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ikaruga
review entry |
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Ikaruga
is an old school side-scrolling shooter that’s an absolute blast
to play. It takes you back to the day when kids would blow off their
parent’s money playing shooters in smoke-filled, grungy, sweaty
arcades. A lot of us old school gamers have moaned and complained
about the golden ages of side-scrolling games. We’ve been
nostalgic for the days when games were challenging and unrelenting
with no sign of mercy when we were on our last leg. Ikaruga delivers
in a big way and really steps up to fill the void for an old school
game that we’ve been nostalgic for.
The basic gameplay for Ikaruga is fairy easy to grasp. You basically
maneuver your ship around the levels and blast everything in sight,
but there’s a twist. The enemy fire is either black or white, and
you have to change your ship’s polarity/color accordingly to
absorb the appropriate fire. For example, you can turn your ship’s
polarity/color black and you’ll be able to absorb the black
barrage of fire. But while your ship is black, the white enemy fire
will kill you. Once you absorb enough enemy fire, you can unleash it
against them. The beauty of the gameplay is its simplicity. You have
the difficult task of shooting all the oncoming enemies, constantly
change polarity on the fly, and trying not to run into anything
while you’re at it. There are only three buttons to learn. In the
default settings, B fires your lasers, A changes the polarity of
your ship, and L releases the absorbed energy to unleash a beautiful
blast that virtually clears the screen of all enemies. If the
control scheme doesn't work for you, the buttons are fully
customizable.
There should be plenty of replay value for this games just because
it’s so hard, but not impossible. Beating it is one thing, but
mastering it is another. Sure there are only five levels, but it
will probably be a long time before most people can even think about
beating it on normal, let alone hard. And even if you beat Ikaruga
on hard, you’ll have some pretty stiff competition if you want to
rank on the official Ikaruga web site. Gamers all over the world
have been trying to secure the top spot and claim some Ikaruga
glory. This is an absolute must buy for all GCN owners. You will be
humbled by this game. Ikaruga will beat you up, take your lunch
money, and you’ll find yourself coming back for more. If you find
yourself wanting a serious challenge, buy this game.
Rating
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David Rojas -
GameCubicle Reader |
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