Red Alarm - Controls and Gameplay

Controls and Gameplay

Because the Virtual Boy was released prior to the rise in popularity of the analog stick in console video games, the designers of the system implemented dual D-pads for control (for more information see the article on the Virtual Boy). In Red Alarm, one D-pad controls the pitch and rotation of the ship, while the other controls forward, back and strafe movement (in bursts). The A and B buttons control speed on a throttle-like setup, where tapping A cycles forward through the speeds the ship can go, and tapping B cycles down to stop and fly backwards.

While there is no set time limit in a stage, players must complete it before their fuel runs out. Each level ends in a boss encounter (usually inside of an arena).

The player may watch a replay of a stage once completed, with the ability to rotate and zoom the camera's point of view.