Iridion 3D GBA

Iridion 3D is essentially an arcade game - a space shoot 'em up. You control an SHN-Fighter, defending the destiny of mankind against deadly legions of Iridion star fighters and their vicious robotic bio-worms. If you survive all of that, you might make it all the way to the Iridion Star System, for a chance to defeat the bad guys forever.

Play the game at 2 levels of difficulty - I strongly recommend Normal, which is more than hard enough for most players. Move in four directions facing an oncoming stream of 18 types of obstacles (like Metallscrap, Asteroids and Lava Fountains) and enemies (such as Sky Mines or Pulse Emitter Ships), all of which can do damage to your little ship. Try to collect any Energy and Weapon Power-Ups that fly by, while shooting the bad guys - and keep in motion so they can't target you.

There are 7 combat stages or levels. Each requires journeying through an onslaught of enemy fighters and then facing and defeating an Iridion Stronghold. These big bosses can only be vanquished by direct hits to specific locations and are tough to beat - read the manual for hints on where to fire at them, and also for general tips on things like destroying force fields. Graphics are excellent and the game has an impressive variety of environments.

My 13 year old son enjoyed Iridion 3D, but could not get past the Stage 1 Boss, the Refusor Stronghold. I looked up the cheat codes for extra lives and weapons, and access to the higher levels. This made the game much less frustrating for me. It's definitely for older kids (12 and up) and only for those ready for a tough arcade challenge - but if you are, it's great fun.