The Iridion Series... my thoughts.

[JBC]

A few of you probably know of the Iridion series of games on the GBA. Iridion 3d and Iridion II are some of the most visually impressive games on the system yet. I Just recently picked up the both of them from my work for super cheap cheap and played them on my long, long bus ride home to Mississippi.

Aside from the fact that i was in a bad mood through the whole trip, tired, hungry, and had to put up with reflection during the day and bumpy travel throuout the whole of the ordeal i still managed to enjoy both of these games.

The one setback that the two of them share is the password feature and repetative backgrounds. Ok, i know that including a save feature in a GBA cart isn't all that difficult and it's such a pain in the ass to HAVE to write them down - especially while on a cramped, uncomfortable bus. Portable games just need an in-game save feature, you know?

As far as the backgrounds go - the backgrounds are frickin' amazing but... they loop repetativly. You see, Shin'en (the games developers) programed the Iridion games (which each have a different perspective on the action) to use FMV for the pre-rendered backgrounds to appear fully animated 3-d. This also means that they wouldn't have a lot of room for variety. Now - don't freak yet, not all the backgrounds are the same thing over and over - just throughout each individual level they repeat and that can get kinda boring - though they are extremely cool to watch smoothly scrolling by.

The only other gripe i can possibly make has to do with only Iridion 3d. Because Iridion 3d has a behind-the-ship perspective it can become difficult to judge the depth of the playing field. Enemy shots can sometimes look far away when in actuality they are right on you and will do some major damage. The enemies in the game are animated using mode-7 technology (which means that a 2d image is scaled in size, small to large, to give the illusion that the image is approaching you or flying away from you). This looks extremly cool but can lead to some confusion - mostly only in the enemy bullets, though (which i think may actually NOT use Mode-7, but instead just suddenly become larger the 'closer' they get).
... oh - and that stupid fat general guy in the second game is REALLY annoying.

Ok - i just bitched alot about a couple of really good GBA games. Don't let these minor problems fool you into not giving it a shot, though. The games are definetly a blast to play and offer up your usual assortment of neat shmup mechanics. One cool featurein Iridion II is included in your Gradius-style power up system. If you collect 1 power up at the strat of a level then you get these two Option-like satellites that hover near your ship and block enemy fire while dealing out thrice the normal amout of death. If you gain another power up then you can use it either on a new weapon or the same. If you use it on the same then your shots become more powerful. This is where it gets interesting - you have a health meter in this game. If you already have used two power ups on one weopon and are running low on energy then you can collect a third power up, use it on the same weapon, and gain about a quarter of your health back. This comes in very handy since you can save that extra power up until you reach the boss and have it there for back-up.

These games are definetly a challenge, too. You will not finish either of them on your first go. Try playing Iridion II on Advanced Pilot and you'll see what i mean. The difficulty is not unfair, though. You actually CAN dodge the bullets in this shmup! It really is just genuienly challenging.

So yeah - go check these games out if you can. I found mine pre-played so both only cost me a 10-spot together! Definetly a worthy purchase.

Most people don't know it but Iridion was originally slated to be on the Game Boy Color. It was still programmed by the same team, Shin'en, but was originally supposed to push that old system like no tomorrow. 128 colors on screen at once and i think sprites up in the high 30's range - plus more cool 'faked' 3d effects. I've actually seen screens of the original game and it looked really cool - paying homage to R-type in one screen. Alas, we may never see the original Iridion game unless it gets included as an extra in Nanostray or Iridion III.

[Regulus]

I don't really feel like bothering with the first Iridion, but I have to say that the second is pretty cool. The level and boss design aren't half bad, and the little tributes to other shooters, like the Axelay weapon and the boss intro from R-Type, are just plain awesome.

The title screen in Iridion II was fun to mess around with as well.

[Frogacuda]

I'd like to play the original GBC Iridion. I wonder if a proto exists.

[BrianC]

I'd like to play the original GBC Iridion. I wonder if a proto exists.

Me too. From what I have checked, it doesn't look like even a rom exists of it. The interesting about the game is that the enemy forces were planned to be called the Oybd empire.

[CMoon]

I think Iridion 2 can be fun, but unfortunately it ends there. As a serious shmup, it just has too many problems and too many things that aggrivate me. A little more care and Iridion 2 could have been great, but...well...it just isn't. Worth owning to play now and then, but not much more.

[DavidHolliss]

I really enjoyed Iridion II, still 30th on the rankings at iridion2.com
Majesco also have a shmup in development for the DS I recall.
Thing was though, Iridion 2 was about £27 over here in UK and $20 in USA

[ccovell]

I really enjoyed Iridion II as well, even though the game did get a bit repetitive after many levels. But, it's a great ride.

Iridion 3D was a tough one to like. Beautiful graphics and music, but annoying gameplay.

As for the GBC game, Manfred Linzner wrote that only a 1-level demo was made before work was moved over to the GBA. (Also, Iridion existed as a 1-level game for the Amiga before anything.) The soundtrack CD to Iridion has a few more pictures of the level/enemy graphics of the GBC version on the CD insert.

[ST Dragon]

Iridion I remended me a bit of Nova Storm minus the cool Videos.
But I didn't like it as much

Iridion II reminds me of Viewpoint, but I don't like either of the 2.