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Red Alarm retrospective: Fear of a black and red planet | Virtual Boy Works #04
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- čas přidán 15. 08. 2024
- The first third-party Virtual Boy title (sort of) and the final launch-day release (in the U.S.) attempts to give players a (technically) portable free-roaming 3D space-shooting experience. Developer T&E Soft had big aspirations with this one, but in practice it didn't quite pan out the way they evidently hoped. The result is an interesting game with a lot of promise and a control interface years ahead of its time... but the Virtual Boy hardware simply wasn't up to the task set before it.
What I love about this channel is how in-depth it goes about the technicalities of design instead of trashing a game in a nondescript way. It gives it more of a world view; highlighting what is impressive about it, even if it didn’t all work out in the end.
Nobody else has given these kinds of wide ranging analyses for relatively 'unimportant' games.
Really a wonderful series. Better than anything on TV, that's for sure.
Five words to strike terror deep into my heart: “From the makers of Hydlide . . .”
⚰
Well, NES Hydlide. The original was a groundbreaking game, but that's part of the problem with the NES version: it was released after many games it influenced. Also, it's not a very good port.
Hydlide got hit with an especially bad case of DragonQuestitis, it did a lot of unique things kinda badly, and by the time it came to the west all of its unique features had already been incorporated and improved by its competitors.
I have to admit, I actually like how the game looks. I just LOVE that aesthetic.
I remember playing this at a display unit, at a rental store, attached to a Shucks. I thought it was AWESOME! Good news is it's still fun today. At least in my opinion.
It's like a full-3D Battlezone. Lovely, indeed.
One of the few VB games I played back when I rented the system. It is indeed Not Bad At All.
Also, IIRC it had a feature where, after beating a level, you could choose to watch a full replay of how you did, complete with the option of changing the camera angles dynamically. An ambitious forerunner of modern games' photo modes and ability to share screenshots/videos.
Gotta love how the ship just *stops* in mid-air when it hits a wall
Any chance of a "What Virtual Boy Games Are Worth Playing Today?" video on your channel? Or is Jeremy covering it succinctly enough?
No chance whatsoever
@@juanitachristblaster4252 He said he's gonna review them all, didn't he? Worry not; it won't take very long.
This is the one thing I remember most from this game. "Ok, that was a wall, I need to maneuver I guess...this way? Ok, we're moving again..."
@@TKnightcrawler I was asking Drunk if he was going to be reviewing any VB games because while I find Jeremy's historical perspective fascinating, Drunk's taste in games is more in line with my own.
You could put 'into every life, a little base must ball' on a t-shirt. That's marketable.
This was the game that sold me on the VB back when it was still on the market. It was by far the most immersive of the titles for me and it showcased the 3D effect very well. Gameplay-wise I saw it more akin to the original Star Fox than anything else, with its focus on extremely linear, fast-paced, arcade-style gameplay. Being able to stop completely, strafe, and fully explore the environment put it somewhere between Star Fox and Descent in terms of flexibility, giving it a really unique flavor. I can see why people might not like the wireframe style or the limited draw distance, but they never affected my gameplay personally. Note: If you ever play the game again in the future, fast-turn is your friend. Also, mash the fire button instead of holding it. The missiles are extremely good, are unlimited, and using them to their fullest makes the combat a lot more satisfying as you rip through enemies faster.
Damn, I really wish Nintendo would do some kind of Virtual Boy compilation for 3DS here at the end of it's lifespan.
They finally had a successful console that actually supported 3D and would allow gamers to experience these games with their intended effects.
I highly doubt 3D will ever return to consoles or TVs so this was a really unique and short time where such a compilation would have fitted in perfectly.
no, but VR might.
(arguably already has, given PSVR is a thing).
And VR is an even closer fit for the Virtual Boy than the 3ds.
Still, it would have been a good way to present these games in a more accessible manner...
@@KuraIthys
You were right. The Virtual Boy kicks ass in VR.
You gain a large screen, any choice of color tint, save states, and the same ability to shut out the real world that the original hardware offered.
And Red Alarm? It almost feels like actual VR at times. Low resolution, low-frame rate VR without any eye tracking...but I've played it more than any game besides Moss. Tele-Roboxer is way more impressive, and Wario Land's way more fun, but it gives you a connected sense of history that you can't get while wandering down computer simulated ancient cities.
I love Red Alarm. I loved it when I played it 19ish years ago for the first time, and I love playing it now. The wireframes are a freakin sweet aesthetic to me, and they are so well done. I like the detailed nature of the models, it actually adds to the overall atmosphere by providing enough detail that yes, I can tell this is a water stage, yes, this is a cave stage, yes, this is a temple stage. Like you said in the video, on the console it's not confusing because you can tell how far away everything is. The draw distance while of course it would be nice to be further, has only led to a lost feeling on certain boss fights a few times. Most of the time it's not hard to find the boss. Except for I believe it's stage 5's boss. It can go to hell.
You get a like for mentioning Interplay's Descent. I wish more people would.
FYI: There are some 3D playthroughs on CZcams that you can watch with Google Cardboard type viewers (or just by crossing your eyes, like I did!). As the guy says, it looks a LOT better in 3d. Actually pretty impressive for the time.
Wow, that transition at 4:23 to Descent is SUPER jarring, if your eyes have adjusted to the low Virtual Boy framerate.
(Also, man, that game must be headache-inducing even by VB standards.)
Nah, if you survived the N64, you can adjust to the frame rate quickly. Or even better, if you have experience with the Sega Master System's idea of 3d? This looks like the world's smoothest silk by comparison.
The real problem is the controls. It wants to be an arcade style twitch shooter, but it plays like the developer is trying to prevent you from getting motion sickness and throwing up. You can still make the end result work, but it never feels completely intuitive. You almost need to play it like a strategy-puzzle game.
Oh hey, Virtual Hydlide! the GDQ speedrun for that game is hilarious, really recommend checking it out
I remember trying this in a demo kiosk. You have to place yourself in the shoes of a kid, who honestly thought the Virtual Boy was going to be the next big thing in gaming. I tried playing this game, and it was just this mess of blurry lines I couldn't parse. My dreams of a MechWarrior VB game were crushed.
Just last year, however, when I tried (and failed) to get a Gundam VR game working through a Virtual Boy emulator, I put in Red Alert, just for laughs. The laughs were on me. Somehow, with the red-and-cyan glasses method, I could actually "see" the depth perception the game requires. And you know what? I had a great time. It's not some classic by any means--Parish is right in saying that Descent sort of obviates the need for Red Alarm--but for a few moments I experienced pure glee at the novel sensation of being able to see "through" the wireframes but knowing what was ahead and what was behind. I was able to have fun with Red Alarm in a way the developers had never intended. Thanks, T&E Soft. You almost made up for that Hydlide rental.
Holy crap, I had this. Migraine inducing mess of eye-straining indecipherable lines. There were moments where you could actually get a grip on what was happening and it was somewhat magical. Unfortunately, those moments were few and far between. I really wanted to believe in the VB. I ended up having to return it because on top of migraines and eye strain, my neck and shoulders just couldn't take the posture required to look into the thing.
Quality Public Enemy reference in the title.
I finally got a working virtual boy with a hyper flash 32. I love this game for some reason. It's my favorite on the console so far.
I remember playing this like a year after it came out...I remember that I sucked at the controls, but it wasn't because they were fighting me, I just couldn't wrap my head around them. So I'm not surprised that it actually did end up being very similar to how dual-stick controls ended up.
The unfilled polygons on the other hand, DID fight me
This was one of the few Virtual Boy games I owned, and honestly I really enjoyed it as a kid. I guess I was more forgiving back then due to the technology of 3D being kind of neat.
AVGN and Jeremy Parish wierdly parallel each other out. I kinda wanna know what a collab would look like between these two completely opposite personalities.
Well I like Red Alarm; the best way to play it is with 3D, otherwise it won’t be easy to visually parse. Also can’t believe Descent is from 1994
Yeah, hard to wrap your head around the fact that a full 3d game like that existed the same year as Doom, when Doom itself was regarded as some kind of miraculous technical wonder.
From what I recall, the reason Descent was possible is because of a very efficient portal based rendering scheme.
Portals are very good at removing hidden geometry, so it lends itself well to that.
The downside is, a portal engine is really only efficient for tight, confined interior spaces.
As soon as you have an large open outdoor space, a portal rendering scheme is basically useless.
I recall Descent 3 made a huge deal out of the indoor-outdoor transitions precisely because of how difficult it had been to get there.
Doom is the state of the art in 1994 for larger, somewhat open spaces.
Descent was state of the art for small, confined spaces.
@@KuraIthys doom came out in 93 and descent came out in 95...
Any particular reason why the game keeps displaying "T&E Soft Presents..." and "Nintendo Virtual Boy?" Trust me, when I'm playing Virtual Boy, the last thing I need to be reminded of is what console I'm currently playing
Came down to ask the same thing. It reminds me of games that put the game logo somewhere on the screen, usually beside the extra space in health or score (like TMNT2 NES in single player). But with those it just sits there in the corner and doesn't bother you, here it keeps jumping about in the middle of the action.
Yeah, that was all I could notice after I saw it.
@@ninto55ssequesterrecording8 Agreed
IIRC it just does that. Why, I really couldn't tell you.
Makes me wonder if that was a leftover from an early version demo that never got taken out.
I loved this game. It might be my second favorite VB game behind Wario Land.
gojiraVusa exactly the same here. I wonder what they would play like today.
Somehow this is the one Virtual Boy game I still have. I threw the device away when it died years later, I wish I hadn't
I think this is a great analysis of Red Alarm.
To me, at the time, this was the game that showed that Virtual Reality could work and the Virtual Boy would not. It's perhaps the most exaggerated example of why VR was not ready when in the mid 1990's companies tried to attack it.
In fact, even on the PC which could do more primitive Decent or Quake style games, the lack of 3D cards and standards made the idea very difficult. Every game needed a custom patch. By the time VR was reasonable in the early 2000's people had moved on for another decade.
Now we have VR, but even though the tech is better the content is struggling and the hardware is expensive for a little while longer. And maybe it will never make it when AR is just around the corner....
VR is here this time because of a massive drop in price relative to image quality. (headsets to the standards we have now were in the 10-100k a headset pricerange before that point.)
Problem is, VR has a lot of minor problems even now.
The headsets, owing to their wide field of view, have effective resolutions comparable to a 320x240 display.
And not do the headsets themselves need better displays, but computers would struggle too.
To match what people expect from even a regular 1080p monitor requires pushing VR up to 8k.
And good luck getting a computer to do 8k reliably. Especially when VR creates the added requirement of needing very low latency headtracking (the consequences of not having this being giving people severe nausea), which has already pushed all the mainstream headsets to set 90 fps as a minimum performance bar.
And bear in mind that's not 90 fps average, as it would be for gaming in general, it's 90 fps MINIMUM.
Can't risk framerate drops much below that point...
Then there's the secondary problems, some of which have some hypothetical (but clumsy) solutions, such as needing much better, more elaborate haptic feedback...
And the real 'unsolveable' problem of VR as it currently stands - input that correlates directly to real-world action.
This might not sound like a big deal, but it means you need a large play space, cannot get players to do actions they aren't physically capable of, and have to adapt play environments to reflect the actual space the player is operating in.
You cannot for instance do something as simple as provide a chair in a virtual space, because players have a habit of being a bit TOO immersed into the virtual environment at times, and unless you get lucky, that chair doesn't exist, so someone could try and sit on it, and fall flat on their ass.
Many other similar problems abound, nearly all of which result from the near direct correlation between the virtual actions performed, and the real-world actions performed.
Unfortunately there doesn't seem a reasonable way around that, because part of the reason this developed is to allow a much larger range of more intuitive interactions. (do what you would do in reality and barring a few simplifications, physics quirks and aids meant to compensate for less than perfect precision, and you'll do a corresponding action in the virtual world that is usually very intuitive and relatable to everyday experience...)
VR has a long way to go, but I'm not sure it'll get where it's truly aiming to be without resorting to something radical like say, a surgically implanted mind-machine interface device.
And that's a pretty extreme path to take, honestly.
@@KuraIthys There weren't really headsets that were up to today's standards back then, but they were limited by the graphics hardware far more than the screens. The Virtual I/O headset I had in about 1994/95 was very limited, but the resolution and refresh rates weren't a big issue compared to the PC's inability to push 3D graphics.
As for what we're doing now, I can assure you I'm aware of the problems with modern VR/AR hardware, and what we're doing to make it better. To some extent the haptic issues don't need to be solved this way, because we don't need to believe we're in reality. We need to have an environment which looks real and we can interact with, and we're working on tech which will increase the quality significantly ;)
@@KuraIthys
You're exaggerating. Yeah, a 1080p display generally looks like a bad VHS tape. But I've seen sub 2k indoor concert/performance art videos that get a bit too realistic whenever one of the performers decides to invade my personal space. Especially if they understand concepts like "good lighting" and can keep things at 60fps or higher.
As for virtual furniture, the easiest way to make it work is to limit movement options while you're on it, or task the player with actually sitting down. (Or simply using their actual furniture.)
And the size of your play area mostly isn't a problem with basic teleport systems. It only alienates those who aren't emotionally equipped to handle abstraction. Or those who don't lie to the Quest when laying down their guardian, because Occulus assumes you want a glowing grid over the entire screen whenever any part of your body or the controller comes within a foot and a half of the border. How many people have injured themselves, because they decided to risk falling down the stairs rather than deal with that bullshit?
1:18 the ship getting stuck on a Virtual Boy. What a perfect visual to represent this game and its shortcomings.
Thank you for noticing that inclusion
I miss this game. Wish I have this
Nice Public Enemy reference
This should win a Pulitzer for "best headline".
This makes the submarine minigame in Final Fantasy VII look like Microsoft Flight Simulator by comparison. Also, why did it have to constantly print "Nintendo Virtual Boy" on the screen at all times? Did they think people would forget what system they were playing on?
They did it for the a e s t h e t i c
Pretty sure Red Alarm was the first game I picked up with my Virtual Boy. I always thought it was a blast and would usually use it to show off the system to any friends who would humor me enough to play it.
Everything shown reminds me of stellar 7 on the apple IIe. Which came out in 1983.
T&e were one of the top developers on Japanese MSX and Pc98 systems. Hydlide 3 pretty much defined my youth. (later ported to Genesis)
This is the only game on the Virtual Boy I put considerable time into. I really enjoyed this one. It's unfortunate it doesn't really emulate well. I would have loved to see a 3DS port. Maybe even an update with improved draw distances.
Christopher Blair I’m surprised Nintendo didn’t release any Virtual Boy games on 3DS. Seems like it would’ve been a no-brainer.
I got a VB for Christmas’95 with red alarm, Mario Tennis, and Teleroboxer haha
Red Alarm was hilariously parodied by Homstar Runner.
YOUR HEAD A SPLODE
Red Alarm was the first VB game I tried at a demo system at Sears. Man, I was blown away by it. My only frustration was that I didnt have enough time to play it and get good at it. The controls seemed difficult for me at the time, and I wasnt sure if it was because I just hadnt had the time to play it enough, of because it was just a bad game.
You compared Red Alarm to early vector graphics games... but personally I think those games look even better. Games like Star wars and red baron are nothing more than a bunch of vector lines but the simplicity actually adds to the overall look. Red Alarm; even on a real VB just hurts the eyes. Sometimes less is more.
Bonus fact : did you know many 80s vector games can actually be hooked up to an oscilloscope as a monitor?
I remember really enjoying this game as a teenager in 1996. I have a feeling things would be a little different if I played it today.
Please tell me you're going to bring up the "Chili Dog Farts" magazine ad for the baseball game next episode. It's the only thing I remember about that game.
Yes, the whole episode is one long poo joke.
A long, alarmingly red, poo joke.
Damn why did the Virtual Boy get all of these ambitious games?
It feels like a horror movie!
"NO DON'T DEVELOP FOR THE VIRTUAL BOY, YOU'LL NEVER GET YOUR MONEY BACK!"
Given that the Virtual Boy seems to be about as powerful as a GBA (the VB actually has more RAM and a higher CPU clock), and significantly more so than a SNES, I think that hardware was actually capable of quite more complex 3D than Red Alarm displays.
Even for GBA, games with more complex 3D took a while after the system's release to appear, and the really impressive 3D GBA titles, like a Tomb Raider or Quake port, only saw the light after its active life span. Programming 3D engines is no easy task, so it shouldn't surprise that the Virtual Boy never reached the age of more sophisticated software which made proper use of its hardware.
The main issue with Red Alarm seems to be not only the short draw distance, but also the fact that all the objects seem transparent. I think there are even a some (low frame rate) GBC titles that achieve 3D object occlusion, like Race Drivin' and the Game Boy port of Stunt Race FX.
Feels like Star Wars arcade (1983) but in stupid all range in a good way.
Have you tried playing this using the actual VB display? I thought it worked quite well, it was my favorite game on the system. Maybe if you have good spatial recognition it's easier to place everything where it's supposed to be in 3D space, but I thought what they did with so few lines created a very well realized world with a good amount of definition. You can tell what's a craggy cave, what's supposed to be water, the creatures look recognizable, to me at least. My only complaint might be draw distance, but you're usually worried about what's immediately around you anyway.
P.S., your VB unit that outputs to HDMI, it would be neat if whoever made it could also produce a version that allows 120Hz output (or maybe just 60Hz side-by-side output, some TVs support that and some don't) for stereoscopic 3D on supported 3D TVs.
Like it or not,this was a great game..
Interesting little game, thanks for the video! Every reviewed game so far makes me want to play that console even more.
I wonder why Nintendo did not play the arcade conversion + 3D treatment card with such well known titles as Space Harrier, AfterBurner or OutRun. Granted, these were all games from SEGA but their reputation and the ability to play them in 3D would certainly have illustrated the merits and advantages of the console over traditional formats.
Also, Jeremy would you consider making anaglyphs versions of these Virtual Boy videos? I imagine there must exist tools capable of converting Virtual Boy (or emulator thereof) output to anaglyph format so that could be a fairly automatic process.
Virtual Hydlide was amazing, bruh.
I was impressed by this in a demo kiosk as a kid, or at least it left a strong impression me with its visuals. I had no fucking idea how to play it. I also had not really heard of Star Fox or was at least mostly confused by its marketing in the N64 era
This is a game that requires good depth perception
I feel like I could really enjoy a port of this game to more capable hardware with shaded polygons and a better draw distance, but that's never going to happen
NINTENDO VIRTUAL BOY_
T&E SOFT PRESENTS_
My eyes! One of the most ambitious game designs with one of the oldest rendering styles. Man, on any other system (with actual textures) this probably could've been a fun direction to take StarFox.
It doesn't even need textures, just geometric solids!
@@JeremyParish Or, hell, just make objects opaque so you don't have to figure out what's in front.
T&E Soft Presents!
Nintendo Virtual Boy!
This was my favorite VB game
Love every video in "works", one comment: I know the picture looks bad in CZcams when it's in the natural red, but you should give us a few seconds of how that looks. Couldn't imagine this one as red vectors, weird and hard on the eyes.
Every time I've added an overlay, people have bitched at me because the overlay doesn't have the exact luminosity of the VB screen (which, yeah, no kidding). So I've dropped that idea, sorry.
This was one of the launch games I picked up with my Virtual Boy back in the day. It was easily my least favorite one though.
NEW SUBSCRIBER👌
As a massive Sega Saturn apologist, Virtual Hydlide makes me feel sad on the inside. This game looks like one of T&E's more technically impressive works... which isn't saying much. It's a neat proof of concept though!
Hey, at least T&E made some rad golf games. I don't even like golfing, but I love playing their golf sims.
more like T&A Soft ;D
Okay, CZcams, why is it that several comments on this brand new video say they were posted multiple days ago?
Just wait until next week's episode, which was originally released a month ago.
This game makes my eyes hurt.
Flawed as it is, I really liked this game.
This looks like a wire frame version of starfox.
Nintendo_
Virtual Boy_
I'm honestly surprised that this is entirely wireframe.
The V810 CPU used in the virtual boy should easily be in the same ballpark as the Second iteration of the SuperFX chip (see Doom, and the very recently finally released starfox 2)
Thus full filled and possibly even textured 3d spaces shouldn't have been out of reach...
I don't know what made them use wireframe instead...
Odd choice.
It has to draw two screens at the same time. And if they want anything approaching a stable frame-rate...?
That ending pun was terrible.
star fox pre-beta edition
Except it was created well after Star Fox and didn't rely on a complex math co-processor. Parish is quite correct to say that Red Alarm for Virtual Boy was an impressive, ambitious game, especially for a handheld. Sure, it doesn't hold up after nearly a quarter century, but it's still a pretty impressive game considering the time it was released.
this game is like an ambitious but inferior port of a game that doesn't exist
This game highlights a basic flaw with most Virtual Boy games: 3D games should never be third person, because having a small jittery object near your face is really annoying, and keeping your eyes focused on such an object quickly strains your eye muscles. Yet not only are most Virtual Boy games third person, most 3DS games that play up the 3D function are also third person, these dumbasses learned nothing.
You can play it in first person.