That's right, because this game is extremely tough. I've been playing games for a long time now, and Ikaruga is definitely one of the hardest I've ever played. To most people, that would be a problem, meaning they would give up and that automatically makes the game suck (probably the reason lots of people hated Stuntman, which I loved :D). But Ikaruga is different. The game's difficulty is what makes it so brilliant. The creators of this game put lots of effort into making this old-school arcade shooter a strategy/puzzle game also. Here's a basic rundown of the game:
Graphics: 10/10 Sure they aren't the best I've seen, they are the best I've seen on any arcade style shooter. I'm not going to give the graphics a 2 or something like that because I'm not comparing them to something like Resident Evil 0, Metroid Prime, or FFX, because that would be dumb. But as arcade shooters go, it definitely has the best looks going for it.
Control: 10/10 The controls are very easy...
analong stick - move
A button - change polarity
B button - shoot
R button - Special weapon
Z button - toggle chain meter off/on
Gameplay: 10/10 It's perfect. Even though there aren't that many levels, the game will still take you while to fully complete. Each level is designed to where you must play it perfectly (with chains, switching polarity, killing enemies in the right order, deafeating bosses) to get a high rating. I've owned the game since it released in April, and the best ranking I've gotten was a B. If you're wondering what polarity means, it's this: you switch between black and white. When you are white, you absord white bullets to build up your special weapon, while black ones kill you. You also do double the damage to black than you do to white ememies, and vise versa. That's it: simple concept, perfectly pulled off. The game is one of the most original ideas in a very long time.
Replayabilty: Very high. The game is so hard, you'll want to keep coming back for more until you finally beat it...and after that, you'll still want to keep coming back for more!!!
Story: 10/10 Yes, that's right. The story is actuall better than most RPG's I've played. The only thing is that you have to read it in the instruction manual, which might be a problem to others, but it wasn't to me. That extra space on the disc just turns into more gameplay.
Overall: duh, 10/10 It's the perfect arcade shooter ever made. It has even toped Galaga and R-type as my favorite arcade shooters of all time. Ikaruga is just so brilliant that it isn't a game any Cube owner should miss. So gather up all the pennies you've been saving for other games and buy Ikaruga. Trust me, you won't be let down.
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