never really cared for stories in shooters, all you need is a setting and boom, and you’re good
The whole polarity facsimile adds many twists and turns to gameplay. I found myself navigating around mazes of trapped doors, while blasting away enemies and quickly changing polarities to absorb as much enemy fire as I can to build up my energy release. This can prove to be rather challenging and cumbersome simultaneously. Keeping up with the polarities require quick wits at levels that were never dreamed upon in previous shooters. If this is too fast for you to handle, there is a ‘prototype’ option of gameplay available where it throws the polarity system away, and you have a specific reserve of ammo to use for each stage depending on the difficulty level you select. The only downside to this is that you must first beat the main game to unlock the prototype option.
There are also a few more extra ways to play Ikaruga. There is the standard ‘normal play’ mode which is pretty much a direct arcade port where you play through the game’s 18 stages. Then there is the aforementioned prototype option. The ‘practice’ and ‘conquest’ modes are identical where you have a single credit to play in any level that you unlocked in normal play, the only difference in conquest is that you have a few different game speeds to choose from. The last way to play is exclusive to the GameCube version, and it is Challenge mode where you play through Ikaruga using a specific set of game options. Once you’re done playing you get a 12 character password which you enter on the official Ikaruga webpage that uploads your high score.