Arcades   Is It Worth It?

I assume everyone knows the scoring and color system for reading this review...

First of all...this game is an eyecatcher. The things rushing by in the background are very nicely done, 3D-based and really coming to life when eg in level 3 the endboss enters the combat right outta the backgroundgrafics...WOW.

Also the endbosses have timelimits and if u cant manage to get it killed u probably wont see the final part of the endboss of the given level, as some have multiple locations...

Well...i know shooters are not judged by their background, but on playability, scoring system, secrets and so on. And thats where Ikaruga stalls a bit.
The scoring system is nicely done at first sight...u must keep your combos up by shooting at least 3 white or 3 black colored enemies then the other color and back again. And it works quite well UNLESS....you start playing with 2 players.

Once u play with 2 players u will push the other players ship when touching it, thus moving him aside...with all those enemy shots onscreen a sure thing to get him killed. Totally silly idea imho. And u can forget the combo system too except u both play really well together and know the game by heart...

Also a problem i had while playing the first few times...the game seemed VERY HARD...but after a few retries and continued playing its actually possible to move through hordes of enemies and shots and obstacles even on medium gamelevel.

In my opinion this game is based on grafics and technical prowess. It never clips, lags or has other flaws technically. The endbosses ARE what they should be....ENDBOSSES, and not fly-by-enemies. Somehow i miss the thrill of eg Raiden Fighters Jet though, or Dragon Blaze...also the game is quite short, but a state of the art shooter for sure. Treasure tried to implement many new ideas and every developer doing that has earned my respect.

Players: 2
Developer: Treasure
System: Sega Naomi GD
Rating: