If you have a Dreamcast, you MUST play this...

[Guest Downhome]

I just "obtained" this game (ok, I downloaded it, burned it to a cd, and it self boots now just like the real version), and I am blown away, period. It is simply, without a doubt, one of the greatest playing, and greatest LOOKING shooter games, of all time. Well, it's actually one of the best looking games of any genre of all time, it's that f*cking awesome.

 

If you have ever played Galaga, then you know the basic set up. Think of that game, on speed and with the most beautiful graphics you could imagine, wow, just wow. The Dreamcast is NOT dead, it's just hidden away in a corner...

 

...wow, just wow...

 

Sincerely,

...Downhome...

[Guest Downhome]

By the way, here is an excert from this games FAQ over at www.GAMEFAQs.com...

 

"The premise of Ikaruga is that your ship has two sides that can be

changed at any time. This is key to survival in the game. Let's go

over the basics:

 

There are two sides of your ship. A WHITE SIDE and a BLACK SIDE. By

default, you can switch sides with the "B" button on your controller.

 

Your WHITE side will fire a WHITE shot, and your BLACK side will fire a

BLACK shot. The default shot button is the "A" button on your

controller. If you tap the "A" button you will fire a single shot, if

you hold down the "A" button, you will get an automatic double shot.

 

There are two different colored enemies in the game as well, WHITE

enemies and BLACK enemies.

 

White enemies shoot WHITE projectiles and BLACK enemies shoot BLACK

projectiles.

 

Now that we have the basics under control, let's go over the way the

sides of your ship work:

 

In the game, if your ship is on the WHITE side, and a WHITE enemy

shoots WHITE bullets or fires a WHITE laser at you, your ship's WHITE

shield will absorb the shots and put it in your POWER GAUGE (the meter

on the lower left-hand side of the screen). Conversely, if your ship

is on the BLACK side, and a BLACK enemy shoots BLACK bullets or fires a

BLACK laser at you, your ship's BLACK shield will absorb the shots and

put it in your POWER GAUGE.

 

As long as there is at least one box filled in the POWER GAUGE, you can

fire a powerful HOMING LASER. The homing laser can be anywhere from

one to twelve lasers that will lock on to enemies. For every box on

the POWER GAUGE that is filled with absorbed energy, you can fire one

homing laser. Note that the gauge is universal, there is no WHITE

gauge or BLACK gauge, it's all the same gauge. However, when you fire

the homing laser (set up as either A+B buttons together, the "R"

trigger, or the "C" button on some controllers), the side of your ship

will determine the color of your homing laser.

 

The bar below your score (usually has a small orange/red bar on it) is

the enemy strength gauge. This shows how much damage the enemy will

take. The bar starts out at a specific color (with bosses having

multiple colored gauges). When the bar is all RED, the enemy or boss

is defeated.

 

YOU WILL LOSE A LIFE WHEN:

 

A BLACK projectile hits your WHITE ship.

A WHITE projectile hits your BLACK ship.

You run into any object, including enemies."

 

...I know many of you wont believe me, but this white/black thing is one of the most addictive aspects of a video game I have ever played. Don't knock this to the side thinking this is just a shooter, it's very, very interesting, beautiful, and fun as all hell.

[Guest TheArchiteck]

Is this an import?

[Guest Karnage]

The DC version is an import but it will be on GameCube.

[Guest EricMM]

I saw this or a game like it at Pandoras Cube (An Import Shop for those who don't know it, sells all things Japanese)

 

The noteworthy thing about the game I saw is that it's TOTALLY necessary to use the shield, since the enemies flood the screen with shots. Dodging all of them isn't an option.

[Guest Downhome]

Yes, it's an import for the DC and yes it is coming to the GameCube...

 

...as an import.

 

It isn't confirmed that it's coming to the USA yet on GC. I usually don't agree with this sort of thing, but if you have a DC just burn it, you will not be dissapointed. Even if you don't know how to play imports, if you burn it, all you do is put the disk in and it works like a normal game!

[Guest AnnieEclectic]

Eric: Shield? there is no shield. you absorb the shots if your ship is the same color as the shots, and you can switch between the two colors...

 

okay, here's my instructions.

 

1) Get Ikaruga

 

2) If you don't already, get a VGA adapter.

 

3) Hook up DC to -sideways turned- Monitor

 

4) Prepare to be blown away.

 

 

You play Ikaruga and get blown away by the visuals. Then you do this and you get -blown away again-. It's night and day.

 

-Annie