Iridion 3D: Первый 3D-шутер для Game Boy Advance

2001 video game

Iridion 3D is a quasi 3D rail shooter video game developed by Shin'en Multimedia. A launch title for the Game Boy Advance portable game console, it was released in North America on June 11, 2001 and in Europe on September 21. The player controls a single starship defending Earth from the alien Iridion. The game spans seven levels from Earth to the aliens' home planet, each following a linear path that culminate with a boss. 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. More room on the game cartridge was available for graphics due to the game's use of the GAX Sound Engine, which allowed real time decoding of song data in a small file size. On release Iridion garnered generally mixed reviews. The graphics and sound were generally praised; a year after its release, critics at Extended Play still considered it the best looking game on the platform. In contrast, critics derided the game's repetitive and frustrating gameplay. Despite lukewarm reception to the title upon release, Iridion 3D was a financial success, and influenced future Shin'en shooters such as Iridion II and Nanostray.

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. The ship remains locked at a set speed and cannot brake or speed up. The player encounters more than fifteen types of enemy, not including level bosses. 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. On January 10, 2001, Shin'en announced they would stop making games for the Color, instead working on games exclusively for the upcoming Game Boy Advance. Iridion's executive producer was Dan Kitchen, a former programmer for Atari. Although advertised as a 3D game, Iridion 3D uses solely 2D graphics for texture scrolling and sprites which depict explosions and enemies. The developers created the illusion of 3D by looping background textures—a graphically intensive technique for the Game Boy Advance. Some of the music had been started before programming of the game itself. The soundtrack was released as part of an arranged collection on compact disc in 2003 and digitally in 2010. GameSpots Ben Stahl 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." The game was one of 17 titles that launched alongside the Advance.

Iridion 3D received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Iridion 3Ds graphics were often praised; reviews from The Washington Post, Popular Science, and GameSpy considered Iridion 3D a standout game for the Game Boy Advance and a showcase for the system's graphic performance. A year after its release, Extended Plays Miguel Concepcion argued that Iridion remained the best looking game for the system. NextGen wrote, "This beautiful game would be a must buy in first person view, but as it is, it's nearly unplayable." The sound design and music received praise. Concepcion noted that the game's mood fitting "high energy techno" was an oddity coming from a German game company. Iridion 3D was released on Steam on April 8, 2020, alongside Iridion II.