Nintendo Switch: 15 GameCube Games That Must Be On Virtual Console

15. Ikaruga

Ikaruga was vicious.

A true hardcore gamer’s game, this was a shoot ‘em up made in the style of shooters from the days of yore before first-person shooters were all the rage. Originally released in arcades in 2001 and SEGA Dreamcast in 2002, Ikaruga made the jump across to GameCube in 2003.

The beauty of the gameplay in Ikaruga was in the black-red/white-blue dynamic. Your ship would alternately take damage or absorb energy from different colour projectiles and you could swap states at any time. There were just five levels but ask any SHMUP fan and you’ll know that quantity doesn’t matter a damn with Ikaruga: quality does.

The graphical presentation was also excellent as stages were rendered in full 3D and yet because of the colour dynamic, enemy projectiles never got “lost” amongst the screen.

You’ll never best this in one day: this is a game where you’ll have to hone your skills repeatedly with thousands of deaths. Git gud and all that.