juggling-act of a game and the scoring system leaves little room for error or experimentation. There aren't really many setpieces in this game that I feel give this series a strong identity.

Also this version in particular (the Nintendo Switch port by Nicalis) has this quirk where if you turn on continues, you cannot register high scores, even if you do not use continues at all. You have to turn them off in the options meny before starting a run. The most logical way to handle the relationship between high scores and continues is to accept the score the player gets on their 1st credit while disregarding all subsequent credits' scores on the same run. The GameCube version at least has continues always on and registers your score before handing you the continue screen, so that your choice to continue (e.g. for practice or just to explore the game) doesn't invalidate that sick new high score you just got.

It's a testament to the quality and timelessness of "Ikaruga" that I remember reading a review of it for the GameCube at my grandmother's place roughly twenty years ago. Even then it was a port from a generation prior. While now mulitple generations in the future and it's still being released. It was like a swansong for a then dead genre. Shmup's were a juggernaut in the arcade days, but as arcades began dying in the west as the new millennium came around, it took a few genres with them. There are still some released from time to time, but their heyday have long since passed. "Ikaruga" is just facinating to me. One I keep coming back to over the years, because I feel the history for the genre in it. It's also the type of game I gravitate towards, with razor tight mechanics and gameplay that it takes all your being to be able to overcome. The core game is only a few stages long, but the brutality of the developers and the artistry by how they craft the game and implement the polarity system is almost otherworldly. It could take someone a lifetime to master. I also find the bizarrely convoluted narrative placement between stages so strangely appealing. The game is really a marvel to behold. Like a dinosaur fossil, it'll never be lost entirely to history and will live on thru the ages.

The phrase, "I wanted to like this game but..." is really dumb. Why do you "want" to like it? You can like it or not like it. Ikaruga is that kind of game for me though. I love the art, I love the gameplay. It's a tough game but doesn't feel unfair. It's a game I'll pick up for a day with the mindset of, "I'm going to get into this game and get good," and then I stop 30 minutes later and don't touch it again for a month and I repeat the cycle.

Not sure what all that means, but I think it's a pretty cool game that maybe just misses me in some way. Play Ikaruga.

I finished the game it's awesome my thoughts down below remain

Ikaruga, a game though I am not quite finished with yet, I find so unbelievably fascinating. At this point in time, I have only completed chapters 1 and 2, and I'm currently going through hell and back to beat chapter 3. My thoughts are most definitely going to change as I progress further, thus I'd like to consider this a "snapshot" of my thoughts with where I'm currently at.

In my eyes, I believe it's more or less a game about what it means to be human and/or the sheer determination of being human. Upon starting the game and entering arcade mode, you're placed right into the action. After getting your ass handed to you a couple of times and learning the mechanics, it's at that point whether you've passed the developer's subtle test. You can either forge on, oblivious to what your true goal is other than “beat the level,” or you can just quit. The game's atmosphere is so powerful to the point where you either quit or you can press onwards with nothing more than the occasional quote to motivate you further. That I find quite beautiful. A game which keeps you playing utilizing the player's determination.

Largely unrelated to the rest of my thoughts; I believe part of the reason I am so gone on with this game is because I think it motivates the player in a manner loosely similar to Dark Souls (I love that game).

Moving on, many aspects of this game are truly timeless and aren't really lost between platforms, which is just incredible. Gameplay being a core part of this, the controls and mechanics are so unique and still hold up well 22 years after its release on arcade. Atmosphere and graphics are also another important avenue which stands the test of time. Though the graphics aren't necessarily heavily stylized and, if anything, are more “realistic” they still hold up surprisingly well charmingly. This in addition to the music sets quite the tone for the game in my eyes. Above all else, I personally think the translation team did an excellent job moving this overseas. Though I cannot possibly fathom the initial weight of the poetry, it still carries quite a heavy and impactful message when moving in between chapters and whatever segments of the game. Thanks localization team!

I can definitely see in some sense how this game has inspired another shmup I've played (ZeroRanger) and I cannot wait to explore more of the shmup genre for this reason.

The music OH MY GOD it's so fucking good man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAn6XxsDDTI

Ikaruga is probably the single most stylish shmup ever created. This game caused me to fall in love with Yasushi Suzuki's art and probably shaped my own artstyle irreversably with it's cold and mechanical way of expressing itself.

What pains me most is that I never even managed to finish this game on hard. And probably never will, because every single time I zone out some inverse colored projectile rams at me to be my doom.

Oh also this is free on Xbox Store for some reason. Thanks Treasure.

Garten of peakpeak was too hard, but thank god, this one is way easier

No seriously, this game is really solid, and honestly succeed at what he attended to do: this is a REALLY tough as nail shoot and up, working on the concept of changing color to avoid damage from certain colored bullet, and this concept...is great ! It forces you to keep attention on what is going on in the game, it make the action super ectic, it allow the level design to be really creative...and the game...is just a blast, notably due to this great concept (and of course, the great visual and soundtrack compliment the awesome gameplay)

Not a lot to say: just a very good shoots and up, and the only reason why it doesnt get more stars...is just because im not that much of a shoots and up person, but otherwise, if you are into ultra hard and endearing japanese shoots and up, GO PLAY IT

There are three answers to the question, "What makes good hard games fun?" IMO. First of all, they are reliable, and second is they're giving the player some advantages and making the game "fair" and the last one is getting the consequences of mini decisions you made (of course, I'm not including things like challenges, etc.). And Ikaruga IS reliable. Your main concern is not some input delay or thinking about if you're hitting the boss or not; the gameplay is responsive (and juicy!). The game gives you advantages like the center of the player is a hitbox etc., and the PC version has a continue option, but this is still an arcade game, so it may frustrate you on some occasions. And, of course, the thing that makes this game great as it is: "color-changing" mechanic. It's so simple, yet it's so deep, and it does make you those mini decisions and get their consequences like, "yes you're immune to the blue projectiles but is it worth it to spend your limited boss time?". The ost is pretty good, the sounds are decent, game looks nice and the story is surprisingly fun to read!

L'ultime shoot'em up, un gameplay arcade jouissif, très dur voir impossible à maitriser, mais le moindre progrès est un accomplissement énorme. La possibilité de jouer avec vies infinies permet de s'amuser en complétant la campagne avec le moins de morts possible afin que n'importe qui puisse au moins voir ce que le jeu a à offrir. L'aventure dure à peine quelques dizaines de minutes, mais c'est la quête de maitrise du jeu, son ost superbe et ses boss ultra difficiles qui vous pousse à relancer et qui font de ce jeu un chef d'oeuvre au sein de son genre.