Ikaruga was the game I wrote a ‘try-out’ review of for Edge magazine following its Japanese Dreamcast release in the summer of 2002. While I prefer its forerunner Radiant Silvergun by some margin, it still holds a special place in my mind as being the game that marked my entry into professional games writing. It’s been fun playing through the game again six years later and its aged gracefully. Few modern games are so focussed and assured and that this title was created by a four-man team is nothing short of extraordinary.

Let’s suppose you know nothing about Ikaruga. Let’s assume that developer Treasure, forbear Radiant Silvergun, director Hiroshi Iuchi and No Refuge are all names and phrases that carry no weight or significance to you. This is a good place to start because, as with the re-release of any classic game, it’s easy to get caught up in the context, the history and the memories and lose sight of the fact that all videogames live or die in the now.

And if you do get the references; if you can one-credit the game blindfolded using only your sphincter; if the mere mention of its name fills your heart with Dreamcast swirls and warm nostalgia; or if you’re approaching this review not as a prospective purchaser but as an inspector, clipboard and beady eyes checking every consonant for the shadow of an error the way only a snooty Japanese shmup aficionado can… Well, try to imagine you know nothing about Ikaruga and discard the context, the history and the memories: that way you might get to fall in love all over again.

You can read the rest over at Eurogamer here.