(Photo : Treasure / Screenshot taken from Steam)

It was Treasure's most infamous vertical shooter, which was launched more than two decades ago. Ikaruga is a classic favorite of some people for a good reason.

Let's talk about what makes this classic shooting game enjoyable.

Before We Proceed With Ikagura's Game Mechanics, Let Us First Discuss Its Interesting Backstory

Horai, a little island nation, is where the story begins.

As told by Destructoid, a small federation known as Tenkaku sprung up to confront Tenro Horai's empire in an attempt to rid the world of this one of the nation's most powerful men with remarkable power.

However, the Tenkaku, except for one pilot by the name of Shinra, were utterly defeated by Horai's might, losing fight after battle and became extinct.

After being shot down, Shinra is dragged from the wreckage of his fighter and is given medical attention by the old residents of the isolated village of Ikaruga, where they had been banished during Horai's rule.

Shinra then swears to resist the Horai at all costs and discovers that the elderly villagers have created a fighter they call Ikaruga. It was the first ship ever created, able to handle both the polarities of light and dark energy, and switch between them instantly.

The locals give Shinra control of the ship as a form of trust.

Destructoid mentioned that in the 2-player mode, Shinra is accompanied by Kagari, a former Horai mercenary whose life he had spared. To make amends for her past, she sets off on her own ship, the Ginkei, to assist him on his journey.

This is also where the game starts.

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Ikagura's Gameplay

The mechanics of the game are rather simple. While attempting to survive and rack up as many points as you can, you navigate your ship through five chapters of absolute bullet hell.

You can watch its gameplay below:

Your ship can fire either white/blue light energy or black/red dark energy, as shown in the video. The enemy ships will either shoot light energy, dark energy, or both at once.

Your capability to choose the right polarity at the appropriate time plays a significant role in the game. When using the white ship, you have the ability to deflect all white projectiles and deal twice as much damage to dark opposing vessels.

The game has three difficulty settings: Easy, Normal, and Hard.

You Can Still Play Ikagura on Modern Consoles

In 2001, the game received its first arcade release, and a splendid Sega Dreamcast port followed. Additionally, it has been ported for the GameCube and Xbox 360 in the preceding years, according to Forbes.

It's astonishing how much the game was able to accomplish with such a basic structure, at times even morphing into a puzzle game.

At the end of May 2018, it was even made available for the Switch.

If you're interested in playing the Ikagura today, you can purchase it on Stream, Xbox, and Nintendo.

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