Red Alarm[a] is a 1995 shoot 'em up video game developed by T&E Soft and published by Nintendo. Released as a Virtual Boylaunch game, it requires the player to pilot a space fighter and defeat the army of a malevolent artificial intelligence called KAOS. The game takes inspiration from the 1993 title Star Fox, and it is one of the few third-party titles for the Virtual Boy. Unlike most of the console's games, Red Alarm features three-dimensional (3D) polygonal graphics. However, hardware constraints limited the visuals to bare wire-frame models, similar to those of the 1980 arcade game Battlezone. Reviewers characterized Red Alarm's graphics as confusing, but certain publications praised it as one of the most enjoyable Virtual Boy titles.
The player engages enemies. Shield and speed meters appear in the bottom corners of the screen. Red Alarm uses a red-and-black color scheme standard to the Virtual Boy.
Red Alarm is a shoot 'em up that takes place in a three-dimensional (3D) graphical environment.[1] As a Virtual Boy game, it features a red-and-black color palette and stereoscopic 3D visuals,[1][2] the depth of which may be adjusted by the player.[3] The game is set during the 21st century, in the aftermath of a 70-year world war that led to the establishment of a utopian society without weapons. An artificial intelligence defense system called KAOS, which had been used to end the war, becomes sentient and builds an army to wipe out humanity.[4]
Assuming control of a "Tech-Wing" space fighter, the player seeks to destroy KAOS's forces and finally its mainframe.[4] The game is broken up into six levels,[5] each of which culminates in a boss fight.[4][6] The player uses the Tech-Wing's laser cannons to attack, and its guided missiles to destroy armored enemies. Shields on the craft offer limited protection from enemy fire; evasion is critical.[4] The Tech-Wing may be maneuvered in any direction,[1] and certain levels contain branching corridors and dead ends that force players to retrace their paths. Four camera angles—three third-person viewpoints and the first-person "cockpit view"—are available.[6] When a level is completed, the player may watch a replay of their performance from multiple perspectives.[4]
Development and releaseedit
Red Alarm uses wire-frame models (pictured left) rather than solid 3D graphics (right) because of the Virtual Boy's technical limitations.
Red Alarm was published by Nintendo and developed by T&E Soft,[7] one of the few third-party companies approached to develop for the Virtual Boy. According to the console's creator, Gunpei Yokoi, Nintendo tried to "maintain as much control as possible" over Virtual Boy game development so that low-quality releases by outside companies could be avoided.[8] Although T&E Soft was known for golf video games,[5] the design of Red Alarm was inspired by that of Star Fox,[7] a rail shooter for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. This decision was considered by Patrick Kolan of IGN to be "a departure for the team".[5] Unlike many Virtual Boy games, Red Alarm features an engine that displays 3D graphics:[2][9] the game world is rendered in wire-frame polygonal visuals similar to those of the 1980 arcade game Battlezone.[5] Because of the console's limited technology, solid 3D graphics were not viable.[9]
Red Alarm debuted in North America at the 1995 Winter Consumer Electronics Show,[10] and it was confirmed as a launch game for the Virtual Boy at that year's Electronic Entertainment Expo.[11] Later that year, Red Alarm and several other titles were released alongside the console,[12] which debuted on July 21 in Japan and August 14 in the United States.[9][13]
Writing for Weekly Famicom Tsūshin, Isabella Nagano called Red Alarm's stereoscopic visuals "amazing", and Sawada Noda recommended the game to all owners of the Virtual Boy. In a more negative review, the publication's Mizu Pin characterized the wire-frame graphics as confusing and frustrating,[16] a criticism echoed by the four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly.[15] A GamePro writer under the pseudonym "Slo Mo" found the visuals confusing as well, but felt that players could adjust to them.[18] Slo Mo and Electronic Gaming Monthly's Danyon Carpenter and Al Manuel praised the title's control scheme, and the latter magazine's Andrew Baran summarized Red Alarm as "a nifty show-off game".[15]
The reviewer for Next Generation saw significant promise in Red Alarm, and believed that its elements should add up to "a fantastic game"; but the writer panned the final product as a wasted opportunity.[19] Similarly, Danny Wallace of Total! wrote, "On the one hand, it's a pretty impressive 3D spacey shoot-em-up, with a real grip on the Virtual world and all those fancy techniques, and on the other it's an often visually confusing, headache-inducing attempt at being something it's quite obviously not."[20] However, Dave Halverson of DieHard GameFan called Red Alarm "a great shooter" with excellent graphics. Co-reviewer Nicholas Barres hailed it as a "masterpiece", and he considered it to be "the one and only reason to buy a Virtual Boy".[17]
A retrospective feature by Australian video game talk show Good Game highlighted Red Alarm as one of the Virtual Boy's most visually impressive games due to its polygonal graphics. The outlet praised it as one of the most entertaining titles on the console.[2] In 2008, Kolan called it "a really competent shooter" with strong visuals and gameplay.[5] The following year, Damien McFerran of Retro Gamer summarized Red Alarm as "pretty good fun to play", although inferior to Star Fox.[9]Wired's Chris Kohler later opined that the game "kind of sucked".[13]
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This article is about the video game For the telephony industry term see Digital Signal 1 Connectivity and Alarms Not to be confused with red alert Red Alarm a is a 1995 shoot em up video game developed by T amp E Soft and published by Nintendo Released as a Virtual Boy launch game it requires the player to pilot a space fighter and defeat the army of a malevolent artificial intelligence called KAOS The game takes inspiration from the 1993 title Star Fox and it is one of the few third party titles for the Virtual Boy Unlike most of the console s games Red Alarm features three dimensional 3D polygonal graphics However hardware constraints limited the visuals to bare wire frame models similar to those of the 1980 arcade game Battlezone Reviewers characterized Red Alarm s graphics as confusing but certain publications praised it as one of the most enjoyable Virtual Boy titles Red AlarmDeveloper s T amp E SoftPublisher s JP T amp E SoftNA NintendoDirector s Takeshi KonoProducer s Eiji YokoyamaProgrammer s Mitsuto NagashimaArtist s Michiaki TakahashiShinji HasegawaYoshikazu HirakiComposer s Ken KojimaPlatform s Virtual BoyReleaseJP July 21 1995NA August 14 1995Genre s Shoot em upMode s Single player Contents 1 Gameplay and plot 2 Development and release 3 Reception 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External linksGameplay and plot edit nbsp The player engages enemies Shield and speed meters appear in the bottom corners of the screen Red Alarm uses a red and black color scheme standard to the Virtual Boy Red Alarm is a shoot em up that takes place in a three dimensional 3D graphical environment 1 As a Virtual Boy game it features a red and black color palette and stereoscopic 3D visuals 1 2 the depth of which may be adjusted by the player 3 The game is set during the 21st century in the aftermath of a 70 year world war that led to the establishment of a utopian society without weapons An artificial intelligence defense system called KAOS which had been used to end the war becomes sentient and builds an army to wipe out humanity 4 Assuming control of a Tech Wing space fighter the player seeks to destroy KAOS s forces and finally its mainframe 4 The game is broken up into six levels 5 each of which culminates in a boss fight 4 6 The player uses the Tech Wing s laser cannons to attack and its guided missiles to destroy armored enemies Shields on the craft offer limited protection from enemy fire evasion is critical 4 The Tech Wing may be maneuvered in any direction 1 and certain levels contain branching corridors and dead ends that force players to retrace their paths Four camera angles three third person viewpoints and the first person cockpit view are available 6 When a level is completed the player may watch a replay of their performance from multiple perspectives 4 Development and release edit nbsp nbsp Red Alarm uses wire frame models pictured left rather than solid 3D graphics right because of the Virtual Boy s technical limitations Red Alarm was published by Nintendo and developed by T amp E Soft 7 one of the few third party companies approached to develop for the Virtual Boy According to the console s creator Gunpei Yokoi Nintendo tried to maintain as much control as possible over Virtual Boy game development so that low quality releases by outside companies could be avoided 8 Although T amp E Soft was known for golf video games 5 the design of Red Alarm was inspired by that of Star Fox 7 a rail shooter for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System This decision was considered by Patrick Kolan of IGN to be a departure for the team 5 Unlike many Virtual Boy games Red Alarm features an engine that displays 3D graphics 2 9 the game world is rendered in wire frame polygonal visuals similar to those of the 1980 arcade game Battlezone 5 Because of the console s limited technology solid 3D graphics were not viable 9 Red Alarm debuted in North America at the 1995 Winter Consumer Electronics Show 10 and it was confirmed as a launch game for the Virtual Boy at that year s Electronic Entertainment Expo 11 Later that year Red Alarm and several other titles were released alongside the console 12 which debuted on July 21 in Japan and August 14 in the United States 9 13 Reception editReceptionReview scoresPublicationScoreAllGame nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 14 Electronic Gaming Monthly7 5 6 7 5 6 15 Famitsu8 5 7 6 16 GameFan90 100 95 100 17 GamePro4 5 18 Next Generation nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 19 Total 67 20 Writing for Weekly Famicom Tsushin Isabella Nagano called Red Alarm s stereoscopic visuals amazing and Sawada Noda recommended the game to all owners of the Virtual Boy In a more negative review the publication s Mizu Pin characterized the wire frame graphics as confusing and frustrating 16 a criticism echoed by the four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly 15 A GamePro writer under the pseudonym Slo Mo found the visuals confusing as well but felt that players could adjust to them 18 Slo Mo and Electronic Gaming Monthly s Danyon Carpenter and Al Manuel praised the title s control scheme and the latter magazine s Andrew Baran summarized Red Alarm as a nifty show off game 15 The reviewer for Next Generation saw significant promise in Red Alarm and believed that its elements should add up to a fantastic game but the writer panned the final product as a wasted opportunity 19 Similarly Danny Wallace of Total wrote On the one hand it s a pretty impressive 3D spacey shoot em up with a real grip on the Virtual world and all those fancy techniques and on the other it s an often visually confusing headache inducing attempt at being something it s quite obviously not 20 However Dave Halverson of DieHard GameFan called Red Alarm a great shooter with excellent graphics Co reviewer Nicholas Barres hailed it as a masterpiece and he considered it to be the one and only reason to buy a Virtual Boy 17 A retrospective feature by Australian video game talk show Good Game highlighted Red Alarm as one of the Virtual Boy s most visually impressive games due to its polygonal graphics The outlet praised it as one of the most entertaining titles on the console 2 In 2008 Kolan called it a really competent shooter with strong visuals and gameplay 5 The following year Damien McFerran of Retro Gamer summarized Red Alarm as pretty good fun to play although inferior to Star Fox 9 Wired s Chris Kohler later opined that the game kind of sucked 13 See also editList of Virtual Boy gamesNotes edit Japanese レッドアラームReferences edit a b c Mott Tony October 1995 The Games Red Alarm Super Play 36 11 a b c Backwards Compatible The Virtual Boy Good Game 2009 06 01 Archived from the original on July 12 2015 Retrieved 2015 04 13 Kolan Patrick December 14 2008 IGN Retro Virtual Boy Revisited IGN Archived from the original on March 13 2013 a b c d e Red Alarm Instruction Booklet PDF Nintendo August 14 1995 pp 8 9 13 20 21 24 30 a b c d e Kolan Patrick January 14 2008 Virtual Boy s Best Games IGN Archived from the original on May 13 2014 a b Red Alarm Nintendo Power No 76 September 1995 pp 35 39 a b Virtual Boy Nintendo Names the Day Next Generation 8 18 August 1995 Which Game System is the Best Virtual Boy Next Generation 12 69 71 December 1995 a b c d McFerran Damien May 2009 Retroinspection Virtual Boy Retro Gamer 64 57 61 Several Virtual Boy Games Confirmed for U S Release Electronic Gaming Monthly No 68 March 1995 pp 94 95 Virtual News Virtual August Total 43 16 17 July 1995 Ryan Jeff September 2012 Super Mario How Nintendo Conquered America Penguin Books ISBN 978 1 59184 563 8 a b Kohler Chris August 13 2010 Virtual Boy Nintendo s Big 3 D Flop Turns 15 Wired Archived from the original on July 1 2014 Marriott Scott Alan Red Alarm Review AllGame Archived from the original on December 10 2014 Retrieved October 8 2015 a b c Carpenter Danyon Manuel Al Baran Andrew Sushi X October 1995 Red Alarm PDF Electronic Gaming Monthly No 75 p 38 a b Noda Sawada Pin Mizu Nagano Isabella Masuda Ninja August 1995 NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW レッドアラーム Weekly Famicom Tsushin 347 30 a b Halverson Dave Barres Nicholas November 1995 Virtual Boy Viewpoints GameFan 3 11 99 a b Slo Mo November 1995 ProReview Red Alarm GamePro No 86 p 130 a b Red Alarm Next Generation 9 93 September 1995 a b Wallace Danny October 1995 Virtually Here Total 46 36 37 External links editRed Alarm at MobyGames Portals nbsp Video games nbsp 1990s Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Red Alarm amp oldid 1215306932, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
