The XBLA version of Ikaruga is a horrible port.
This isn't Ikaruga, this is Ikaruga LOL.

Warning. The big list of love and hate is approaching at full throttle. No refuge.

Loved
Still Gorgeous Graphics - Ikaruga has the best visual design of any shooter ever. The limited color palette, in black, red, white and blue, is painted perfectly on earthy backdrops. Playing the game in high definition alone is worth the 800 Microsoft Points, even if you have the Dreamcast and GameCube ports
Soundtrack - Shooting game soundtracks are required by shmup law to feature dramatic, blood pumping anthems and Ikaruga does not disappoint. Its boss battle fanfare is classic stuff.
Punishing Difficulty - There's a certain joy to be had in beating your previous shooting performance until, ultimately, you can conquer the barrage of beams and bullets and clear the game's five chapters. After each failed attempt, you may find yourself giving it another go. And another. And another. It's hard, damn hard, but in a very satisfying way.
Options For Everyone - TATE mode lets those with rotating monitors play Ikaruga in its original, portrait aspect ratio. Replays let players save their best runs to the hard drive. Multiple difficulty options let the scrubs enjoy the later levels with continues that accrue with more play time.
Real Replayability, Real Depth - Simply beating the game isn't enough. Ikaruga's real challenge lies in racking up max combo chains—shoot groups of three of the same color consecutively without breaking the sequence—requiring memorization, strategy, twitch controls and genuine skill.

Hated
Online Lag - In a game that demands tight control and pixel accurate perception, a quarter of a second delay in response is unacceptable. System link and local two-player options perform fine, but it's hard to take Xbox Live matches seriously.
Dull achievements - A good portion are only for the hardest of the hardcore, but as a whole they're largely uninspired. Maybe I'm just bitter that I know I'll NEVER get an A on Chapter 4.

Over the past six years, I've logged a few hundred sessions with Ikaruga in its two console incarnations, but playing through it again in high(er) fidelity helped renew my appreciation for it. It also showed how rusty I'd become, requiring nearly a week of playtime to finish all five chapters.

Ikaruga is not for everyone, but it's arguably one of the best values to hit Xbox Live Arcade, considering how much many of us paid for the import Dreamcast version (or the Naomi one!). The appeal may be limited due to its niche genre and unforgiving difficulty, but even if you've never played a Treasure shooter before, you owe it to yourself to see what the fuss is about.

Ikaruga was developed by Treasure and release on April 9. Retails for 800 Microsoft Points ($10 USD). Available on Xbox Live Arcade. Completed single player mode on Normal difficulty and played six Xbox Live two-player games.

Maegawa says that they're looking into it, but that they already have two unannounced Wii games in development. Details are nonexistent other than the Treasure president teasing that "both games will have a lot of impact." Who wants to make some wagers?

So the question isn't should you play Ikaruga if you haven't. The question is, should you play Ikaruga on XBLA, or should you hunt down a Gamecube or Dreamcast version. Hit the jump for our Frankenreview to find out: it's Ikarugalicious.

Team Xbox
Time and again, the game has gotten high marks with critics as being one of the best looking 2D shooters on the market. ... now, making the jump to the 360, the game looks even better. In 720p HD, everything looks sharp, refined, and runs smooth as silk.

IGN
To truly excel at Ikaruga requires a mastery of the polarity system and a lot of practice...Casual gamers may find themselves overwhelmed and unable to scratch the surface of this classic. That would be a shame, though, as this is easily one of the best titles on the Live Arcade.

CVG
If you have an LCD TV you can flip that bad boy on its side and, in the options screen, flip the gameplay sideways so you get full-screen up-scrolling action (known in the shooter scene as TATE mode). That's how the purists play (and us).

Eurogamer
...whereas once dedicated players would need to import Japanese DVDs of the top players' score runs for tips and techniques, now you simply select their name on the scoreboard and sit back to watch their replay, awestruck. The option to save and upload all replays, combined with co-op play over Xbox Live, makes the definitive version of the game.

At $10, it's the price of two value meals. And cheeseburgers don't taste this good.

In addition, the highly regarded newb Poker Smash will be offering two expansions. The Environment Pack (with two new action mode environments) and the Puzzle Pack (with 15 new puzzles) will each be available for 100 points.

All in all, it's a nice week of updates on XBLA. For the full, gruesome details, hit the jump.

The Japanese arcade hit "Ikaruga" receives the full Xbox LIVE Arcade treatment and is poised to launch on the platform this Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. GMT (1:00 a.m. PDT).

"Ikaruga" is a fast-paced scrolling shooter with a twist - players must constantly switch their ship's polarity to maximize their damage output and avoid incoming enemy fire of the opposite polarity.

"Ikaruga" on Xbox LIVE Arcade features a two-player co-op mode both locally and over Xbox LIVE. Newcomers can also easily bring their skill up to speed by using the game's slow motion training mode.

"Ikaruga" is a perfect combination of beautiful, manga-style storytelling and challenging arcade heroics, all brought to life in a gorgeous HD environment.

Gamers itching to obtain a moment of "Ikaruga" glory will be wise to master the chaining system that detects when enemies of the same polarity are destroyed consecutively. Doing so will reward players with huge score bonuses, which will be key to topping "Ikaruga's" leaderboards.

The ability to relive a particularly harrowing battle is also possible thanks to the game's record and replay function, which is new to the Xbox LIVE Arcade version of the game.

From the Japanese developer Treasure, "Ikaruga" will be available worldwide for 800 Microsoft Points and is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB.

Independent developer Void Star Creations unveils two new downloadable content packs for their hit Xbox LIVE Arcade title, "Poker Smash" this Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. GMT (1:00 a.m. PDT). The new content includes two Action Mode Environments in the Environment Pack and an additional 15 Puzzles in the Puzzle Pack, giving "Poker Smash" players a total of 13 immersive environments and 70 mind bending puzzles. The "Poker Smash" Environment Pack and Puzzle Pack will each be available for 100 Microsoft Points.

Ikaruga [Xbox Japan via XBLAH]

But thanks to the newest issue of the Official Xbox Magazine (UK), we know that Ikaruga is already "Out Now." Obviously, it's not, but since it's from the April issue of the mag, we can certainly hope that it really, genuinely, totally is coming very, very soon. It didn't show up in a recent list of upcoming XBLA releases, but let's just hope MS is being coy.

OXM hints at imminent Ikaruga [Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Might want to turn down the volume on your computer as YouTube's sound quality is rather shrill. Hit the jump for her renditions of Takeshi no Chousenjou, Mega-Man 3 and Dynasty Warriors 3. Keep the comments clean. Or else.

Thanks, 108!

As for the gameplay, it's identical as Ikaruga's appearances on the Dreamcast and Gamecube. We were limited to single player only, so there were no opportunities to try the new online co-op mode. For those who aren't familiar with how the game plays, the vertical shooter uses a black and white polarity system. Your ship and its surrounding field can be switched at any point. While in black mode, your ship is vulnerable to white bullets and beams. Inversely, in white mode, you'll take damage from black bullets and beams. However, your ship, when firing in white mode, will do more damage to black enemies and vice versa. The challenge lies in managing your color to avoid being hit, whilst managing the effectiveness of your shot.

The demo version of the game ran smoothly at 60 frames per second and looked pixel perfect on the Xbox 360. There are no complaints in the graphics department, from what I saw. Due to the typical game show cacophony there was some difficulty judging the game's sound, but Ikaruga's satisfyingly beefy explosions resonated through the din.

Ultimately, Ikaruga is a fantastic game that should appeal to almost anyone who likes shooters. The Xbox Live Arcade version simply takes the successful formula and gives it a high-def polish. Based on the TGS demo, it's going to be yet another solid hardcore-friendly shmup.

In other news, Maegawa confirmed that the company's other newly announced title, Bangai-O Spirits for the Nintendo DS is not a straight remake of the Dreamcast/Nintendo 64 game. That game will be playable at TGS this week, so expect to read in-depth impressions, hopefully from yours truly.

More details, including a teaser on Radiant Silvergun for the 360, at the 1UP report.

Treasure Talks Ikaruga, Wii Title, and More [1UP]

Treasure already has two DS games under its belt, a pair of Bleach licensed fighters published by Sega, so they know the hardware. However, this one's under the publishing wing of ESP, responsible for some of Treasure's best shmups, including Radiant Silvergun, Bangai-O and Ikaruga. What could it be? Stay tuned! We'll let you know ASAP.

Treasure X ESP Nintendo DS Project [ESP via GamerCafe]

Treasure, the cult-fav developer behind Ikaruga and Radiant Silvergun, is looking to start a "new action game." According to the company's site, Treasure is looking to hire a 3D CG programmer and designer. The homepage mentions there's an emphasis on originally for the new game. The company is also searching for a "motion leader," an effects designer, a character modeler, a background modeler and a scene designer. Hmm... Doesn't sound like they're making another shooter. Brandon Sheffield over at Insert Credit thinks it's a third person action game. I'm inclined to agree. Brian Ashcraft

Recruiting [Treasure via Insert Credit]

If you're the kind of gamer who likes to get your hands a little dirty, why not try out the simple, do-it-yourself region switching mod? It requires little more than a soldering iron, some wire and a CD-burner. I'm a bit late to the party on this one, but it's still worth mentioning if you're tired of disc swapping prior to sessions of Ikaruga or Shenmue II.

The process looks fairly straightforward, simple enough to warrant a back-up Dreamcast purchase and an hour of your time.

I'm off to find my rose-tinted glasses, play some Cosmic Smash and reminisce. Michael McWhertor

Convert the region of your Dreamcast! [Lyris Lite via Namako Team]

Dust off that box covered with Animal Crossing stickers, it's time to remember at the top ten games you loved (in my case) a year ago. But for all of you out there in Kotaku-land who already sold your box to buy something newer and shinier, this should make you reconsider picking one up at the next garage sale you crash.

I've already been inspired to find that infectious Mario Sunshine soundtrack. Kim Phu

Screw Attack's Gamecube Farewell [Gametrailers]

Suzuki is credited with character and object design duties on a number of Treasure's beloved hardcore-aimed games, including Sin & Punishment for the Nintendo 64, Ikaruga for Dreamcast and Radiant Silvergun for the Sega Saturn.

According to the DrMaster, the book will also include a number of interviews from outlets like IGN and Insert Credit, as well as a forward from Play Magazine editor in chief Dave Halverson. No price was disclosed, but we'll let you know when we know. Michael McWhertor

The Art Book of Yasushi Suzuki [DrMaster Publications]

Computer and VIdeo Games reports that Dreamcast and Gamecube shooter Ikaruga is headed for the Xbox Live Arcade.

They plucked this information from the their debug online service, Partnernet, which is chock full of embargoed information. (Like that little 80s Rock download for Guitar Hero II.)

The shooter is said to be the "spiritual sequel" to Saturn shooter Radiant Silvergun. Sounds like fun. Brian Crecente

Ikaruga confirmed for Xbox 360! [CVG, via Joystiq]

Still, hope survives in the form of a release list from G-Rev—who just happen to have nothing to do with shmup developers G.rev, who, also unrelated, are responsible for Xbox 360 wet dream shooter-fighter Senko no Ronde as well as Dreamcast faves Border Down and Under Defeat.

The list, linked from the dark and lovely Brandon of Insert Credit and currently roaming the internet, also features another to-good-to-be-true title, NiGHTS for the Nintendo Wii.

But what do we have to go on with NiGHTS for the Wii? Pretty much nil. Sega has done virtually nothing with the franchise since its debut in 1996, but that hasn't stopped every Sonic Team and Yuji Naka hyperfan from putting a sequel or remake on his or her fantasy list alongside every new console release.

Is this just an internet rumor running wild, ultimately showing up on G-rev's exhaustive console listing? That's my guess. With Sega focusing on older IP like Alien Syndrome and After Burner, however, we'll rule nothing out.

I honestly hope this is true and that someone will have the good sense or financial recklessness to release a top-down shooter in the West, but I'm not holding my breath. As for NiGHTS Into Dreams for the Wii? I'm not going to set myself up for disappointment. I'm assuming this, like Shenmue III, will never see the light of day.

Pray that I'm wrong! Michael McWhertor

360 Ikaruga Sequel In The Works? [Kotaku]

Treasure, the folks behind Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga, aren't just known for intense shumps, but beautiful, intense shumps. It should be no surprise Treasure conceptual designer Yasushi Suzuki is now working on a manga called Purgatory Kabuki. The art is in the ukiyo-e woodblock style. The manga is getting a big push towards the gaming crowd as it'll be previewed in mag Play for five issues and two sixty-page chunks will be released on GameSpy.

Here's a blurb from the press release:

Purgatory Kabuki is a samurai action story set in the underworld or afterlife. For reasons unknown, former samurai Imanoturugi is obsessed with leaving the afterlife. To die in battle is a samurai's greatest honor. Yet, now Imanoturugi must claim 1000 swords from fallen warriors who now share residence in the dark underworld. By these and these means alone, this highly skilled blades will be allowed admittance back into the living world.

Where he shall find a dense and polluted urban sprawl dotted with convenience stores, fast food restaurants and pachinko parlors. Hey, samurai dude, the underworld can't be that bad! Brian Ashcraft

Treasure Dude Makes U.S. Manga [Insert Credit]

Exciting news, Ikaruga fans... rumor has it that Treasure is working on a grand finale to the Radiant Silvergun trilogy, rounding it all off on the 360.

The extent of the rumor? According to Play Magaine:

Treasure dropped a bomb in the form of an "original shooting game" announcement...and that can mean only one thing: RS3. Always planned as a trilogy, the Radiant Silvergun/Ikaruga (known in preproduction as "RS2") series will receive it's final installment on Xbox 360. Watch this space for more information.

That's a hell of a lot of "if" in there, buddy. Nevertheless, Racketboy and his readers remain convinced, noting: "It was written by maybe the most respected game mag writer ever (who now lives in Japan), so you can be sure of it's accuracy."

Wow, some random dude in Japan speculates that maybe, it just might be true, based upon no evidence whatsoever? That's the litmus test for veracity, right there. Sorry, Ash — if I'd known all that, I never would have talked you out of that "PS3 Slower Than PS2?!?!?" post you wanted to do.

Still, it does seem likely Treasure might opt to do a sequel to a couple of their all-time class SHMUPS, while they're slated to do one for the 360 anyway. Keep your fingers crossed. Florian Eckhardt

Radiant Silvergun / Ikaruga Sequel Upcoming? [Racketboy]

I've still got mine hooked up to my living room television, a copy of Samba de Amigo nestled within, a pair of official electronic maracas no more than six feet away from the console.

Tonight I'll be firing up some games I haven't played in years: Phantasy Star Online, Ikaruga, Cosmic Smash, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Bangai-O and Zero Gunner 2. (Yes, I'll be staying in this Saturday night, unfortunately.) Maybe I'll see if I can work in some Jet Grind Radio, but that might be pushing it.

I'll tell you what I remember most about my Dreamcast after the jump, and I invite you to chime in with your thoughts on the best console of the very late 90's.

My first Dreamcast (aka Katana) memory was seeing screenshots of the awful Godzilla Generations and that bizarre disembodied head floating around a (at the time) mindblowingly rendered city. As a long time Sega fan, I was already hooked.

The next outstanding teary-eyed moment was my first hands-on experience. My friend Corey and I rented a Japanese console, as well as copies of Power Stone, House of the Dead 2 and Blue Stinger. After enjoying some 3D brawling and zombie shooting—not to mention the recreational pharmaceuticals and ensuing Taco Bell feast—we laughed ourselves silly by the travesty that was Blue Stinger. Good times.

Sega's September 9 launch was also my first experience with midnight mania. Already having taken the next day off from work (I was REALLY psyched) I left my live-in girlfriend to her rest while I ventured to the mall, to queue up with my fellow nerds. After waiting in line for 90 minutes, I walked out with my console, Sonic Adventure, Soul Calibur, Power Stone and Hydro Thunder. Sadly, I was too tired to actually play the damn thing when I got home, but dedicated most of my day locked on to the giant Dreamcast controller.

I've had many parties and some impromptu band sleep overs that almost always resulted in someone asking to fire up the Samba de Amigo party machine. Hell, we even had drunken sessions with Typing of the Dead.

I remember getting "hit on" for the first time in an online game by a bunch of dudes in Phantasy Star Online, as my adorable HUnewearl Mika pranced about the station, looking for free gear. Men. So predictable.

Oh, I suppose I could go on and on about my time with my Seaman, my first import game purchase ever in Ikaruga, spending $80 on maracas when I was barely making rent, playing NFL2K1 online and loving it, buying all those great Capcom fighting games and rarely playing them, blowing my Shenmue per diem on capsule toys, but we'd be here all night.

Let us know in the comments just how much you love your Dreamcast, or, when you Dreamcast noob slackers are finally going to go out and pick one up and restore your gaming cred. Ikaruga, here I come! Michael McWhertor

Some are delightful, but face it, the vast majority of flash games are "meh." But this one is different, this one is Ikaruga! As far as shmups go, there's Ikaruga and then there's everything else. Japanese game developer Treasure released this classic shooter back in 2001 on the Dreamcast and then the GameCube. Reader Galen sent along this neat, little flash Ikaruga that features the game's first boss. Might want to turn the quality down as otherwise the game runs slower than molasses. Brian Ashcraft

Play Here [Cool Flash Games] Thanks, Galen!

Anyone who's played Treasure's classic shooter Ikaruga, knows one thing: it rocks. Here's an equally cool, and moody, manga from Japan. It was dug up on the Shmups.com forums and created by cantHUE. While I would've expected something a with a lot more lasers, this looks like a bulls-eye. Beautiful, elegant stuff! Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Shoot The Core] via GameSetWatch

It's impossible to top the ambidextrous Ikaruga video we posted last week; that guy instantly made every other SHMUP video irrelevant until someone figures out a way to beat one with his crotch.

But this more boring Ikaruga vid of a SHMUP master beating it on hard sort of emphasizes something that I've noticed before: although SHMUPs tend to be brutally difficult, if not impossible to beat for the average gamer, the masters make it so easy as they just park their ships in that one pixel window that allows them to destroy the next wave without dying.

I love SHMUPs almost theoretically: the freneticism gets my heart raging like no other type of game, even as I find myself hurtling controllers around and screaming at the top of my lungs in frustration at some arbitrary design cheapness. Playing the average SHMUP is like dating some extraordinarily cruel, obnoxious woman whom you are nevertheless attracted to for those very qualities: you can't figure out if you love or hate her, and have no idea whether you want to caress her or just run before she beats the crap out of you. Florian Eckhardt

Another reason to thank God for making you a lefty and that Catholic nun for calling you Satanic until you turned ambidextrous. No one should be good at SHMUPs. FLORIAN ECKHARDT