Iridion II

"Aliens are attacking! You must save the universe!"

Damned if I'm not a whore for shooters, 2D especially. Besides Ikaruga and my longtime love of all things Gradius, I'm always up for a good shooting game, and Iridion was...not one of those. The odd perspective hampered more than helped it, and the developers couldn't quite pull off a decent game like this. Leave it to Starfox, says I. Iridion's sequel, however, improved on several gameplay aspects and became quite a remarkable game, even with the lack of competition within its genre on the GBA.

Gameplay

As near as I can see, the aliens from the previous game have returned to cause trouble, so it's your job to drive them back to the edge of the universe...or something. Who plays a shooter for its story, anyway? It's like watching Iron Chef for the funny hats. They have them, of course, but it's not the point of the event...even if they do have some amusing headwear.

The game uses a forced-scroll to move you along the stages like most shooters, and as you go you must blast enemies, dodge bullets, and avoid running into walls. Unlike most shooters' philosophies of ''get hit and die,'' Iridion gives you a little leeway. You have a health bar instead, which means you can get hit a few times before dying. Only a continue point restores your health, so you have to stay alive between continues, which is no mean feat. The 'health bar' mentality may cause you to think that taking a hit or two is okay, but even little hits will add up over time.

The weapons available are as varied as they are interesting. Among them are the straightforward...straight and forward shots...yeah. There's also a blue orb shot that splits into tiny bullets upon contact with an enemy and green lasers that go straight, then suddenly turn 90 degrees when an enemy is on either side of it. The others include side and front-firing waves, a weapon that fires at 30 degrees on either side of you, and a collection of wavy bullets that have semi-homing capabilities. All these weapons have their advantages and disadvantages, and all the weapons have their uses. When you select a stage, you're given the option to choose which weapon to start with. Knowing which weapon will help you the most is the key to survival. Just choosing your favorite weapon for the entire game will hinder you in certain situations. Not only that, but all the weapons can be selected during the game...if you have a powerup to enable it. Your ship also has a power shot that you can use by double-tapping, then holding, the A button. A meter at the top of the screen will slowly fill, and depending on how long you hold the A button, the blast of energy you release will be bigger and more powerful.

Powerups consist of green orb things that can be found in key points along each stage. Pressing the L and R buttons let you choose a weapon from the list in the upper right hand corner of the screen, while pressing B lets you 'spend' the powerup orbs you pick up to either enable a new weapon for use, or bulk up the weapon(s) you already have. Weapons start at level 1 and can be improved twice. The first powerup creates two drones on either side of you that fire as you fire, while the second powerup increases the strength and number of shots you can fire. The drones in particular move up and down along the side of your ship as you move up and down, and this is, in fact, a strategic element of the game. Your ship can only take a few hits before exploding, but the drones can absorb enemy bullets, so their position alongside you can determine whether you eat enemy shots or get damaged by them. Pressing Select locks the drones in place, which, again, can help or hinder you depending on their position. This is especially necessary during boss battles, as they will release massive sprays of bullets that can't all be avoided. You must dodge and block while firing well enough to take down a creature much larger and much tougher than yourself. Somehow, I can't see that as a bad thing.

The game has several 'systems' that consist of three planets that make up your stages. You can choose whichever of the three planets you want, and once you beat all three stages in a particular system, you move on to the next and force the alien menace back to their home world...or something. A big, gruff general guy will fill you in on the situation in some decent cutscenes, but the story itself isn't anything you would call epic. It's a shooter, after all.

Graphics

The game takes place from a top-down perspective, with impressive backdrops as your stages. They're not as pretty as Ikaruga, but then I'm comparing two different sets of hardware. There are a ton of sprites on screen at any given time, whether they're enemy shots or just plain enemies. The bosses are of appropriate 'huge' size, and while they're not quite as unique as some of those from games like Gradius, they're still an imposing sight. The framerate seems stable, and there isn't much in the way of slowdown that I recall.

Sound

This is a hard section to review, mostly because you can actually alter the game's music right when it starts up. The game gives you the option of changing the treble, bass, drums, and chords used in the game's music, so the soundtrack can be different every time you play. The music itself is...odd...for a shooter. The first stage's music in particular is surprisingly upbeat, and sounds like it came from an 80's anime series. I really enjoyed it, but if you don't, you can always change the beat.

Replay Value

There are three levels of difficulty and several unlockables. The game uses a password system to save your progress, so a trip to the codes and secrets page will set you down at the end of the game, but then, that's not very fun, is it? Aside from that it's what you might expect from a shooter. The replay value is primarily in the game itself, and the high scores you can garner within a stage.

Conclusion

As I said, I'm a shooter whore (along with an RPG whore, a Harvest Moon whore, and several other kinds of whores). Like many shooters, Iridion II is about memorization of patterns, quick reflexes, and an itchy trigger finger. For a shooter it has a decent play time and a lot of different ways to play. If you're a fan of shooters, you owe it to yourself to try this game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/08/04, Updated 06/13/04