Ikaruga is forever tied to two things in my mind: Dreamcast and Treasure. The first home console the game made it to was Sega’s Dreamcast, and the developer behind it was Treasure. Originally an arcade, the awesome SHMUP was ported to Dreamcast in 2001 and later saw a release on the Gamecube and even Xbox 360 via XBL Arcade. Now, publisher Nicalis takes this timeless gem from Japanese developer Treasure — the awesome crew behind such classics as Radiant Silvergun on the Saturn and Gunstar Heroes — and brings it to the Nintendo Switch.
This eShop-only release is not some kind of special anniversary or definitive edition, but it does give a whole new generation of gamers easy access to one of the best games of a very old and heradled genre. Interestingly, unlike the Gamecube version from fifteen years ago, no other version that I’m aware of includes the ‘slow motion’ training mode which let players practice each unlocked chapter. The Switch does however have the unique benefit that no other home version had, and that is to be able to play the game in vertical mode simply by rotating the Switch in that orientation. This does away with all side-bar graphics and fills the screen, as it was meant to be, with the still-impressive graphics and frantic action of Ikaruga.
For those unfamilar with the game, a quick glance at a screenshot or let’s play video would suffice, but I encourage you not to spoil it for yourself. While having only five stages, the challenge and beauty of Ikaruga (which is the name of your ship) is in mastering the polarities that your ship can toggle between. Enemies fire at you with white and black “bullets,” and your ship can absorb those bullets if it’s in the right polarity. With the press of a button, you can instantly toggle between the two and absorb like-colored bullets, while opposite colored bullets do a great deal of damage to your ship. As you absorb, your homing laser attack can become as much as ten times as powerful as a standard shot. It’s really that simple, on paper — but in practice, Treasure did a masterful job with its stage design and enemy type and placement requiring players to get increasingly more precise with their timing and movements.
Online leaderboards are supported as well as local two player mode, which requires a lot of communication and cooperation. The standard Arcade mode and the more difficult Prototype mode (reduces your ammo) are available to both single and two player modes. You can also play on a reduced difficulty mode, but this does keep you from posting to the leaderboard. Still, this is a tough game, and while it’s short, it’s quite challenging, so going with a lower difficulty may not be a bad idea.
Ten years since the last home console release and some fifteen since it was last on a Nintendo platform, it’s great to see this classic game available again. It’s a timeless blast from the past that’s easy to recommend to anyone looking for not only a piece of gaming history but a game that still thrills to this day.
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