Iridion 3D

"It's fast. It's frantic. It's as repetitive as your third period history class."

Iridion 3-D was one of the GameBoy Advance's launch titles. It follows in the footsteps of futuristic ''rail'' space shooters like Star Fox.

The game takes place in the future. An unknown enemy race, known as the Iridion, has attacked Earth and now you must defend Earth, take to space, and finally destroy the Iridion on their homeworld.

Gameplay (12/30): It's fast. It's frantic. It's as repetitive as your third period history class. You control your ship, which can move around the screen with the D-pad and shoot with the A button as you fight through the game's 7 levels. That's about it, my friend. No super-powerful-in-your-face nova bombs. No side plots or hidden levels. In fact, there's hardly any story at all.

The levels themselves are VERY challenging. You basically will fly through each level for a few minutes, blasting wave after wave of enemies from the sky with your cannon. You also get the occasional space debris or lava fountain to avoid. At the end of each level, you fight a boss. The bosses themselves are huge and deadly. Keeping the game to its ''Fast and Hard'' theme, each boss may take you several tries to beat. Too bad you can only start with 5 lives and no continues.

The game uses passwords to save. After you beat a level's boss, you get a password that will pick you up right where you left off. While passwords ARE annoying, it's better than simply having NO save feature, and a battery-backed save would make the game too easy.

Graphics (25/25): The graphics in this game are simply beautiful. From the waters of the Pacific Ocean to the huge enemy space stations, the graphics will make you think you're playing on a home console.

There's no drop in the frame rate whatsoever, even when you are being attacked by a wave of enemy droids shooting hundreds of bullets at you at the same time.

Overall, the graphics are easily the best part of the game. It's too bad graphics don't make the game.

Sound/Music (20/20): The music is another outstanding quality in this game. The fast, futuristic techno beat will get you psyched up to take on the levels. While it sounds great on the GameBoy's speakers, it sounds even better with headphones on, where you get a full stereo effect.

The sound effects are nice, also. You've got your standard bullet firing-ship exploding track. It's not revolutionary, but it's good nonetheless.

Fun Factor / Replayability (7/25): Sadly, this game just sinks like the Titanic here. Once you play through and beat the game, there's little incentive for you to do so again. There ARE two difficulty levels however: Normal (Translation: Really Hard), and Hard (Translation: Really really really hard).

You can also use passwords to unlock a Gallery feature or re-fight the game's bosses, but these features don't add much overall to the game's experience.

Overall:

Game Design: 12/30 - Basic. You won't find anything special here, kids.

Graphics: 25/25 - Absolutely stunning.

Sound: 20/20 - A great soundtrack for an otherwise mediocre game.

Fun Factor / Replayability: 7/25 - Play though it one or two times. Have some mindless fun. Then watch it collect dust.

Total Score: 64/100
Score out of 10: 6.4/10
Rounded Score: 6/10

While this game provides some mindless fun, it's mostly just eye (and ear) candy. If you're interested in the game, I would suggest renting it first. If you're a fan of the genre, I would still suggest renting it first. You may like this game, you may hate it. Just keep in mind that this is mostly a showcase of the GameBoy Advance's abilities. Hopefully, this game will lead to better and more sophisticated games.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 09/10/01, Updated 09/10/01