Treasure, the development squad that made its name crafting genre-defining and genre-breaking titles during the 16-bit and 32-bit console generations, applied its creative chops to the shoot-em-up (or shmup) set in 2001 and released Ikaruga, a renowned shooter that initially graced arcade uprights. The title went on to appear on the Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo Gamecube, Xbox 360, and mobile platforms. Ikaruga ($9.99) is now available as a PC game that retains the fast-paced action and unique polarity-shifting mechanic found in the previous versions, but adds video uploads, numerous options, and a handful of Steam-specific features. This space shooter is a bit plodding in places, and lacks online multiplayer, but it should be considered a must-have title for genre fans.

It's Black, It's White

Most shmups, such as Deathsmiles ($19.99 at Humble Bundle) and Mushihimesama ($19.99 at Green Man Gaming) , simply task you with blasting everything that moves, as quickly as possible, but Ikaruga represents a more thoughtful approach to the genre. Here's how it works: The game contains black enemy craft and white enemy craft, ships that spit lasers that are the same color as the vehicles' hulls. You, on the other hand, control a fighter that can be manually shifted between the black and white polarities, which opens the door to interesting gameplay and tactics.

When your ship is the same polarity as projectiles (say, white versus white), its shield absorbs the energy blasts. Besides acting as a clever defensive technique, the polarity shift takes the absorbed energy and pumps it into your super meter, which enables you to fire a powerful burst of homing lasers at enemies when filled. Notably, this is the only power up in Ikaruga. That's is a departure from the usual shmup, which feeds you a steady supply of upgradable weaponry.

Conversely, when your ship is the opposite color of a projectile (say, black versus white), it can be destroyed with a single shot. The upside, however, is that your craft's offensive damage dramatically increases, which lets you make short work of opposite-color enemies.

As a result, Ikaruga is the thinking person's shmup; gung-ho approaches swiftly result in game-over screens. Though it is a high-octane title that tests your twitch skills, Ikaruga plays very much like a puzzle game. Ikaruga's constant polarity switching, laser dodging, and laser absorption forces you to think several paces ahead of your current action to find success. The interlocking parts work well, resulting in tense, thrilling, and addicting play.

Unfortunately, some stage sections dull the experience a bit. There are areas in which you must navigate your ship between massive, moving blocks to avoid being squashed, slowing the game to a crawl as you patiently wait for a chance to fly around the obstacles.

Outside of those block challenges, Ikaruga's stages encourage you to utilize Treasure's well-designed system, even if you aren't keen to do so. When you encounter one of the hulking boss enemies, you can play it safe and switch to a color that matches its firepower. That option gives you the defense to survive the massive, screen-filling attacks, but not the proper amount of firepower to quickly destroy the foe. If you don't switch to the opposite polarity to raise your offense, you won't beat the boss before it eventually flies away. That severely reduces your chances of landing a spot on the leaderboards—the goal of any true shmup fan.

Aim for the Top

Ranking highly on the Ikaruga worldwide leaderboards also requires mastering the game's chaining mechanic. Destroying three same-color enemies in a row activates a multiplier that boosts your score. The multipliers stack, too, so you're encouraged to shoot down waves of three in succession. You can upload videos of your best runs to the leaderboards for others to admire, too.

Like Deathsmiles and Mushihimesama, Ikaruga lets you play through the game with unlimited continues (that is, the ability to continue playing after dying), but that's weak sauce. True genre fans limit themselves to three lives and zero continues to simulate the arcade experience of chasing the much-desired one-credit clear. In fact, if you play with unlimited continues, you're unable to land a spot on the leaderboards, no matter how high your score.

Compatibility and Options

Ikaruga requires a PC that has at least an Intel Core2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64 X2 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a GPU with 256MB of VRAM. The shooter is officially listed as being compatible with computers running Windows XP through Windows 8, though I played it for hours on end using a Windows 10 ( at Amazon) machine. That said, Ikaruga locked up a few times when I attempted to tinker with the game options.

There's a wealth of options available, too. You can play Ikaruga in numerous resolutions and aspect ratios, ranging from 640 by 480 (4:3) to 1280 by 720 (16:9). Hardcore shmup fans will love the ability to play the game in tate mode. You can also adjust the graphics using anti-aliasing, trilinear filtering, antisotropic filtering, and pixel lighting. The game includes several Steam Trading Cards and Achievements, too.

You can annihilate enemy squadrons alone or in a standard two-player, co-op mode. Unfortunately, Ikaruga lacks online co-op, so you can't play with others via the Internet. In an odd twist, two people also have the option to play using one controller, which comes in handy if you lose or break a second gamepad. However, I suspect that it's really designed for super freaks who want to beat the game solo, using two ships at once. I've tried it, and there's a certain allure to flying a pair of death birds into battle.

Keep Firing

No matter if you're playing alone or with a partner, Ikaruga is a gem of a shoot-'em-up that's just as enjoyable to play now as it was in 2001. Its creative design merges traditional shmup action with puzzle game elements to create a shooter that feels like no other. I could do without the block challenges and the occasional freezing, but Ikaruga is a game that I'd recommend to anyone who wants to experience one of the genre's finest offerings.

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