Ikaruga

Treasure / December 20, 2001 / Rated Everyone 10+

Data last updated July 24, 2026

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Released

2001

Publisher

SEGA

Time to beat

~1 hrs

Community

788

Shoot! Dodge! and... Get Hit!?
Ikaruga is a vertical shoot 'em up that features an unique polarity-switching gameplay.
Switch the ship's polarity and "get hit and absorb" enemy bullets!
Achieve High Score with the chain bonus!FeaturesThe player ship, all enemies and bullets are black or white.
Player's polarity can be switched at will.
Your ship can absorb enemy bullets of the same polarity.
Filled energy goes to fire powerful homing lasers! (Release Power)
Defeat 3 enemies in a row of the same polarity and get the chain bonus!
Building up high scores feels like a puzzle game?
Spectacular 3D graphics. Fast and smooth game play.
2 Players game (Local) and
Double Play Mode: You can play 2 Players game with one controller.
5 levels. Tactical level design and boss battles.
3 difficulty levels: EASY, NORMAL, HARD.
Change your tactics depending on the difficulty.
2 Game modes: ARCADE, PROTOTYPE (not hidden).
Replay data save is available.
You can also download them from the Leaderboards.
Vertical screen mode support.
You can also play the game like a side-scrolling shooter by rotating only the game screen.
Xbox360 controller, Keyboard and Mouse support.

Ikaruga is a bullet hell game developed by Treasure. It is the spiritual sequel to Radiant Silvergun (1998) and was originally released in Japanese arcades in December 2001. The story follows a rebel pilot named Shinra as he battles an enemy nation using a specially designed fighter called the Ikaruga which can flip between two polarities, black and white. This polarity mechanism is the game's key feature and the foundation for its stage and enemy design. All enemies and bullets in the game are either black or white. Bullets which are the same color as the player are absorbed while the others will kill the player. The game features both single-player and cooperative modes.