Following a surprise outing on the Gamecube, it’s also been made available on Steam, Xbox 360 and even Android, although the latter isn’t compatible with newer versions of the mobile OS and is no longer available on Google Play.

Even Though The Ideal Is High, I Never Give In

For the benefit of the uninitiated, Ikaruga is a shooter in the classic Treasure tradition, albeit with an ingenious twist. Your ship can alternate between black and white polarities, and enemies likewise come in one of two monochrome flavours.

You’re impervious to attacks from enemies of the same colour,  absorbing their bullets to fill your special gauge, but do bonus damage to those of the opposite colour. While a very basic risk/reward trade-off at its core, this easy-to-learn-difficult-to-master mechanics gels brilliantly with Ikaruga’s expertly honed fundamentals, resulting in a truly remarkable SHMUP that is as great today as it ever was.

From a technical point of view, this Switch port is based on the more recent PC, Xbox 360 and Android reissues, sporting a ton of customisation options. It trucks along at an all but constant 60fps in both docked and undocked modes, with nary a jagged edge in sight. Models and effects hold up well, even if backgrounds are somewhat sparsely detailed.

With what appears to be a full 1080p resolution when docked and the Switch screen’s native 720p undocked, it’s a massive step up from the Dreamcast original, which tops out at just 480p in VGA mode, but very much in line with the aforementioned more modern PC, Xbox 360 and Android ports.

Ikaruga works brilliantly as a portable game. As we’ve seen with other Switch SHMUP updates (see our review of Zero Gunner 2- in Mega Visions issue 6), the myriad difficulty and gameplay options on offer here go hand in glove with the Switch’s casual, pick up and play premise.

You can approach the game however you want, and engage in anything from a hardcore single credit score attack to a brief, laid back firework show, where enemies don’t even fire back and continues are unlimited. You can even give one of the Joy-Cons to a friend and play cooperatively in both docked and undocked modes.

I Never Die With Regrets

Perhaps the most appealing addition here for genre devotees is Tate mode. In short, it’s possible to play the game with your Switch placed vertically, mimicking the screen orientation of the original arcade cabinet and doing away most of the otherwise necessary onscreen borders. Which is a good thing too, because they do take up a lot of screen real estate.

But would it were that simple. While hardly the fault of Ikaruga, Treasure or Nicalis (this version’s publisher), the Switch is actually quite impractical to use longways, because the kickstand doesn’t work that way.

Indeed, you have little choice but to perch the console on your knee, and you can’t even attach one of the Joy-Cons to the bottom, as the console just keeps prompting you to attach a second. That is, unless you use some kind of third party solution: we found an old iPad stand just the ticket for keeping the Switch safely held at a favourable angle, while using the Pro Controller for input.

Elsewhere there’s also a pretty cool gallery of artwork and renders, plus the ability to browse and listen to the game’s soundtrack at your leisure. You can even upload your high scores to an online leader board – assuming you don’t touch the difficulty setting, of course – or choose to tackle the main game with Geikei, the ship originally reserved for player 2.

While these features themselves aren’t new, they still round out the overall package nicely, and ensure that Ikaruga for Switch really is the definitive experience, whether on the go or at home sat in front of your TV.

SUMMARY

There’s a ton more SHMUPS slated for release on Switch in the coming months, and our hope is that Ikaruga and the aforementioned Zero Gunner 2- will be the first of many Dreamcast ports. A Psyvariar redux is already confirmed, so here’s hoping Psyvariar 2: The Will To Fabricate, which came to Dreamcast first back in the day, isn’t far behind. And while we’re at it, what about Mars Matrix, Zero Wing or Border Down? If Ikaruga does the business, who knows?

While far from the first Ikaruga re-release, this latest for Switch is undoutedly the best yet. The ability to play on the go, in co-op with one set of Joy-Cons and in Tate mode, plus the myriad additional bells and whistles make Ikaruga for Switch easy to recommend unreservedly, and worthwhile even for die-hard Dreamcast fans that still have the original GD-ROM kicking around.

PROS

+ Timeless, polarity-shifting gameplay
+ Tate mode (some assembly required)
+ Local co-op with one set of Joy-Cons

CONS

– Most of the extras aren’t new
– Dull backgrounds
– Punishing difficulty unless lowered from default

Ikaruga will release digitally on the Switch on May 29 in North America and Europe for $15 (equivalent pricing for EU) and will include local co-op, online leader boards and a TATE mode, that allows you to turn the screen vertical.

The perfect shooter returns to Nintendo hardware! We’re teaming up with Treasure to bring the legendary #Ikaruga to #NintendoSwitch on May 29. Get the latest info here: https://t.co/g29ny5hGXG pic.twitter.com/yOH5VjsEH2

— Nicalis, Inc. (@nicalis) May 1, 2018

While we would have loved for a physical release, we’ll take what we can get because Ikaruga is a terrific game. Who knows, maybe Limited Run Games will come to the rescue? In any case, we’re incredibly excited to play Ikaruga again and think the Switch is a perfect system for shooters! Let us know if you’ll be picking it up later this month.

Switchは縦画面で遊べるから斑鳩を移植して欲しいという要望を頂き、DAISOの108円のスタンドで縦に置いてみた。あと3mm幅を広くしてくださいよ。横置きは完璧なのに、縦置きは少し足りない。この写真は、色々反射で写り込んでいて面白い。りんこ姫の横で、何か光輝いてたり、後ろの黒い何かも怪しい。 pic.twitter.com/TMAcIOcMfP

— 株式会社トレジャー (@TreasureCoLtd) April 10, 2018

While it is not explicitly stated that Ikaruga is coming for the Switch, the tweet seems to all but confirm the idea. Would you get Ikaruga for Nintendo Switch? Discuss in the comments below!

For those who don’t know about these games, Virtual-On OT – or rather ‘Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram’ to give its full title – was originally released by SEGA in Japanese arcades back in 1998 and was later ported to the Dreamcast. It’s a 3rd person 3D fighting game, where players take on the form of giant robots and is a sequel to the 1996 Cyber Troopers Virtual-On, which was originally released in the arcades and on the SEGA Saturn.

Also released was Radiant Silvergun. Now, technically this is a Treasure-owned title and not a SEGA game (hence my * at the start), but the game is synonymous with SEGA, as SEGA published the original arcade version in 1998 and just two months later it was brought to the SEGA Saturn as a console-exclusive. It’s a scrolling shooter and arguably one of the best in the genre, with Saturn copies still being sold well over £100 on eBay, such as here and here.

It was then ported to the Xbox 360 (XBLA) in 2011, with the original game intact. However, the Xbox version does have a bonus feature: Radiant Silvergun‘s spiritual successor (and also SEGA-synonymous title), Ikaruga, was also released on XBLA and those who earned an achievement in Ikaruga, could then load up Radiant Silvergun and unlock its secret ‘Ikaruga Mode’ – which uses the same scoring system as Ikaruga.

So what are you waiting for? Go grab some classic SEGA* titles for you Xbox One!

“The package comprises a heavy single-pocket sleeve and two printed inner sleeves, showcasing an array of colourful illustrations and rare concept art drawn from the archives in Japan. Also included is a double-sided foldout poster, featuring the original cover art from both the Western and Japanese versions of the game.”

 
All of the following versions are priced at £24.99:
 

• 2 x LP Red and Blue Split Colour Effect (LIMITED EDITION)
• 2 x LP Solid Red and Blue
• 2 x LP Classic Black

If you’ve got the itch to purchase one on Saturday, you can click here to do so. 

It seems like there aren’t really any new things added to this version,  but it’s good enough to earn it’s place on the Xbox One for a new generation to play.  Right now, Gunstar Heroes is available for purchase through the Xbox Store or Xbox website for the small price of $4.99 US.  I’d say if you never experienced it before,  give it a shot.  It is a high quality run-n’-gun that any fan of the genre shouldn’t be without.

It seems pretty obvious that the hilt pictured is that of Princess Solange Blanchefleur de Lux’s sword from Code of Princess, a 3DS game developed by Agatsuma Entertainment (RIP) and published by Atlus in 2012. This tease also appears to confirm a Steam leak in December 2015.

If you aren’t a 3DS owner or simply haven’t heard of Code of Princess, SEGA fans might be interested to know that it’s a brawler/beat-em-up game heavily inspired by Treasure’s classic Saturn title, Guardian Heroes.

While we here at SEGA Nerds have not reviewed the game, Code of Princess received generally positive reviews when it was released on 3DS in 2012, though the outlying lowest of its low scores came from Polygon, who gave it a 3/10. A game starring an attractive, scantily-clad anime woman received a low score from Polygon?! Color me friggin’ shocked.

I, for one, have always been interested in trying Code of Princess, but I’m trapped in the first-world quandary of buying a physical copy or more directly supporting Atlus by buying it digitally. Decisions, decisions. But what do you guys and gals think? Are you excited for Code of Princess possibly hitting Steam? Any thoughts on the 3DS version of the game (screenshots below)? Let us know in the comments!

Source: Niche Gamer

According to a recent podcast on Giant Bomb, there are rumors that Treasure might be shifting from a developer to a license holding company. Treasure has not released anything new since 2009, so it may have been inevitable for the company to go in this direction.

What was your favorite Treasure game? Sound off below!

Source: Giant Bombcast (via NeoGAF)

Unlike your usual top-down shooter that focuses on a variety of “options” that afford the player new weapons and thusly, new tactics, Ikaruga favours an ingenious mechanic that reverses the polarity of your shots. Your shots and your enemies are colour-coded light and dark. If you reverse your polarity to dark, your ship will absorb dark bullets and build up an energy meter while shooting an enemy of the opposite polarity, resulting in “massive damage.”

To say this kind of ingenuity in shooter design is refreshing is an understatement, and although it’s a port of a rather old game, Ikaruga’s uniqueness keeps it incredibly fresh today.

For the imaginative amongst us, the polarity mechanic creates opportunities for players to carefully consider their approach to battles. Will you hang back and absorb bullets until enemies disperse? Will you risk your ship engaging in high stakes polarity swapped combat? How will you overcome these energy waves of a different polarity screaming towards you? Ikaruga constantly provides new and interesting twists on the mechanic throughout the game it carries it very well.

Ikaruga’s control is fantastic and its combat remains frenetic and satisfying as ever.

Beyond the polarity mechanic, Ikaruga remains a very, very challenging shooter. It’s the good kind of challenge that pushes you forward and forces you to think.

With that said, I did find a few moments a little unfair, and, occasionally, I found myself coming to a jarring halt because a wall or stabbing column appeared out of thin air, but, generally ,the game rewards careful thought about what tactics you will use to engage your enemy. Boss patterns, for instance, are forgiving and although these encounters remain quite challenging by forcing yourself to focus and master the polarity swapping mechanic, you will find yourself becoming more and more adept at winding in and out of their reaching energy beams.

Ikaruga’s control is fantastic and its combat remains frenetic and satisfying as ever. Ikaruga is an adrenaline rush, and the slick control does not disappoint in maintaining that level of energy and engaging gameplay that kept me glued to my keyboard and mouse.

Speaking of which, the game using a keyboard and mouse combo with the keyboard used for movement and your mouse used to control your weapons and polarity shifting. This is an incredibly satisfying combination of control as you find that movement is generally very instinctive and natural, while having your weapon and polarity mapped to the mouse allows you to focus on that one simple input device for your crucial strategizing.

To make control more challenging, players can engage the PC’s “double play mode,” which essentially just adds another ship to the game playable with one control device. It’s an interesting gimmick and one that could spice up the game for jaded players.

Presentation is great on PC with a lightning fast frame rate and beautiful graphics. I was often distracted by the beautifully rendered 3D backdrops and elegant, dancing enemy designs. Sometimes, it actually does become a bit of an issue as I found myself dying a couple of times due to accidentally focusing on the environments. That said, the text is sharp, and every artistic element of the game seems to have had a lot of care put into it, providing players with a stunning game.

The variety in art design is something I really appreciated as a lot of shooters tend to focus on somewhat bland, military style environments or simple space station backdrops, but the gorgeous landscapes, cloudy skies and installations of Ikaruga all look and feel unique and are quite lovely at times.

Players can also indulge in an added side-scrolling mode if they feel the need to enjoy another twist on Ikaruga’s standard gameplay, which tilts the screen 90 degrees. It’s not purely cosmetic, as it really does add a new dimension to the gameplay.

Summary

Ikaruga is a beautiful, challenging game that effectively showcases how brilliant Treasure are at developing a sublime, unique gameplay experience that will fight you at every turn but keep pushing you forward to accomplish your goals. Varied level design, an innovative polarity mechanic and intelligent boss designs marry with stunning presentation and a bevy of PC enhancements, including Steam achievements.

Gamers not used to shooters may find Ikaruga far too unwieldy to enjoy, and, at times, it is a little unbalanced and unforgiving, but those of us who appreciate a good shmup-fest will love to come back to Ikaruga to fall in love all over again.

As we previously reported, the game only supports two-player local play at launch, and there’s no online co-op like on the Xbox 360 version, but it will support the Xbox 360 controller. You can also choose between Ikaruga’s default vertical screen setting or switch it to a horizontal view.

So why are you still reading this? Go buy and play this game, but come back to tell us how much it kicked your ass!

You can buy it here.