is a 1995 shoot 'em up video game developed by T&E Soft and published by Nintendo for the Virtual Boy, Released as a launch title for the console, 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 Alarms graphics as confusing, but certain publications praised it as one of the most enjoyable Virtual Boy titles.
Gameplay and plot
thumb|250px|left|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. As a Virtual Boy game, it features a red-and-black color palette and stereoscopic 3D visuals, the depth of which may be adjusted by the player. 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. The game is broken up into six levels, 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. 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. Although T&E Soft was known for golf video games, Unlike many Virtual Boy games, Red Alarm features an engine that displays 3D graphics: and it was confirmed as a launch game for the Virtual Boy at that year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. Later that year, Red Alarm and several other titles were released alongside the console, which debuted on July 21 in Japan and August 14 in the United States.
Red Alarm was added to the Nintendo Classics service on February 17, 2026. D4 Enterprise owns the rights to the game, having acquired T&E Soft's trademark and intellectual property in 2019.
Reception
Writing for Weekly Famicom Tsūshin, Isabella Nagano called Red Alarms 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, Slo Mo and Electronic Gaming Monthlys 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".
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. 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." In 2008, Kolan called it "a really competent shooter" with strong visuals and gameplay.