Red Alarm

Virtual Boy

Review by Matt Paprocki

 

Shooter

Graphics: 4

Sound: 6

Gameplay: 5

Overall: 5


The launch of the Virtual Boy will go down as one of the most abysmal in the history of video games. While there were a few notable titles, most were highly unimaginative, such as the game we have here. While Red Alarm shows off some nice 3-D effects, the sizable number of flaws bring this one down to mediocrity.

After a long world war, all the weapons of the world have been destroyed as a celebration. Right around this time, a computer has went haywire and the world is in danger. The worlds only hope is the Tech Wing, a left over fighter plane from the war.

Controlling the craft isn't overly difficult as it responds well to the controls, but actual navigation is arduous. The games graphics are composed entirely of wire frames with no solids to be found. What looks like a path that could be easily flown through could easily turn out to be a wall or, to a more severe effect, the floor. The multiple views available to the players don't even help this problem, but in some cases make it worse. Add all of this up, throw in some nasty Saturn-Daytona style pop-up, and you have a game that's nearly impossible to play in it's current state.

The spooky theme music during the title screen sets a nice tone for the game regardless of what you think about the rest of the game. The game has some clear voice samples but all of the sound effects have been taken from hundreds of other games in the genre.

As an on-rails shooter, the game tries hard to be the next Star Fox, but without the shaded polygons, too many lives are lost simply hitting walls that aren't there. There are a few moments of free flight, but these are reserved for the boss battles. The annoying phrases that appear on the screen (stating "Nintendo Virtual Boy" and T&E Soft presents") make this game seem like it's a beta copy being played at E3. This one has rush job written all over it.

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Last updated: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 02:30 PM