Metacritic Games

Ikaruga (Dreamcast)

The last major Dreamcast release is a virtually identical port of the popular vertically scrolling arcade space shooter which never saw the light of day in the U.S.

Treasure
Action, Space Shooter
Players: 2
RP (Rating Pending)
Developer: Treasure
Released September 4, 2002

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

81 / 100

Critic Reviews

100 Play Magazine
This is a short, steely, hard as f--k arcade shooter of the highest order... The graphics are some of the best I've ever seen on Dreamcast, and the soundtrack is insanely great. [Nov 2002, p.83]
90 Gamestyle
Ikaruga is THE paradigm for shoot’em ups. To the regular people out there, Ikaruga is an awe-inspiring and extremely challenging videogame for which no review can do justice.
85 GameSpot
Fans of space shooters owe themselves the opportunity to play Ikaruga, a game that was designed both to impress their sensibilities and to challenge every ounce of their being.
83 netjak
Although the GameCube version is already out, I would recommend Treasure's Dreamcast version. With "Radiant Silvergun" going for 200 bucks on eBay and the Dreamcast progressively fading off into the annals of gaming history, Ikaruga has every chance of becoming a valuable rarity.
58 XenGamers
Ikaruga's unique energy absorption/release and chain-combo bonus systems provide for more in-depth gameplay than many shooters on the market. However, we didn't find it to be a very compelling experience on the small screen.