So I got Iridion -3D- early. I was very excited when I plugged it in. The graphics are nothing short of jaw-dropping. They are really stunning. Everything really has that 3D feel too it. The levels are very well designed. They give a real scene of depth. The ammount of detail in the levels is really high. The first level is a bit dark, but level 2 is fine. The Boss of level 1 is a giant reactor core thing. When I saw it, I was floored. The core is fully animated with rotating external walls.

The controls are a bit simple. The D-Pad moves your ship up, down, left, and right. The A button shoots. The B button and shoulder buttons don't do anything, unlike in Star Fox where they barrel rolled and shielded the ship. I wish there was more than just fly and shoot though. At the more difficult times, I would kill for something like a Nova Bomb or other screen clearing weapon. It would also have been nice to add some kind of boost in. It's quite hard trying to dodge things when you can't change your speed.

The music is some of the best music I've heard in a video game. The GAX sound engine, which was developed by Shin'en to produce excellent quality sound, really lives up to its promise. The sound effects are good too. They fit the game well, but they're nothing special.

But, there are some bad points. Two big ones to be exact. The first is that the game uses passwords to save progress. Eww, just eww. Would it have killed them to put a battery in the cart? It may not seem like a big deal, but it is. The GBA is a portable system. Now I have to carry around a piece of paper everywhere I go so I don't have to start from the beginning of the game again. Second, the game is just too damn hard. It's hard to line up your shots in the 3D playing field. The same is true with dodging items and attacks. You get six lives to finish the entire game. It took me about 5 to finish the first level! Though I'm sure I'll get better in time. Thankfully, your current ship's energy is refilled at the end of each level.

One other thing that disappointed me; there isn't enough depth to the game. Games in the space shooter genre tend to be shallow. But most of them at least have some story. Iridion's is set up in a few sentences when you boot up the game. Basically, the plot is "kill the aliens." That's it. I don't know why the aliens are there or what they want. I don't even know the main character's name.

My overall impression of Iridion -3D- is that it is kind of lackluster. It is a truly phenomenal looking (and sounding) game. But, there isn't enough to do in it. The play mechanics are way too simple. I thirst for somethimg more. Over all I wasn't very impressed with Iridion -3D-.