Iridion 3D

Infobox VG| title = Iridion 3D


developer = Shin'en
publisher = Majesco
engine =
released =^NA May 29, 2001
^EU September 21, 2001cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/gba/action/iridion3d/index.html?q=iridion%203d&tag=result;title;0|title=Iridion 3D info|publisher=Gamespot|accessdate=2007-05-03]
genre = Shooter
modes = Single player
ratings = CERO: All Ages ESRB: Everyone
platforms = Game Boy Advance
media = GBA cartridge
requirements =
input =

"Iridion 3D" is a quasi-3D rail shooter game for the Game Boy Advance developed by Shin'en. A launch title for the Game Boy Advance,cite web|date=2001-01-10|author=Ahmed, Shahed |url=http://www.gamespot.com/gba/action/iridion3d/news.html?sid=2673383&mode=news|title=Iridion 3D GBA Update|publisher=Gamespot|accessdate=2007-02-26] it was released in North America on May 29, 2001 and in Europe on September 21, 2001. While praised for beautiful graphics and rich sound, the game was derided by critics and gamers for repetitive gameplay.

"Iridion" began development as a shooter for the Game Boy Color; when Shin'en decided to drop development and shift their focus to the Game Boy Advance, "Iridion" was the first game by the developer to appear on the system. Though billed as a 3D game, Shin'en used realtime encoding and resizing to manipulate the size of 2D sprites instead of creating a true 3D environment.

Influenced by the Commodore 64 game "Uridium", "Iridion" features a single starship waging war against the alien Iridion that have attacked Earth. The game spans seven levels from Earth to the alien's home planet, each with a fixed linear path that ends with a boss. Despite lukewarm reception to the title upon release, "Iridion 3D" influenced future Shin'en shooters such as "Iridion II" and "Nanostray".

Gameplay

The game is a simple forward-scrolling rail shooter, similar to the "Star Fox" series. Only the Game Boy Advance's directional pad, A, and Start buttons are used during gameplay. [cite web | url=http://www.allgame.com/cg/agg.dll?p=agg&sql=1:31373~T2 | title=Iridion 3D > Controls | accessdate=2007-04-02 | publisher=Allgame] The ship remains locked at a set speed and cannot brake or speed up.

The player encounters more than fifteen enemies, not including level bosses. [cite book | year=2001 | editor=Shin’en | title="Iridion 3D" Instruction Manual: The Iridion Menace | pages=19–22 | publisher=Nintendo|language=English] Some are easy to destroy; others, including the fire creatures found on the Iridion home world, are indestructible and must be avoided. Other enemies prevent the player from dodging enemy fire by laying mines to block paths. Passive objects, such as garbage or asteroids, can damage or destroy the player's craft. Enemies vary in armor and weaponry—some cannot return fire but travel in waves to ram the player.

Each level has the player follow a linear path through waves of enemies and culminates with a boss. In boss stages the player's craft does not move forward, but hovers in front of the boss. Each boss has a single vulnerability which flashes when hit. These areas are often heavily shielded and must be hit repeatedly to remove armor. Other bosses' vulnerabilities are hidden and appear for only short periods. Most bosses have weapons that fire upon the player or reflect the player's shots. [cite web|url=http://faqs.ign.com/articles/422/422707p1.html|title="Iridion" Boss FAQs|work=ign.com|accessdate=2007-02-26] At the end of each level, players receive bonuses for defeated enemies, lives remaining, and the energy level of the player's craft. [cite book | year=2001 | editor=Shin’en | title="Iridion 3D" Instruction Manual | pages=4 | publisher=Nintendo|language=English] An extra life is granted if the score reaches certain thresholds. [cite book | year=2001 | editor=Shin’en | title="Iridion 3D" Instruction Manual: Hints and Tips | pages=28 | publisher=Nintendo|language=English]

Weapons

"Iridion 3D" features five types of weapons, with three levels of power each. Players boost weapon power by collecting powerups of the color that matches the current weapon. Collecting a different color gives the player the first level of that weapon type. If the player's ship is destroyed the power level of the weapon is reduced by one.

Each weapon has advantages and disadvantages. The player starts with the red weapon, which is relatively weak but fires rapidly in a large spread. Green weapons are inaccurate but fill the screen with shots. Purple weapons spin in a counterclockwise motion slowly and are fairly strong. Yellow torpedo-like weapons are very powerful but powerups are rare and the weapon fires slowly. Blue weapons, a more powerful version of Yellow weapons, are found only on the last level. [cite book | year=2001 | editor=Shin’en | title="Iridion 3D" Instruction Manual: Powerups | pages=5 | publisher=Nintendo|language=English] Flashing powerups restore the craft's shields.

Plot

In the opening cinematic of "Iridion 3D" Earth is attacked without warning by the Iridion, who take over much of the surface and lay mines in orbit and bombs in the Pacific Ocean. The player is the pilot of an experimental SHN fighter, the last hope for defending Earth from the Iridion. [cite book | year=2001 | editor=Shin’en | title="Iridion 3D" Instruction Manual: Introduction | pages=6 | publisher=Nintendo|language=English] The player pilots his ship alone against hordes of Iridion fighters and natural obstacles. The early stages begin on Earth, with the player fighting through an Iridion garbage tunnel. The player proceeds to the Pacific Ocean and destroys much of the Iridion invasion fleet on Earth before heading into the stratosphere to destroy the orbital blockade around Earth and subsequently annihilating the Iridion boss at the Moon.

With the invasion fleet in ruins, the player heads into the far reaches of space. After destroying an Iridion mining colony within an asteroid belt, the player proceeds into the Iridion home system. Eventually the player fights the Iridion on their home world, destroying the Iridion "mainframe" and ending the alien threat forever. [cite book | year=2001 | editor=Shin’en | title="Iridion 3D" Instruction Manual: Iridion Strongholds | pages=27 | publisher=Nintendo|language=English]

Development

"Iridion" started development as a shooter for the Game Boy Color; on January 10, 2001 Shin'en announced they would stop making games for the Color, instead working on games exclusively for the Game Boy Advance. [cite web|url=http://uk.gameboy.ign.com/articles/089/089918p1.html|author=Staff|date=2001-01-10|title=The End Of A Supernova|publisher=IGN|accessdate=2007-04-03] "Iridion"'s executive producer was Dan Kitchen, [cite web|url=http://www.allgame.com/cg/agg.dll?p=agg&sql=1:31373~T3|year=2007|title="Iridion 3D": Credits|publisher=Allgame|accessdate=2007-04-02] a former programmer for Atari. "Iridion 3D" was Shin'en's first product to utilize the GAX Sound Engine, [cite web|author=Shin'en Staff|url=http://www.shinen.com/music/music.php3?gax|title=Shin'en Multimedia- Music|publisher=Shin'en|accessdate=2007-04-02] which allows real-time decoding of song data in an extremely small file size; this allowed more space on the cartridge to be used for graphics.

By March 2001, the GBA version of "Iridion" was shown in workable form. IGN saw early screens and declared that "Iridion" was "aiming to set the standard [of what GBA shooters should be] ... Set the standard with a hail of bullets." They felt Shin'en was pushing the Game Boy Advance to its limits, producing the most stunning game seen at the time for the handheld system. [cite web|author=IGN staff|date=2001-03-21|url=http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/135/135797p1.html|title=Iridion 3D Preview|publisher=IGN|accessdate=2007-04-03] GameSpot's Ben Stahl previewed "Iridion 3D" on March 21, 2001, shortly before the release of the game in the United States.cite web|date=2001-03-21|author=Stahl, Ben|url=http://www.gamespot.com/gba/action/iridion3d/news.html?sid=2699789&mode=recent|title=Hands On: Iridion 3D|publisher=Gamespot|accessdate=2007-02-26] He noted the excellent graphics and high frame rate, ending with "At this point, "Iridion 3D" looks like it could be a great game for fans of the genre."

Graphics

Although advertised as a 3D game, "Iridion 3D" uses solely 2D graphics for texture scrolling and sprites which depict explosions and enemies. The developers create the illusion of 3D by looping background texturescite web|year=2001|author=Bub, Andrew |url=http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/launchreview.asp?reviewid=62822|title="Iridion 3D" at Gamespy|publisher=Gamespy|accessdate=February 13|accessyear=2007] —a graphically intensive technique for the Game Boy Advance. Graphical objects shrink or enlarge to depict position relative to the player. Level environments feature changes, such as progression from day to night. Majesco's vice president of handhelds, Dan Kitchen, wrote that "by pushing the graphics hardware of the Game Boy Advance to its technical limits, "Iridion 3D" provides a truly realistic 3D gaming experience." He hoped that "players will be amazed that such smooth environments and intense gameplay can now be achieved on a portable system."

Reception

VG Reviews
title = Iridion 3D
1UP =
AdvGamers =
Allgame = Rating|2|5 cite web | author=Miller, Skylar|title=allgame ((( Iridion 3D > Overview )))| publisher=Allgame | url=http://www.allgame.com/cg/agg.dll?p=agg&sql=1:31373 | accessdate=2008-03-26]
GSpot = 5.6 of 10
GSpy = 45 of 100
IGN = 5.5 of 10 |
compilation = yes|
MC = 53% (15 reviews)cite web | title=Iridion 3D (gba: 2001): Reviews| publisher=Metacritic | url=http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/gba/iridion3d | accessdate=2008-03-26]
GR = 57% (22 reviews)cite web|author=GameRankings staff|url=http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/454599.asp|title="Iridion 3D" Reviews|work=gamerankings.com|accessdate=February 13|accessyear=2007] |

Despite praise for its graphics and sound, "Iridion 3D" was received poorly by critics; the game received 53% and 57% ratings on review aggregate web sites Metacritic and Game Rankings, respectively.

IGN's Craig Harris wrote that "Shin'en's shooter for the Game Boy Advance will impress with all its effects, but that's about it." The review noted that the player is limited to shooting and dodging, making gameplay repetitive. Harris also complained that distances are hard to judge; the player's ship is hit by bullets that appear to be in the distance.cite web|date=2001-06-14|author=Harris, Craig|url=http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/165/165797p1.html|title=IGN: Iridion 3D Review|publisher=IGN|accessdate=February 13|accessyear=2007] GameSpot also gave "Iridion" low marks, warning that "after the initial 'wow' wears off, you'll be stuck with an empty experience."cite web|date=2001-06-07|author=Lopez, Miguel|url=http://www.gamespot.com/gba/action/iridion3d/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=tabs|title=Iridion 3D Review|publisher=Gamespot|accessdate=February 12|accessyear=2007] "Edge" observed that "Iridion" is "a sweet number that will entertain, if only for a week or so".Citation |periodical = Edge |publisher = Future Publishing |page = 101 |date = August 2001.] Allgame's Skyler Miller said "Iridion 3D" is nothing more than a technology demo and awarded it two out of five stars. [cite web | url=http://www.allgame.com/cg/agg.dll?p=agg&sql=1:31373~T1 | title=Iridion 3D > Review | accessdate=2007-04-03 | publisher=Allgame | author=Miller, Skyler]

Positive comments were usually directed at sound; WiredLounge.com said that "The soundtrack is an instant classic, maybe even one of the best shooter scores ever." [Quoted at cite web|url=http://www.shinen.com/games/game.php3?iridion|title=Iridion on Shin'en|publisher=Shin'en|accessdate=2007-04-03] Despite poor reviews, Shin'en's [cite web|date=2005-07-15|url=http://www.demonews.de/interviews/index.php?artikel=509&s=1|title=Shin´en im Interview|author=Sven, P.|publisher=DemoNews.de|accessdate=2007-04-19|language=German] Manfred Lizner felt that "Iridion 3D" was the best game for the Game Boy Advance without licensed characters.

References

External links

* [http://www.shinen.com/games/game.php3?iridion Official site]
* [http://www.allgame.com/cg/agg.dll?p=agg&sql=1:31373~T5 "Iridion 3D" screenshots] at Allgame
*moby game|id=/iridion-3d