Ikaruga

Shoot! Dodge! and... Get Hit!? "Ikaruga" is a vertical shoot 'em up that features an unique polarity-switching gameplay. Switch the ship's polarity and "get hit and absorb" enemy bullets! Achieve High Score with the chain bonus!

Ikaruga is a shoot 'em up, bullet hell and arcade game developed by and published by Treasure.
Released on February 18th 2014 is available only on Windows in 2 languages: English and Japanese.

It has received 2,173 reviews of which 2,057 were positive and 116 were negative resulting in an impressive rating of 9.0 out of 10. 😍

The game is currently priced at 4.49€ on Steam and has a 50% discount.

The Steam community has classified Ikaruga into these genres:

Shoot 'Em Up Bullet Hell Arcade Classic Action Great Soundtrack Shooter Sci-fi Difficult Indie Local Co-Op Addictive 2D Singleplayer Retro Space Co-op Local Multiplayer Controller Puzzle

Media & Screenshots

Get an in-depth look at Ikaruga through various videos and screenshots.

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Requirements

These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.

Windows

OS *: Windows 8 / 7 / Vista / XP
Processor: Intel Core2 Duo / Athron64 X2
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics: DirectX 9.0c support (256 MB VRAM)
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Storage: 512 MB available space
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c support

Reviews

Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.

Oct. 2024

"Don't worry, we will understand each other someday." I felt like this was the game talking to me, after dying for what felt like hundreds of times on my first playthrough. I took this comment to heart. I thought, maybe, if I kept playing, the game and I would end up understanding each other. Because we didn't really click at first, I misunderstood how the Energy gauge worked, I didn't even realize I could release it for an attack, I didn't interact with the chain system, I didn't bother reading about the story, didn't know the extent of the polarity mechanic; we were still strangers to each other, but I was intrigued. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I became obsessed after that first playthrough and started learning everything I could about this game. I read the story, learned about the characters, I learned about the different buddhist themes and references this game has, read up about Treasure, the connection to Radiant Silvergun, watched superplays, looked at the beautiful art (really, look at it, it's some of the best video game art out there imo). I just became enamored with how much soul this game radiated. Going from clueless to understanding the game inside and out was a transcendent experience. I have a hard time thinking about gaming experiences that were as satisfying as realizing that I could, after a few attempts of failing miserably, /survive/ and get a bunch of chains in Chapter 4, when I thought beforehand that this was utterly impossible for me. I understood what the game wanted to tell me, I understood what it asked of me, and knowing that, I was able to give it what it wanted. I finally felt in sync with Ikaruga, as if the game and I were working together, rather than against each other. I had never even enjoyed a shmup before playing this game, but it's quickly become one of my favorite games of all time. It's an infinitely replayable masterpiece, and I can't see myself getting tired of it anytime soon. It will always have a place in my heart.

Aug. 2024

I've played video games almost my entire life and Ikaruga is the first game to make me question what video games are supposed to be. The surface of Ikaruga is a schmup with cool art and mechanics. When you start to delve deeper, the game starts to feel more like an instrument and each level is a song. Why play a game like this when song and rhythm based games exist? When you fumble a song in Ikaruga, the "schmup" reemerges and you have to use skills to adapt to emergent gameplay situations. Schmups and other old school arcade games with tightly designed scopes find ways to evolve into unique experiences if you dedicate a lot of time to them. Short and dense games like arcade classics stand tall as the ocean of interactive media becomes more shallow.

July 2024

This game will rip your balls off with its difficulty. The scoring system sucks, but can be oddly fun in certain moments since you have to be more methodical in your shooting. Only recommend this title for gamers who have patience and quick reflexes. I have neither.

April 2024

3 of the achievements are locked behind having a friend who's also good at the game and i think that's kind of hilarious

Feb. 2024

I'm terrible at this game, one of the hardest shmups ever made, but the graphics are amazing and the music/sound design is fantastic, great port of a Dreamcast classic, runs at silky smooth 60 FPS in almost any potato. Love to play it once every year or so.

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