An interesting feature of the arcade release, which is also included in the home formats, is the 'Trial Game' mode, where infinite lives are awarded for a single credit on the first level, but only the first two chapters of the game can be played, offering a good way to practice. If it is turned on its side, it can take up the whole screen and still have the same aspect ratio. When the game is played with the display in a normal orientation (YOKO mode), the sides of the screen are blank because the game field itself is taller than it is wide.
This same mode can be used without rotating the monitor by configuring the controls, in essence changing the game from a vertical scrolling shooter to a horizontal one. It also has a TATE mode - the ability to rotate the game's display by ninety degrees while the player's monitor rests on its left side, for full-screen arcade size.
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On the opposite end of the spectrum is the entirely original "bullet eater" or "dot eater" strategy, wherein the player does not shoot enemies, including bosses, which retreat after a set period.ĭespite the fact that only four people are responsible for its creation, Ikaruga features full three-dimensional landscapes and a soundtrack.
The more sets of three enemies that are dispatched in a row, the more points are acquired, eventually rewarding the player with an extra chance/life. A chain occurs when three enemies of the same polarity are destroyed consecutively. The game also presents navigational challenges where the player must maneuver through continual streams of weapons fire, using their shields to absorb one color while avoiding the others.Īdding an extra layer of gameplay, skillful players may also perform combination "chains" for points. This is especially true when fighting bosses, as they often fire bullets of both colors in overlapping patterns. Thus, much of the challenge of Ikaruga comes from careful polarity-switching, choosing between high damage and (relative) invulnerability. Switching the ship's polarity also changes the color of the ship's bullets, and shooting an enemy using opposite-polarity bullets will cause double damage. Same-color bullets are absorbed and converted into energy for the game's special weapon, a homing laser. a black bullet hitting a white ship and vice versa) can kill the player. Only bullets of an opposite polarity (i.e. Ikaruga's gameplay centers primarily around the polarity mechanic.