Ikaruga - GCN

Do you like shooters? Does your heart harken back to the days when you played Raiden and R-Type and Radiant Silvergun? If so, then I have a game for you.

You're in control of a ship. You have to kill things that come in great swarms. At the end of every level is a boss that you have to defeat within the time limit. The twist? Enemies come in two different flavors, white and black. That's ok though, because your ship can switch polarities, absorbing bullets of a like color and doing double damage to ships of the opposite. The more bullets you eat, the more your energy gauge goes up, allowing you to launch a devastating super attack. Also when you kill 3 of the same color ship, you get a point bonus or chain. The more clusters you kill, the more points you get, making the discriminating shot the best for high point totals.

This game is hard. There are only 5 levels but they are five levels of the most teeth gnashing, finger twitching and hair pulling difficulty. Ships and bullets come at you from all angles, and more often than not you will have to switch polarities at an extreme pace to avoid being destroyed.

You start out with a limited stock that you can earn additional fighters for at certain point totals. More importantly though, you start out with an even more limited amount of continues. Unless you're the most amazing game player of all time, you will need to use these and they will run out. The game rewards you though, so the more you play, the more continues you get until you have 7 hours under your belt and free play. This is helpful for playing with people who aren't quite as good as you or in case you're like me and suck at playing anyway so it gives you a little leeway and you can complete the game.

The pace is hectic, the rewards are great and the firing never lets up. Ikaruga is for the gamer who loves games and doesn't mind a challenge or the prospect of repeating levels again and again in order to get a perfect score or merely make it through without dying too much. I love this game and have gotten the free play and beat the game several times but I'm still playing to try and better my scores and test my skills and most of all, because it's a fun and amazing game.