Sound:  
Once again, Iridion is one of the best sounding games on the GBA. The music feels very old school and is quite upbeat and technoish. It isn’t anything you’ll hum to yourself after shutting the game off, but nonetheless the background music helps generate atmosphere. Sound effects are decent, but not on par with the music. Explosions and weapons sound fairly generic and lack variety, however. It has to be said that if you play this game, you must play it with headphones, the music is truly kickin’.

Gameplay:  
Yes, the point where things begin to go downhill in this otherwise glowing review… It seems to me like Shin’en didn’t know what they wanted the gamer to experience while playing this game. Is it a twitch shooter? Is it a game of survival? To put it simply, the game ultimately fails in nearly all gameplay fronts. Most enemies cannot be destroyed by the time they reach you, no matter how many shots you peg them with; and at the same time, other enemies do unbelievably complex maneuvers that result in you getting damaged no matter what. Some enemies splatter the screen with so much gunfire that you will take damage from it, no matter your skill level. There is an extreme imbalance of gameplay, as I’ve tried going through it both ways: gunning for enemies, or trying to stay alive. Neither method works for me.

Part of the problem comes from the controls in Iridion. In this 3D environment, it is extremely difficult to line up your shots at the enemies. And with them zooming in so quickly towards you most of the time, they’re crashing into your ship by the time you’ve lined it all up. Part of this problem could have been alleviated had we been offered the ability to accelerate or decelerate, but sadly this isn’t the case. The same can be said about barrel rolling or any sort of aiming/auto-aiming. Instead, it’s just you, the D-pad for moving up, down, left, right, and diagonally in the on-rails shooter, and the “A” button for firing your weapon.

Most games offer some sort of a learning curve. Not the case in Iridion. I’ve heard horror stories of people using 5 lives just getting through the first level (you’re given six for the whole game), this being after numerous attempts. The first level is way too difficult – far easier than the second and third, for instance – and should have allowed the gamer to get their feet wet. I now have no trouble beating the level in two or less lives, but the fact remains there is no sense of progression as the game has lost any sense of balance it tries to achieve. I was among the hordes of people getting slaughtered in level one until I realized the key was not trying to destroy most enemies, but rather firing straight ahead and simply trying to avoid whatever was coming.

OVERALL:
It has to be said: Iridion 3D is essentially one souped-up tech demo. It looks and sounds great, but leaves a lot to be desired in terms of gameplay. I really tried to force myself to like it, but I simply cannot get over the frustrating experiences that occurred from trying to liken the game as a “portable Star Fox.” Check this game out if you want to see what the GameBoy Advance is capable of pumping out technically, otherwise gaze at the screenshots and wait until you’ve accumulated a free rental from a local video store. Shin'en has shown that they're capable of good things, hopefully their next project will be what we wish Iridion 3D could have been.

 

The Lowdown on  Iridion 3D Aesthetics: Awesome Control: Below Average Gameplay: Below Average Multiplayer: Sound: Very Good Innovation: 3/6 Lasting Appeal: 1/6 Overall: Below Average! "Has Some Detrimental Problems"