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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ikaruga.png]]
2->''"I will not die until I achieve something.\
3Even though the ideal is high, I never give in.\
4Therefore, I never die with regrets."''
5-->-- Proverb that appears on every startup of the game
6
7''Ikaruga'' is a VerticalScrollingShooter developed by Creator/{{Treasure}}, as a follow-up to ''VideoGame/RadiantSilvergun''.
8
9Here, everything comes in one of two polarities: black or white. Black ships fire black shots, and white ships fire white. Your ship is unique in that you can switch between the two polarities at will. Your ship's BattleAura can [[EnergyAbsorption absorb bullets]] of the same polarity, but is [[OneHitPointWonder destroyed by shots]] of the opposite polarity. However, ''your'' shots do damage to both polarities, with double damage to targets of the opposite polarity, giving you the option to fly with your defences down to increase your offensive power. Absorbed bullets [[ChargedAttack charge up]] your special attack, a [[{{Roboteching}} homing]] BeamSpam. Finally, the scoring system allows you to accumulate "chain" multipliers by destroying three enemies of the same polarity in a row.
10
11That's all there is to the game: no other gimmicks, no other features. Just five levels of careful design, switching polarity, and more bullets than you can shake a stick at. ''Ikaruga'' is a work of art that way: it takes a simple idea and plays that idea to its most logical extreme. All five levels are difficult in one way or another, but there is something to be said for elegance.
12
13Released as an arcade game (using the Sega NAOMI platform) and on the Platform/SegaDreamcast in Japan in 2001, it was later ported to the Platform/NintendoGameCube around the world in 2003. In 2008, it was ported to Platform/{{Xbox 360}} via Platform/XboxLiveArcade. In 2013, a port of the game was released for {{Platform/Android|Games}} smartphones. In the same year, an arcade rerelease of the game was released on the Creator/{{Taito}} [=NESiCAxLive=] digital distribution platform. A Windows PC port based on the Xbox 360 version of ''Ikaruga'' was [[http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=183195387 greenlit]] for Platform/{{Steam}}, and consequently released on February 18, 2014. A version for Platform/NintendoSwitch was released on May 29, 2018, followed by a Platform/PlayStation4 port on June 29 of the same year.
14
15----
16!!WARNING: The big list is approaching at full throttle. According to the data, it is identified as Tropes. NO REFUGE
17* TwoAndAHalfD: Almost everything in the game is 3D, but the game, being a BulletHell shooter, plays out on a 2D plane with some cutscenes shown on a full 3D plane at the start of each stage and boss, as well as at the end of the entire game.
18* ActionGirl: Kagari, pilot of the Ginkei.
19* AdvancingBossOfDoom: Chapter 3's BossInMookClothing near the end.
20* AirstrikeImpossible: Several of the levels hew closely to this trope, with the Ikaruga flying through incredibly tight corridors to reach its target. The high-speed trench run in Level 3, and the boss of Level 4, are particular stand-outs.
21* AllThereInTheManual: In the true tradition of shoot 'em ups, the only place you will find anything remotely resembling a coherent plot for the game. And not even in that for the [=GameCube=] version.
22** [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/dreamcast/file/561887/23884 CTRL+F 'Extras' to read an English translation of the prologue from the Dreamcast GD-ROM]].
23* AmbiguousGender: Horai Tenro.
24* AnimalMotifs: Ikaruga and Ginkei, the two ships, are named after birds. Ikaruga is also the name of the village where it was built.
25* ArcWords: ''Ikaruga departs.''
26** ''I will not die until I achieve something''
27* ArrangeMode: The console and PC ports include the Prototype Mode, where both normal fire and the BeamSpam consume ammo, but absorbing bullets will give it back. Firing with no ammo leaves you with a [[EmergencyWeapon weak short-range weapon]].
28* ArtifactOfDoom: The PostFinalBoss, [[spoiler:the Stone-Like]].
29* TheAtoner: Kagari, as she used to be a mercenary for the Horai.
30* BattleshipRaid: The whole of stage four.
31* BelatedHappyEnding: To ''VideoGame/RadiantSilvergun'' -- [[spoiler:whereas that story ends with the revelation that the events of the game are all a GroundhogDayLoop, ''Ikaruga'' ends with the heroes destroying the entity that was causing it]].
32* BigBad: Horai Tenro
33* BiggerOnTheInside: The arcade version of the game takes up only ''eighteen megabytes''. Trust us, that's impressive.
34** The Dreamcast version's disc image, when compressed, took up around 20-100 megabytes depending on the compression method, and the size of an average CD-ROM (around 650-700mb) uncompressed.
35** The [[http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Ikaruga/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258410878 XBLA version]] is no slouch either; for a game enhanced for 720p, it squeezes by at fifty megabytes, which is saying more than other shooters on the service enhanced for high-definition.
36* BioAugmentation: This is Kagari's InformedAbility, which in-universe makes her more resistant to CombatBreakdown than a normal human like Shinra.
37* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Shinra and Kagari [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu destroy the Stone-Like]], breaking the cycle from ''VideoGame/RadiantSilvergun'', but [[TheHeroDies they die]] [[HeroicSacrifice in the process]]. However, it's implied (according to the Japanese version) they AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence]].
38* BossInMookClothing: {{Subverted}} in Chapter 5 with the huge ships that fire massive sprays of bullets... except the bullets are all in ''one color'', allowing you to safely rapidly soak up bullets for a counterattack.
39* BossWarningSiren: In the same vein as ''Radiant Silvergun''.
40--> "'''WARNING''': The big enemy is approaching at full throttle. According to the data, it is identified as 'Butsutekkai'. '''NO REFUGE'''"
41--> "There is no refuge: unable to avoid firing."
42* BottomlessMagazines: {{Averted}} in the console-exclusive Prototype Mode. Firing a shot uses one bullet, and firing your HomingLasers uses 120. [[EmergencyWeapon If you run out of bullets, you'll be downgraded to a short-range attack.]] Bullets can be replenished by absorbing enemy bullets, and you can store up to 999 bullets.
43* BulletHell: While its difficulty has arguably been eclipsed by some of the more recent entries in the genre, the game will still throw some truly intimidating patterns at you. [[http://ryuzie.sakura.ne.jp/ikaruga/text/tageri/tageri_big.jpg Perhaps the most infamous example...]]
44** Though this game allows you to fly straight into enemy attacks so long as your color matches what's being shot at you. The real trick is knowing how to flow seamlessly between the polarities in times when both colors are staggeringly close to one another (you might be absorbing a black laser, but as you are, tiny white globs are making their way towards your ship and you need to figure out how to either dodge them or safely switch polarities without getting yourself blown up by the black laser).
45* CastFromLifespan: Simply piloting the Ikaruga and Ginkei prematurely ages the pilots' brain cells.
46* ChallengeRun: At least in the Xbox 360 version, there's a scoreboard for [[PacifistRun "Dot Eater"]] play - meaning you don't fire a single shot, collecting points by surviving and by using your shield to absorb every last bullet you can. This is much harder than you may think, as there are points throughout the game that are literal walls. Without the ability to fire and destroy these walls, you have to align the Ikaruga just right to slip through the single pixel holes in them.
47* ChargedAttack: The "collect" kind. Notably, you can use the attack even if the meter isn't fully charged; you just get fewer homing lasers from your BeamSpam.
48* ComputerVoice: The Ikaruga and Ginkei fighters. Their voice is somewhat hard to comprehend, though, especially during the epilogue.
49* CoresAndTurretsBoss: Misago, the Stage 4 boss and MiniBoss.
50* DamnYouMuscleMemory: The Xbox 360 port slightly changes some of the enemy formations, which can trip up players who are used to previous ports.
51* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: The Ikaruga's and Ginkei's final attack, which involves releasing all the ship's [[PowerLimiter restraining devices]] and has a very good chance of blowing it up.
52* DarkerAndEdgier: Treasure somehow took the incredible bleakness of ''VideoGame/RadiantSilvergun'' and make it darker, in particular with the nearly monochrome watercolor artwork and dysfunctional heroes. However, [[spoiler:it has a LighterAndSofter ending]].
53* DeadlyWalls: Half of the stages are filled to the brim with these. Sometimes, avoiding these and CollisionDamage is ''harder'' than avoiding the bullets.
54* DefectorFromDecadence: Kagari defected from the Horai because she wanted to see the "freedom" Shinra and the villagers were talking about.
55* {{Determinator}}: Shinra is stated in the backstory as someone who, despite being cool-headed, is also very adamant in his beliefs. This, combined with his goal of wanting to have absolutely no regrets when he dies, sometimes makes him look like a DeathSeeker in the eyes of others.
56* EmergencyWeapon: The console ports offer a "Prototype Mode" that averts the genre-standard BottomlessMagazines trope. If you run out of bullets, you can still fire weak short-range shots.
57* TheEmpire: The Horai
58* EternalRecurrence: Spelled out as such in the final chapter and then defied with the destruction of the PostFinalBoss.
59--> '''[[FinalBoss Tageri]]''': It is impossible to cut off this [[TitleDrop metempsychosis]] forever. You can also see it, can't you?
60* EvilAllAlong: The [[spoiler:Stone-Like]], in contrast to its BlueAndOrangeMorality nature in ''VideoGame/RadiantSilvergun'', is shown to be downright evil here, being the driving factor that motivates the Horai to begin their conquest of the world in the first place.
61* GadgeteerGenius: Amanai is the Ikaruga village's chief engineer who built the Ikaruga for Shinra and (reluctantly) gave Kagari's Ginkei the same abilities that the Ikaruga has.
62* AGodAmI: Horai Tenro and her followers, once they found the [[ArtifactOfDoom Power of the Gods]] and started calling themselves the Divine Ones.
63* GoodColorsEvilColors: Averted, as the heroes switch between LightIsGood and DarkIsNotEvil, while the villains switch between LightIsNotGood and DarkIsEvil (in fact, the bosses use ''both tropes'' simultaneously), befitting the game's polarity mechanic.
64* GratuitousEnglish: A few Ikaruga-related art pieces can be seen with the phrase [[http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/8154/wall03jx2.jpg "I'm not regret."]]
65* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler: The Stone-Like, which was responsible for corrupting Horai.]]
66* HeelFaceTurn: Shinra is attacked by Kagari in the prologue. After he defeats her ''and'' stops her from committing suicide, [[DefeatMeansFriendship she decides to help him out instead]].
67* HijackedByGanon: [[spoiler: The Stone-Like from ''VideoGame/RadiantSilvergun'' is once again the cause of ''Ikaruga'''s troubles, this time having corrupted Horai into a power hungry dictator and granting her unimaginable powers, and is later confronted as the FinalBoss after Tageri is destroyed.]]
68* HitboxDissonance: Knowing the exact position of your hitbox is vital to getting the Dot Eater! rank. You have to be very precise in your positioning in order to get past walls, blocks, and enemies you're normally supposed to shoot to safely progress.
69* HoldTheLine: Just like ''Radiant Silvergun'', [[spoiler:the PostFinalBoss disables your weapons]]. The only objective is to survive for 60 seconds.
70* ImpressivePyrotechnics: Any time a boss is destroyed.
71* IronicEcho: Kagari uses the game's opening proverb to convince Amanai to [[spoiler: drop the Ikaruga's and Ginkei's restraining devices]].
72* KaizoTrap: When the boss of Chapter 2 dies, the second plate-like object that protects its weak points gets blown off. If your ship is directly below it, you can still die from getting hit by it, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RFxlMnxPkQ&t=08m56s like so.]]
73** If you defeat the FinalBoss but [[spoiler:fail to survive the [[PostFinalBoss Stone-Like]], whose battle takes place ''after'' the final chapter]], you get NoEnding.
74** {{Inverted}} with the [[spoiler:[[PostFinalBoss Stone-Like]], which is destroyed by the last volleys from your ships after your own self-destruct]].
75* LaResistance: Tenkaku, which was defeated before the game even starts.
76* LighterAndSofter: The story is somewhat more positive in tone, and ends with [[spoiler:a BittersweetEnding rather than one where [[StableTimeLoop nothing]] [[ShootTheShaggyDog gets fixed]]]].
77* MeaningfulName: Ikaruga is the name of the Japanese Grosbeak (and a village where said birds are found). All the mooks, the bosses, and the Ginkei (Player 2 ship) are also named after a bird in Japanese. The Sword of Acala and [[spoiler:the Stone-Like]] are references to Vajrayana Buddhism.
78* MickeyMousing: The musical score is synchronized to the progression of the levels.
79* {{Minimalism}}: In contrast to ''Radiant Silvergun'' and its complex weapon scheme and weapon levels, ''Ikaruga'' only gives you a basic rapid-fire blaster with constant firepower and a {{homing laser|s}} ChargedAttack.
80* MilesToGoBeforeISleep: Kagari, although this is not apparent beyond the back-story. After meeting Shinra, as well as the villagers who gave him the Ikaruga and outfitted her Ginkei with the same ReversePolarity technology that exists on the Ikaruga, she found their idea of "freedom" to be something that could possibly surpass Horai's goal of conquest, and wants to see it for herself before she dies.
81* MisbegottenMultiplayerMode: 2-player mode is overall a worse experience than 1-player. First, players don't overlap each other's ships, they will push one another[[note]]This is because if both players could overlap, one player could just stay in white and the other in black, and as long as they stuck together they would be invulnerable to attacks of both polarities since the bullets would be eaten by either shield before they could reach the ships' hitboxes.[[/note]], potentially into an object and killing each other. Second, the game's scoring system heavily emphasizes precision shooting, and chains are separated by player, meaning that both players will have a very difficult time trying to score well due to accidentally [[{{Griefer}} or otherwise]] shooting each other's targets. The only real reason it exists is to allow the second player slot to be filled on an arcade cabinet (and thus allow the operator to make more money).
82* NecessaryDrawback: ''Ikaruga'' is one of the few shmups where, in a two-player game, the player ships cannot overlap each other; they will just push one another. Why? Because if this was possible, one player could stay in white polarity and the other in black, then stay close together so that their shields will intercept enemy attacks before they can reach either ship's hitboxes, which are smaller than that of their shields. At that point the only hazards would be damage from [[CollisionDamage colliding with enemies]] and [[DeadlyWalls walls]].
83* NoFairCheating: Don't try to cheese the Chapter 3 boss by dying and then abusing MercyInvincibility to move into one of the corners outside of the boss's ring. It will just move to box you against the nearest corner of the screen, killing you again.
84* NotActuallyCosmeticAward: Only if you're playing the Xbox 360 port and also have ''VideoGame/RadiantSilvergun'' on the same platform -- unlocking any achievement in ''Ikaruga'' unlocks its scoring system for use in ''RSG''.
85* NotCompletelyUseless: In [[ArrangeMode Prototype Mode]], if you run out of bullets you'll be switched over to [[EmergencyWeapon emergency bullets that have barely any range]]. However, given that the game's scoring system relies heavily on precision shooting, it is very useful for picking off specific enemies without accidentally destroying other ones, and indeed many superplays of Prototype Mode rely on this weapon in places.
86* ObiWanMoment: From the [[spoiler:Ikaruga]] right after [[spoiler:its restraining device is turned off]].
87* OneHitPointWonder: The Ikaruga and Ginkei can absorb unlimited hits from shots of the same color as their current polarity. Take one hit from a shot of the opposite color, however, and...'''''[[StuffBlowingUp boom]]'''''.
88%%* OneWordTitle
89* PacifistRun: It is perfectly possible to complete ''Ikaruga'' without ever firing a single shot. Doing so for an entire level earns you the rank of "Dot Eater!"
90* PostDefeatExplosionChain: Most of the bosses do this when killed, with parts of them breaking away and blowing up with smaller accompanying shockwaves just before their central part explodes violently.
91* PowerLimiter: The Ikaruga and Ginkei have these to prevent their ships from blowing up from storing too much excess power. [[spoiler:Turning this off allows the pilot(s) to use the DangerousForbiddenTechnique and destroy the PostFinalBoss in a HeroicSacrifice]].
92* RankInflation: Good luck getting those elusive "S++" rankings, buddy!
93* RecurringRiff: Certain riffs are present in the majority of the songs.
94* ReversePolarity: The main gameplay mechanic.
95* {{Roboteching}}: Your homing lasers and some of the enemies projectiles will arch and bend to their targets.
96* RuleOfSymbolism: The chapter titles — Ideal, Trial, Faith, Reality, and Metempsychosis — represent man's struggle towards enlightenment, with the aura-enveloped Ikaruga craft symbolising the human soul.
97* ScoringPoints: The game uses the chaining system from ''Radiant Silvergun'', but with a few twists to make it more beginner-friendly -- after every three enemies, you are allowed to change enemy color, and the chain bonus maxes out sooner at 25,600 points for your 9th chain and above, meaning screwing up once won't completely wreck your score. Additionally, since scoring is not tied to your ship's firepower, it is possible to complete the game in a reasonable timeframe without any regard to scoring.
98* SeeminglyHopelessBossFight: After defeating Tageri, [[spoiler:the Stone-Like emerges from the remains]] and attacks you with several different patterns of bullets for 60 seconds. You can't even shoot, much less damage it. After you dodge and absorb the BulletHell, your ship [[spoiler:performs a HeroicSacrifice BeamSpam with the energy charged up during that time. Shinra and Kagari [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascends to a higher plane of existence]] according to the storyline in the Japanese version]].
99* SpiritualAntithesis: Despite the similarities of gameplay concepts, ''VideoGame/RadiantSilvergun'' and ''Ikaruga'' have distinct differences between each other.
100** ''Radiant Silvergun'' featured a large assortment of weapons that can be leveled up through scoring, while ''Ikaruga'' only have two and foregoes the leveling system altogether.
101** ''Radiant Silvergun'' '''requires''' learning how to score in order to keep weapons powered up, but ''Ikaruga'' can be reliably completed without learning how to score and, in fact, recognizes {{Pacifist Run}}s.
102** ''Radiant Silvergun'' has stages that are broken up into smaller sections that each culminates with a boss battle, while ''Ikaruga''[='=]s stages are singular, continuous levels with fewer boss encounters.
103** ''Radiant Silvergun'' was developed using an in-house engine that features a mixture of 2D sprites with occasional use of 3D models, whereas ''Ikaruga'' uses a fully 3D game engine that was co-developed by Creator/GrevLtd.
104** ''Radiant Silvergun'' is displayed on a TATE (horizontal) screen, whereas ''Ikaruga'' is displayed on a YOKO (vertical) screen.
105** ''Radiant Silvergun'' has a bright, colorful environments with an {{anime}} artstyle, and an engrossing plot throughout the game (in the Saturn/Story Modes of its home ports at least), while ''Ikaruga''[='=]s environments are confined mostly to red/blacks and white/blues, uses realistic character designs, and the story beats are left to the manual and (in the later home ports) in-game documentation.
106** The story of ''Radiant Silvergun'' starts off comical, but swiftly becomes an impossible struggle against an omnipotent god-like entity and an army of machines working for it in a depopulated Earth, [[spoiler:which ends with a EternalRecurrence]]; ''Ikaruga'' begins with the SoleSurvivor of a failed LaResistance charging off to face an unstoppable human army's entire force ''alone'' [[spoiler:and ''winning'', even managing to destroy the entity from ''Radiant Silvergun'' in a DyingMomentOfAwesome]].
107* StealthSequel: [[spoiler:The appearance of the Stone-Like as the PostFinalBoss implies that ''Ikaruga'' and ''VideoGame/RadiantSilvergun'' are set in the same {{Continuity}}, albeit ''Ikaruga'' occurs in the final cycle of the EternalRecurrence set-up from ''Silvergun'']].
108* TakingYouWithMe: On Normal difficulty, enemies that match your current polarity will fire a cluster of same-polarity "revenge bullets" when destroyed, potentially getting you killed if you switch to the opposite polarity immediately afterwards. On Hard difficulty, ''all'' enemies will fire bullets of their respective polarities when destroyed.
109* TennisBoss: Battling Tageri can provide shades of this as both it and you trade homing lasers with each other. Even better, its health is scaled so that if you hit every return shot, [[MickeyMousing it'll die exactly at the end of the musical phrase]]. However, given that Tageri has 30-odd life bars, which are progressively depleted each time it takes a hit from your weapons fire, this trope is ultimately a subversion.
110* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler: The Stone-Like is this to Horai, and it's confronted right after defeating Tageri.]]
111* ThemeNaming: The levels are named after the stages of enlightenment in Buddhism, and the ships (including bosses) are named after birds.
112* TimeLimitBoss: Every boss battle, though you don't lose if time runs out... the boss simply moves on to other, more important things, leaving you free to go on. Apparently. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh8UskS0Gl8&t=04m09s Eboshidori]] will even FacePalm!
113* TitleDrop: In the weirdest sense. The birds that are flying in the credits? Japanese Grosbeaks. Ikaruga literally means "Japanese Grosbeak."
114* TouchedByVorlons: The ruler of the Horai was a beautiful woman who came across [[spoiler:the Stone-Like during an excavation]]. She turns into a powerful, insane old hag bent on conquest.
115* UnreadablyFastText: Seen (very briefly) at the start of each stage.
116* WellIntentionedExtremist: Horai and the Divine Ones paint themselves as this, claiming to conquer one nation after another “in the name of peace”.
117%% * YinYangBomb
118----
119->''"Is this what we wished for?\
120Don't worry, we will understand each other someday.\

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