Choose Ikaruga
Choose Ikaruga if you want the Steam Leaderboards side of the pairing. On Steam, it's Steam Deck Verified, so handheld play works out of the box. 1,193 Steam reviews back the pick.
Ikaruga vs ZeroRanger
Ikaruga and ZeroRanger both land in Action, Indie on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both share Action, Indie on Steam. Ikaruga (2014) is 4 years older than ZeroRanger (2018). Both sit near 96% positive on Steam (Ikaruga: 1,193 reviews, ZeroRanger: 1,580). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose ZeroRanger
Choose ZeroRanger if you want the Shared/Split Screen Co-op and Co-op side of the pairing. On Steam, it's the newer release (2018) and ships with the modern feature baseline. 1,580 Steam reviews back the pick.
Both Ikaruga and ZeroRanger sit in Action and Indie on Steam and both list Multi-player and Shared/Split Screen, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (95.1% vs 95.9% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.
Side-by-side comparison
 Ikaruga |  ZeroRanger | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2014 | 2018 |
| Genres | Action, Indie | Action, Indie |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Verified | Deck Playable |
| Price | 9.99 USD | 11.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 95.1% positive (1,193 reviews) | 95.9% positive (1,580 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player | Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Co-op |
| Developers | TREASURE | System Erasure |
Side by side
- Both share Action, Indie on Steam.
- Ikaruga (2014) is 4 years older than ZeroRanger (2018).
- Both sit near 96% positive on Steam (Ikaruga: 1,193 reviews, ZeroRanger: 1,580).
- Ikaruga is currently ~17% cheaper on Steam than ZeroRanger (9.99 USD vs. 11.99 USD).
- ZeroRanger has co-op; Ikaruga does not.
- Steam Deck: Ikaruga is Deck Verified, ZeroRanger is Deck Playable.
Ikaruga vs ZeroRanger — FAQ
- Which is better, Ikaruga or ZeroRanger?
- On Steam reviews the two are nearly tied: Ikaruga sits at 95.1% positive (1,193 reviews), ZeroRanger at 95.9% (1,580). The choice usually comes down to genre fit and the platform features each one supports — see the comparison table above.
- Should I play Ikaruga or ZeroRanger first?
- If you want chronology, Ikaruga (2014) came out before ZeroRanger (2018). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are Ikaruga and ZeroRanger similar?
- They overlap on Action, Indie on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.