Not the best scrolling Rail Shooter, but it easily could've been that and oh so much more.
Iridion 3D has the basic, backwater Shmup plot: an alien race known as the Iridion have decided to conquer the Earth and have attacked mankind. Yeah, that's it. No esoteric reason or imagery, no Whip Rush-esque last minute text screen revelation, just aliens. Of course, the game's aesthetics raise the question as to whether or not the Iridion are attacking us directly or through machines or whether the Iridion are humanoids or made of energy or are actually Endurium, but whatever, right? You're not in this for the plot… I kind of am, but that's just me.
What you'll notice right away about Iridion 3D is that the presentation is fantastic: the graphics, 2D or 3D, are a marvel to look at and show excellent color and detail in every action. Certain levels were designed specifically to show case the coolness of the game like the Galaxy Force-esque Moon level. The sound effects are varied and empowering to the point where you can feel the reverb of an enemy cruiser as it hovers in overhead. Then there's the soundtrack which, I'm not kidding, is one of the hands-down best Scrolling Shooter game soundtracks I've ever heard, this coming from someone who has played virtually every Thunder Force game. There's so much flavor to the music you can practically taste the power behind every synth chord and beat. The music has its own tangible power and danger that it's actually inspiring to hear; it conjures up so much imagery and has such distinct melodies that it's the only reason why I still own this game. Why? Because that's where the best of this game ends.
The game play to Iridion 3D is simply horrendous. If you were going into this looking for a challenge, you'll get more than what you bargained for. Your fighter ship's hit detection is huge, meaning that anything that seems just barely close will still count as a hit and evading enemy fire and even enemies in general is practically impossible. Despite this though, you'll often find the best strategy. What makes it worse is that the game requires strategy in bullet and obstacle dodging especially during boss fights where the enemies have physical obstructions around them or give you a limited amount of space to move.
Even though you have a health bar, you're still going to die a lot in this game, especially when you take in the fact the ship likes to slide a little when it stops moving regardless of setting. You get different weapons to use, but most of them don't do much damage until fully powered up and even then the powerful ones are color specific. Besides, like most Rail Shooters, you can rarely see where you're shooting because the ship blocks your view unless you're way over to the sides. At least in Star Fox you had a big bomb that would help you out in combat. This time, you have to depend on barely effective power-ups for your standard shots. There's no Options, no Homing Missiles, no temporary force field. It's the kind of game that only plays fair if you don't.
I'd hate to say it, but this game would've been better if they removed the 'game' aspect of it and simply released it as a media cartridge containing music, 3D renders sound effects and concept art. When a game is best played by listening to the soundtrack and imagining you're playing a better game than the one that actually took time to develop with the intention of others playing it then I'd say something's gone wrong. The game would've been better off as a 2D horizontal or vertical scrolling shooter with 3D backgrounds and ironically the game's company Shin'en released a brief history on what the original Iridion was going to be and that was a horizontal scroller in the vein of old Amiga shooters!! It's sad because they could've really done something with what they had here; all they needed to do was fix the game play, maybe shift the flight perspective and get a better story writer… you know, like a six year old.
If you get this game for the soundtrack then you're actually making a very wise investment. If you get this game expecting an actual game regardless of challenge you're going to be greatly disappointed.