Retro Reboot SHMUPtember 2025 | Ikaruga (Nintendo GameCube)

Finishing up this year's SHMUPtember, it feels a little empty. While I can review space shooters at any time, it's always invigorating to place focus on the genre that played a large part in shaping my love of this hobby. Like real-time strategies, it's a medium that many general fans see as something exclusively for the hardcore or expert players, but I've always considered most of them pretty accessible. At least for 2025, I may as well finish strong with what is widely considered the best in the genre. But does it hold that title after all these years...?

Developed by one of my favorite development teams (Treasure, the producers of Gunstar Heroes, Guardian Heroes, and Mischief Makers), It's fascinating that during its initial release in Japan, this sequel to Radiant Silvergun was met with fairly mixed reviews. Incorporating more puzzle elements into the manic barrage shooter gameplay, rather than just being a straight-up SHMUP disappointed the player base. There were a few bullet hell games prior to, like Batsugun and Touhou Project, but Ikaruga was the mainstream introduction to the Western gaming audience. It was released exclusively for the GameCube in 2003 in North America and Europe. I wasn't super online around this time, but some magazine outlets like GMR and Electronic Gaming Monthly were speaking about its growing reputation. SHMUPS were few and far in between around this time, I HAD to pre-order a copy.

It certainly was an eye-opener. As the console was capable of progressive scan, GameCube games sported a very crisp look, and this space shooter looks amazing. The speed of it blew my mind, as the fastest SHMUP I played at the time was either Arrow Flash or M.U.S.H.A.. If this was the future of the genre, then I'm in a good place. If only I kept those GameCube component cables...

Ikaruga's polarity system also plays a fascinating role in the game's visuals. It almost plays on your ability to focus on negative space when confronting the black and white enemy fire, obstacles, and the ships. Despite the high-speed backgrounds, they don't derail my ability to navigate or absorb the bullets. The bosses are detailed, and unlike some SHMUPs, where the opposition is usually organic machinery, they're more industrialized and sleek. You still have to target a core, and a few bosses throughout the five stages can require some puzzle solving. Visually, I still think it stands out, retaining its Treasure charm.

the gameplay is a little similar to Radiant Silvergun. Absorbing projectiles and firing the charged shots back at enemies is a trait shared between the two games. Perhaps Ikaruga's very limited arsenal also rubbed fans the wrong way; all you have to work with is your main vulcan gun and your homing missiles. So there isn't a wide array of firepower to choose from, but paying attention to which bullets you're absorbing, when to switch your polarity, and when to fire becomes quite the complex science. And I'll say this as a knock, it's probably a little on the taxing side and does require more than modest practice to get a hang of the nuance. Dare I say, it may be too smart for its own good.

Mind you, this mostly means it has a pretty complex learning curve, on top of maximizing your combo chains for a higher score. This helps earn extra lives, so you can push further. SHMUPs might be the only genre left where achieving the highest score possible is still a prominent fixture of the game experience. Then again, leaderboards also aid in pushing the bragging rights, but quick respawn, replenishing health bars, and save states are modern conveniences that have not fully been integrated into the SHMUP genre.

Now is Ikaruga the best ever space shooter or bullet hell? I feel like that mantle has waned over time, not necessarily because of any real flaws with the game, but the genre has seen many contemporaries share the same spotlight, or dare I say exceed it. The R-Type series, especially the Final line of titles, offer more nuance or a classic challenge.

Not to take anything away from Ikaruga. It remains a quality Treasure title, and certainly earned the reputation it garnered before launching in North America. It does show a little bit of age, like the limited weaponry and the insistence on the "Bullet Eater" gameplay, which is both its greatest strength and biggest weakness. However, it does hold its own. One could say it laid the groundwork for what would become the Vampire Saviors style of roguelike shooters. Ikaruga is still a fast and frantic SHMUP that influenced a new wave of space shooters.