Over the next few weeks (no idea how long, I'll just keep doing them until I run out of games or if something new/newsworthy pops up during this quiet period) I am going to write about games that I think are the easiest 10/10 scores you'll ever give. Games that are absolutely essential, top tier examples of their genre and have stood the test of time, being as excellent today as they were on the day of their release.

"And so, the Ikaruga departs..."

Shoot 'em ups, shmups or STGs are a genre that I've been looking to get properly into for a while now but they're not something I want to half-arse and, when you're as into fighting games as I am, you appreciate what it means to keep yourself match-fit and dedicated, so I am yet to fully dive in. However, they're a genre I have long admired from afar, enjoying them myself on the surface level but knowing that there are people out there who have mastered these games and instantly getting that itch to try to perform better than my previous run. That 'one more go' arcade style score chasing journey of improvement is something that appeals to me no matter the genre and STGs have it at the heart, so it's only a matter of time before I take the plunge. This is the game that showed me how deep the rabbit hole can go.

One of the best things about the Dreamcast was its devil may care attitude to copy protection. Sure, it probably played a fair hand in the system's eventually downfall but it meant that I got to play some really, really good games that simply wouldn't have been accessible to me otherwise. Street Fighter III, Bangai-O and, of course, Ikaruga were all titles that I got on CD-Rs and I still consider absolutely fantastic videogames. Ikaruga was a hugely important game for me because it opened my eyes to a genre that I was previously fairly ignorant to - sure, I had PLAYED many STGs before Ikaruga, but this was the one that really showed me how interesting and involved this genre could be.

From the word go, Ikaruga is an absolute thrill ride. It looks and sounds amazing and there's something about the overall aesthetic, with the almost motivational quotes between stages and of course, big HUD elements declaring that there is NO REFUGE (now you see?) before a boss appears, it feels far more atmospheric than a lot of other titles in the genre I had played at the time. A lot more cinematic flair, which of course I have since found out is a bit of a trademark of the Treasure developed STG but at the time, this was my first time playing one. It just seemed a cut above in terms of presentation and polish.

The core mechanics of Ikaruga are so simple but so utterly effective. Every enemy is either coloured black or white and you can hit a button to instantly switch between the two 'polarities' yourself. Using the opposite polarity to an enemy leaves you vulnerable to their attacks but you deal significantly more damage. Using the same polarity actually makes you completely invincible to projectiles, so you can sail through complex bullet patterns and absorbing attacks charges a powerful multi-missile attacks, but your standard attack is significantly weaker. Also, killing an enemy of the same polarity causes them to explode in a hail of bullets which initially seems like a minor inconvenience but quickly becomes an extra thing to worry about, which can be deadly on the later levels.

So, you set about learning the levels, the patterns and when/where is best to pick a particular polarity to navigate a series of obstacles or to charge your smart missiles and eventually sussing out the boss battles. Start with infinite credits and slowly move down to trying to one credit clear (1cc) the thing. That was my Ikaruga experience and once I'd made it to the point where I was able to make it through in one credit, I felt like I was done with it.

Anyway, fast-forward a year to the GameCube re-release and me having considerably easier access to the internet. I'd moved out of my parent's house and was living with mates and now I wasn't in the most rural-ass area, I could get online and start reading up on videogame shit. I also - crucially - BOUGHT the thing this time around so I had the instruction manual.

What. In. The. Shitting. Fuck?

Everything I had learned was a LIE. There's me thinking that 1cc-ing the game showed a level of top tier mastery when there's people out there who are likely not only finishing the game without losing a credit but also killing every enemy in batches of THREE OF THE SAME COLOUR EACH TIME. This instantly adds a significant amount of mental stress into the mix and, when learning how to do it, reduces you to the level of beginner once again. To this day, I can still only chain level one in its entirety before my head explodes. Here's a 12 (!) year old video explaining how to do it. It seems simple but being able to act so precisely in the heat of battle takes hours and hours of practice.

It seemed insurmountable but once I had figured out the first half of the first stage I knew that this was something that I could do, if I put in the practice. Fast forward once again - this time several years - to the Xbox Live Arcade release in 2008. This time around, YouTube existed. I got the bug once again and started to look online for high level players. Once again, I had my arse blown clean off with what I found. Obviously, there's plenty of videos of people clearing the game in one credit or without being hit, hitting ludicrous chains and high scores in the process but I also found this other fascinating thing - the DOT EATER run.

Essentially, this requires you to play through the entire game without firing a shot, absorbing all the enemies attacks and surviving the boss encounters until the timer expires and they fuck off. In the second stage, there's walls that apparently need to shoot to clear the path but these Dot Eater runs taught me that this isn't actually the case. You see, the hitbox on the Ikaruga ship is actually a fucking pin prick sized pixel in the centre of the ship - small enough to be positioned in line with the seams between the walls and sail straight through. I could not believe this the first time I saw it. I still don't, really. Absolute witchcraft. Here's a .gif I captured of MYSELF doing it and I'm still sceptical.

I guess the point of all of this is that Ikaruga offers so many different possible end goals for you to aim towards. I'm hideously out of practice and playing the game this week for this newsletter has me wanting to get back to first of all being able to finish it within the basic three credits and slowly work that down to a 1cc but more skilled players might want to try to tackle full combos or pacifist runs. It's such a complex, versatile game for what is such a basic concept.

It's that core concept that makes the game so damn good, though. Just having to keep your brain focused on which polarity you're on and which polarity the enemies are stops you from playing on instinct - you have to be switch on at all times and although Ikaruga is far from the bullet hell shooters in the genre, having to spin so many mental plates at once gets you killed just as much as a wall of plasma bullets will.

That core concept however, is SO straightforward in theory (although certainly not in practice) you can convince yourself that Ikaruga isn't as hard as it seems. Even the hardest, most OTT bullet hell shooter can be mastered if you put in the time and dedication but even seasoned videogame players are going to get put off when they hit a boss that fills the screen with neon death. Ikaruga seems so much more approachable because the polarity system ensures that it is clear exactly what you should be trying to do at any time. It is a system that encourages you to keep trying, keep improving and slowly becoming a better player and it never seems impossible. However, for the real hardcore, you have the ability to try for the much, much more difficult things like the chain combos and get those much, much higher high scores.

All of this stuff ensures that Ikaruga is still an extremely good time even in 2022 and there hasn't been a great deal like it in the twenty years since its initial release, so it still feels fresh and exciting too.

THANKS FOR READING.

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