Ikaruga launching Feb. 18 on PC via Steam

Ikaruga, the beloved vertical shoot-'em-up from Treasure, will be available Feb. 18 in North America and Feb. 19 in Japan on Windows PC via Steam, the studio announced today on Twitter.

Treasure originally released the "bullet hell" shooter, which is distinguished by its black/white polarity mechanic for weapons fire and enemies, in Japanese arcades in 2001 and on Dreamcast in Japan the following year. Ikaruga's first North American release came on the GameCube in 2003, and Microsoft Studios published an Xbox Live Arcade port in 2010.

The upcoming Steam version represents the first time Ikaruga will be available on Windows PC. According to Ikaruga's Steam page, the PC port natively supports the Xbox 360 controller as well as keyboard and mouse, and offers two-player local co-op — including Double Play mode, which allows two people to play on one controller. While all audio is in English, users can enable Japanese text and subtitles. The game also includes Steam achievements, leaderboards and trading cards, and works with the Steam Cloud.

The PC version of Ikaruga made it through Steam Greenlight last fall. The studio said last month that it plans to release more PC ports of its games, and develop an original title for Steam as well.