It's been a long road, but four months after making it through Steam Greenlight, Ikaruga will finally land on Steam February 18. The shoot 'em up was first released in Japanese arcades in 2001. It came to the Dreamcast in 2002, then for a limited run on Gamecube in 2003, and then Xbox Live Arcade in 2008. A new set of features may help the Steam version find a bigger audience than ever.
The Steam version is based on the most recent Xbox 360 port, but adds Steam achievements, leaderboards, and trading cards. More importantly, the PC port includes full controller support and Steam cloud saving. It's five levels in total, with three difficulty modes and two game modes, Arcade and the more challenging Prototype. The game will also support a local, two player cooperative mode and allow you to switch between vertical and horizontal screen modes.
Ikaruga has long been a favorite among SHMUP aficionados, praised for its take on "bullet hell" gameplay. Ikaruga mixes things up by allowing you to switch between black and white polarities; if your ship is the same color as the bullets, you not only avoid damage, but gain energy that charges a special attack. Blasting enemies with their opposing color also deals greater damage than a white-on-white or black-on-black attack.
Treasure has yet to announce a price. Last month , it also said that it's considering bringing other ports and new titles to Steam.
