Ikaruga 2001

Is it still worth playing?

Treasure's 2001 vertically scrolling shoot 'em up for Japanese arcades, in which the rebel pilot Shinra fights the Horai nation in a ship that switches between black and white polarities. It has single player and two player co-op. You switch your ship's polarity, which decides which bullets you absorb and which are lethal. Absorbed bullets charge a homing laser, one level for every 10 bullets. There are no pick ups or power ups, and chain bonuses come from destroying enemies of the same color in sequence. Console versions add modes such as Bullet Eater, where you never fire. It built a cult following among import gamers before its Western release. Even now, a single polarity switch that turns bullets from danger into ammunition makes every screen a puzzle of order and timing.