Ikaruga
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| Ikaruga | |
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| Developer(s) | Treasure, G.rev |
| Publisher(s) |  SEGA (Arcade) ESP (DC)   Atari (GC) |
| Designer(s) | Hiroshi Iuchi, Atsutomo Nakagawa |
| Release date(s) | December 20, 2001 (Arcade) September 5, 2002 (DC) January 16, 2003 (GC) April 15, 2003 (GC) May 23, 2003 (GC) |
| Genre(s) | Scrolling shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, 2 player Co-op |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Dreamcast, GameCube |
| Input | 8-way Joystick, 2 Buttons |
| Arcade cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system(s) | Sega NAOMI |
| Arcade display | Raster (Vertical) |
Ikaruga (斑鳩? lit. Spotted Dove) is a vertically scrolling shooter video game developed by a four man team led by lead game designer, BG graphic designer and music composer Hiroshi Iuchi of Treasure Co. Ltd. It was released in the arcades in 2001 on Sega's NAOMI system and subsequently ported to Dreamcast in Japan and then worldwide to the Nintendo GameCube. It is a spiritual sequel to Radiant Silvergun, and the introduction says it is "Project RS2" (usually interpreted as "Project Radiant Silvergun 2").
The gameplay consists of shooting enemies who come in one of two polarities: either black(/red) or white(/blue). The player's ship can be either polarity, and can be switched at will. The first character in the title (which is normally pronounced in its Japonic reading as /fu/ or /madara/, or its Sinitic reading as /han/) means spotted or variegated, which can be interpreted as a metaphoric reference to this polarity change. This yin-yang gameplay mechanic was previously explored in another Treasure game for the Sega Saturn and PlayStation called Silhouette Mirage.
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[edit] Storyline
"Amid the turmoil of battle, there may be seeming disorder and yet no real disorder at all..." -Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Several years ago in the small island nation of Horai, one of the most powerful men of the nation, Tenro Horai, discovered the Ubusunagami Okinokai—the Power of the Gods. This energy emanated from an object he dug up from deep underground and granted him unimaginable powers. Soon after, Tenro and his 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.
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 with the help of Kazamori 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.
[edit] Gameplay
In most scrolling shooters, any enemy fire will damage or destroy your ship on contact, but in Ikaruga only bullets of an opposite polarity (i.e. a black bullet hitting a white ship and vice versa) can kill the player. If the player is hit by a bullet of the same color, that bullet is absorbed and stored; if enough energy is stored, homing projectiles can be released by the player, the number determined by the energy stored up to a maximum of 12. Correspondingly, if a player shoots an enemy of an opposing polarity, the enemy will take double damage. Therein lies much of Ikaruga's challenge, particularly during boss encounters where they may fire an intertwining mesh of bullets of opposing polarities.
Adding an extra layer of gameplay, skillful 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. This form of point scoring is similar to the one used in Radiant Silvergun, but in that game enemies are red, blue and yellow. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the entirely original "bullet eater" strategy, wherein the player doesn't shoot down a single enemy, including bosses, which retreat after a set period (usually 100 seconds).
Despite the fact that only 4 individuals are responsible for its creation (an uncommonly small team at this point in game development), Ikaruga features full three-dimensional landscapes and a strong soundtrack. It also has a 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 2-player simultaneous mode (with player two piloting the Ginkei fighter plane), 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 previously did designs for Treasure's Tsumi to Batsu or, Sin and Punishment for the Nintendo 64).
[edit] Reception and criticism
In its first week (2002/9/2–8), the Dreamcast version of Ikaruga debuted 5th on the Weekly Famitsu Magazine Top 30. It sold about 18,596 units. (Top game was Shin Sangoku Musou Moushouden "Dynasty Warriors" at 140,053 units that week.) 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. (Top game that week was Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire at 105,173 units) By the next week, it dropped off the chart.
The unimpressive Japanese sales numbers probably have more to do with the game's genre, which generally garners a rather small (albeit devoted) following, than the quality of the game itself. Gamerankings.com places the average review score for Ikaruga at 86%, with the majority of the reviews falling in the 90%s.
Ikaruga is a reasonably difficult game on its Easy gameplay level, but can become exceedingly frustrating on Normal and Hard modes (the difference being enemies erupt in a barrage of suicide bullets when shot down on the higher difficulty settings), despite the player's ship's rather forgiving collision detection. Some have criticized it as requiring rote memorization over skillful play, because all of the enemies and chains appear exactly in the same place, with a few exceptions. Still others prefer to recognize it as a work of art in videogame form: Simple in design, brilliant in execution, easy to pick up, yet difficult to master.
Additionally, the game does not contain any story-driven cinematics, despite the unusually imaginative character designs and settings.
[edit] Trivia
- Ikaruga (斑鳩町; -cho) is also the name of a town located in Ikoma District, Nara, Japan. The Horyu-ji, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is located there.
- The two kanji used for Ikaruga independently mean "Spotted" or "Marked" and "Pigeon" or "Dove".
- The name of aircraft in Japanese version are actually birds. The Japanese Grosbeak is a bird often known as Ikaru, and is both black and white, much like the ship in the game. The Lady Amherst's Pheasant, known as the Ginkei and is native to China and Tibet is the basis of the second player craft.
- Ikaruga is the first game for which the company (Treasure) has released an official Speed Run/Superplay video, the Ikaruga Appreciate DVD, before Konami released the Gradius V "Options" and "Perfect" DVDs.
- The final boss that appears in Ikaruga, a pulsing red diamond, is virtually identical to the final boss that appears in Radiant Silvergun.
- Part of the much-appreciated artistry of the game is the subtle echoing of a spiritual theme, although many dismiss this idea. Like its predecessor, Radiant Silvergun, director Hiroshi Iuchi intended this work to carry a heavier meaning. The chapter names of "Ideal", "Trial", "Faith", "Reality", and "Metempsychosis" suggest humanity's struggle towards Enlightenment, with the aura-enveloped Ikaruga craft symbolizing the human soul. References to Buddhism abound, such as the aforementioned "Sword of Acala" and "The Stone-like" (probably a mistranslation of The Immovable One. In enhancement of the theme of Polarity are the pilots of the player craft: The Ikaruga piloted by Shinra, embodying Masculinity, and the Ginkei piloted by Kagari, embodying Femininity. See Yin-Yang.
- The Dreamcast GD-ROM contains several Ikaruga and Radiant Silvergun "wallpapers" that can be accessed from a PC CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
- The North American box cover for the Gamecube version contains the infamous IGN quote, "Our frothing demand for this game increases." which has become synonymous for asinine game journalism on prominent internet discussion groups.
[edit] Credits
- Hiroshi Iuchi (Director, BG Graphic Design, Music)
- Atsutomo Nakagawa (Co-Director, Main Programmer)
- Yasushi Suzuki (Character, Object Design)
- Satoshi Murata (Sound Effect, BGM Data Edit)
- Masato Maegawa (Executive Producer)
[edit] See also
- Treasure Co. Ltd, The developer of Ikaruga.
- Radiant Silvergun, The "prequel" to Ikaruga.
[edit] External links
- Unofficial websites
- Ikaruga fanpage run by a couple of the world's top players - Scoreboards, discussion, videos and more.
- video showing ambidextrous play of the 3rd Chapter at Google Video
- Greng's Site with unique articles on Ikaruga
- Ikaruga Review by Total Gamer Zone
- General resources
