Atari Ikaruga

The story for Ikaruga is the basically the same as all other shooters, you are the Earth's last hope from being annihilated by a unknown evil. You play as a powerful spacecraft that has unlimited ammo and you are targeted by hordes of enemies and you are the only target left. The game only has five stages but there is three very different difficulty options and a cache of unlockable features.

The gameplay has a few innovations that really make it different from all other shooters out there. Every enemy is either light or dark colored, and you spacecraft has a light and dark form that can be switched between the two at any time. These two forms are the same except for the color of your ship and the energy blasts its produces. The big innovation is you absorb the same colored shots from enemy ships and get damaged by the opposite color of your ship. This is a cool addition to the game because it makes you think on your feet about whether you should run into those shots or just turn colors and avoid them.

There are a few things you must realize before you start playing Ikaruga. The first is there are no power-ups, this may disappoint a few people but it keeps the game skill based. The second thing is absorbs the same colored shots is a good thing because they build up and you can unleash a powerful homing laser shot that destroys just about everything on screen. Lastly, opposite colored fire does double damage to the enemy ships. Now this last one is really based on skill because if you wanna try and hit the ship with opposite colored fire you must be the opposite color the enemy ship hence their fire can kill you.

Ikaruga's graphics are pretty breathtaking for a shooter. You will witness at some points the screen light up with so many explosions and special effects it will probably make your eyes water. The ship models are also well done along with the environments. Whats truly amazing is the fact that all explosions and tight graphics don't slow down the game one bit because its always locked at 60 fps. The sound is also great. The sound effects are superb but they don't drown out the excellent techno soundtrack that fits right into the atmosphere of the game.

If you want a shooter that truly is based on skill rather than luck then try your hand at the best shooter since Radiant Silvergun.