Nothing interrupts an experiment in drunken gaming like something awesome coming along.
Viking, for a moment, got better, when I unlocked a combo of sorts. Then the bad design started rearing its ugly head, and overall awful level design, bad enough to make you question your undying but undeserved love of Sega, and the skills of Creative Assembly.
Well Ikaruga, you came along and reminded me of why I still love my Dreamcast. Ikaruga is a ridiculously great shooter that requires thought and strategy beyond holding the fire button to do well, and at a certain point, to survive at all. The game’s key mechanic of polarity(absorb one type of enemy fire, get decimated by another) means paying attention to your surroundings, knowing when to flip, and being able to pick out fire patterns with two sets mixed in. One color to dodge, one to ignore, but getting complacent will result in that flipping around on you without being prepared.
A full review of Ikaruga will come within a few days after I dive in obsessively and gleefully, but for now, grab the demo off X-box live. Blow things up, and appreciate one of the finest pieces of a generation and of its type. Excercise brain and reflex in one wonderful game!
