Iridion 3D

"Gamers should avoid this one like the plague..."

This was the first game that I got for the GBA. Looking at the cover, It looked like a fairly decent game, so I decided to get it. This was one of the biggest mistakes i'd ever made...

GRAPHICS (7/10)

Graphically speaking, Iridion 3D is fairly good. The water in Level 2 actually looks like it's 3D, and the clouds in Level 3 are breathtaking. For the most part, Iridion 3D looks pretty good. However, there are parts of the game where Iridion 3D rears it's ugly end. For instance, in Level 2, the columns of water from the alpha bombs don't synchronize with the movement of the water. Not only does this look unrealistic, but it makes judging the distance between the enemies really hard. Also, it makes moving around in the game really confusing. If only Shin'en could get that part right, I'd give the visuals an 8/10. Level 4 is where things really get ugly. The bombs are really hard to see, making them really easy to hit. And also, the enemies are so dark that they're virtually impossible to see. Performance-wise, this level really puts the system to the max. In fact, near the end of the level (the part when hoards of enemies come into view at once) you can tell that the GBA is at it's limit when the framerate slows down to about 10fps. Once you reach the boss of this level though, the game looks good again, and I didn't find any more performance issues. (There was one other in Level 3 during the transition from night to day).

MUSIC (10/10)

This is Iridion 3D at it's best. I absolutely love the soundtrack. If this game has anything that's worth your money, consider it's music. This is the type of game where you'll want to put your headphones on. The music actually fits the theme of each level. My favorite part was the music to the boss of Level 2. I also like the Credits music. There isn't, in fact, any song on this game that I don't like.

SOUND (6/10)

The sound to this game is OKAY, but it's not anything extraordinary. The sound effects of the gold spark laser and the red laser (the one you start out with) are pretty good. I also like the sound effect when you pick up a weapon powerup However, the explosions are pretty dull and can get annoying. I really dislike the sound effects of the purple ''pill'' cannon because it doesn't really sound like anything that would come from a weapon. The ship flyby effects are okay, but nothing more.

GAMEPLAY (1/10)

This is where Iridion 3D really falls apart. Basically, all you do is move around in a two-dimensional plane dodging enemies and firing back with the 'A' button. You never use the 'B', left or right buttons! I was really disappointed in that because one of the reasons I got the GBA was because it had extra buttons!!! But does this game use any of them? NO!!! Might as well forget the other buttons and go back to the original Atari controllers (which had only a joystick and one button). In fact, you could actually play this game with an Atari controller if you could! They could have at least given you a secondary weapon and used the L and R buttons for rolling!! I mean come on! They should take advantage of everything a game console has! Anyway, control is not the worst thing that Iridion 3D has. Not by far. The worst thing is playing the game. Not only is it fairly difficult, but the game is VERY BORING to play. All the game has is 7 ''seemingly'' enormous stages. But in reality, these stages are really small and relatively easy to beat. In fact, It only took be a few days to beat the game on Normal. Every level has basically the same routine. You shoot the bad guys, dodge the enemies, and shoot more bad guys. The only ''somewhat'' interesting enemy in the whole game (not including the bosses) is the one in Level 2 where there are several rotating diamonds that link together to shoot you. The worms in Level 6 are okay, but nothing really special. The bosses, on the other hand, are pretty fun. (Well, most of them are). The one in Level 1 is fun because it's hard to dodge the bullets and the rotating bombs at the same time. However, the one in Level 2 is too easy. For one thing, the boss practically shoots the aqua bombs (the ones that blow up with a column of water) off the screen, letting you simply stay in the center of the screen and blow up the rotating fuselage. When the Cytector goes to the top of the screen to shoot you with his two main guns, all you have to do is stay at the bottom of the screen to be safe. Then after that, when he uses both his guns and fuselage to shoot at you, you can really easy ''fake'' him out to avoid being hit. Levels 3, 5, 6, and 7 make pretty good bosses (Level 7 is easy to beat after you get the idea, though). Level 4 is really easy to beat one you get the trick. Although the bosses put up a really good fight, this game really gets old quick. After about 10 minutes (literally), you'll be looking for that on/off switch.

REPLAY (0/10)

This game has absolutely NO replay value whatsoever. It was a miracle that I was able to actually beat this game before I finally decided to put it away.

STORY (N/A)

The story of this game is basically to destroy the Iridion Empire half-way across the universe. Most shooter games don't really have a good story anyway.

OVERALL (1/10)

Although this game has some good graphics and music, it still doesn't compensate for the crappy gameplay. Trust me on this one, Graphics and Sound can never make a game fun unless it's a fun game to play without them (unless the game relies on Music, like Dance Dance Revolution). Graphics and Sound are basically there to ''enhance'' the gameplay that's already there, and of course, to keep you into the game. But since this game doesn't really have any gameplay, then there's none to enhance! Don't get me wrong. Iridion 3D really did have some potential. Shin'en had a good idea of what type of game they should develop, but they just didn't cut it. Perhaps they shall try again with a sequel to Iridion 3D. Nevertheless, a game is not really a game without some form of a good gameplay experience.

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 07/17/02, Updated 07/17/02