Is Red Alarm on Steam?

No. Red Alarm is not distributed on Steam, so there is no Steam Charts or SteamDB player count for it. Its live popularity is tracked here via Twitch viewership instead.

What platforms is Red Alarm on?

Red Alarm is available on Virtual Boy.

When did Red Alarm release?

Red Alarm was first released on July 21, 1995.

Red Alarm

Jul 21, 1995ShooterSimulatorVirtual Boy

Red Alarm — frequently asked questions

Is Red Alarm on Steam?: No. Red Alarm is not distributed on Steam, so there is no Steam Charts or SteamDB player count for it. Its live popularity is tracked here via Twitch viewership instead.
What platforms is Red Alarm on?: Red Alarm is available on Virtual Boy.
When did Red Alarm release?: Red Alarm was first released on July 21, 1995.

About Red Alarm

Bursting through incredible dimensions of Virtual space the final mission is clear. Obliterate all enemies and obstacles created by KAOS and terminate this menacing battle system from within. Employing an impressive arsenal of high-tech weapons and evasive maneuvers the Tech-Wing Fighter speeds on. Spinning deaths, spy pods and mosquito mechs appear from everywhere! The fate of humanity will soon be defined. Red Alarm! Red Alarm! Alarm Condition Red!!

Summary via IGDB.

Red Alarm on Wikipedia

Red Alarm 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 Alarm's graphics as confusing, but certain publications praised it as one of the most enjoyable Virtual Boy titles.

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).

Game details

Developer: T&E Soft Osaka
Publisher: Nintendo
Game modes: Single player
Themes: Action, Science fiction
Official site: Visit

Details via IGDB.

Collector value & authenticity

Virtual Boy · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-08-22

Loose

$30

Complete

$70

Sealed

$204

Release record

Territory	Date	Serial	Barcode	MSRP
Japan	21 Jul 1995	VUE-VREJ-JPN	4988604240014	¥4,900
North America	Aug 1995	VUE-VREE-USA	045496770044	$39.95
Brazil Playtronic Industrial Ltda.	18 Sep 1995	VUE-VREE-USA	—	R$69.00
Mexico Gamela México	—	VUE-VREE-USA	045496770044	—
North AmericaNot for resale	—	DIS-VUE-VREE-USA	—	—

North America (nfr): The library's most attractive NFR forgery target: the retail cart is cheap, so the dollar gap to the demo is widest here.

Community score: 77/100
Region: JP+NA
Released: 1995
Authenticity: Low

On Nintendo Switch Online since Feb 17, 2026 — the cartridge is now a collectibleLow counterfeit risk

Virtual Boy prices, all games & how to spot a fake

A wireframe rail shooter that turns a hardware limitation into its whole aesthetic — and one of the best-value games on the system.

With no fills and no textures, the display could push geometry fast, and Red Alarm moves in a way nothing else on the Virtual Boy does. It is also the game most likely to make a newcomer understand why anyone built this hardware: the depth cues are unambiguous and the sense of flying through something is real. A high community rating at an entry-tier price.

How it was made

Built by T&E Soft. Lead programmer Mitsuto Nagashima has described discovering, during development, that the Virtual Boy's 3D effect does not work on a single object against a black background — stereoscopic depth needs at least two reference points before parallax reads at all. That constraint shaped how every game on the system looks.

Nintendo's management wanted an auto-scrolling shooter in the mould of Namco's Starblade. The team wanted free 3D flight, and the controller's second D-pad is what let them keep it.

What the press said at the time

GameFan Vol. 3 #11	1995	92.5/100
Game Zero	1995	21.5/25

Contemporary Western coverage was strong; Digital Press later called it a 5/10, and Defunct Games revisited it at 90/100 in 2005. Electronic Gaming Monthly never reviewed it — EGM covered only four Virtual Boy games in the platform's entire life.

Worth knowing

Hiroshi Yamauchi was not sure about it. Nintendo’s famously decisive president reportedly signed off on showing the game at E3 with: “I don’t know. You guys can decide on this one.”

Before you buy

The North American Not-For-Resale variant carries a steep premium over the retail cart, and sellers routinely list NFR copies at retail prices because the label difference is subtle — a genuine arbitrage worth watching. A Japanese demonstration version also exists. At retail prices, counterfeiting is not a concern.