of Red Alarm was inspired by that of Star Fox, 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". Unlike many Virtual Boy games, Red Alarm features an engine that displays 3D graphics: the game world is rendered in wire-frame polygonal visuals similar to those of the 1980 arcade game Battlezone. Because of the console's limited technology, solid 3D graphics were not viable. Red Alarm debuted in North America at the 1995 Winter Consumer Electronics Show, 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. 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, a criticism echoed by the four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly. A GamePro writer under the pseudonym "Slo Mo" found the visuals confusing as well, but felt that players could adjust to them. 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." 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". A retrospective feature by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's program 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