Martin Robinson of IGN UK writes:
"Running games haven't proved the most fertile of grounds in the past – remember Pen Pen Tricelon on the Dreamcast? Or the time Sonic and his chums took to their feet in Sonic R? How about that scrapped Treasure arcade game GunBeat, that had a cast of off-beat anime characters sprinting in pursuit of each other? Perhaps not, but SouthPeak Games has dipped its blistered toes into the shallow waters of the genre with Iridium Runners, a racing game for the ageing PlayStation 2."
CheatCC writes: "Iridium Runners is a very unique title. I never thought I'd see the day where I would encounter a racing game that had absolutely nothing to do with vehicle based gameplay. Not since Track and Field, anyway. But surprise aside, Iridium Runners is actually a pretty good title. Despite being firmly planted in the budget category (MSRP is 14.99), it has solid gameplay and is a great low-cost multiplayer game."
The players are followed by "Pods," which are little flying boxes that store the runners' weapons and power-ups. Each pod has different stats that determine the chances of the style of power-up the player is most likely to get: shield power-ups, weapon power-ups, or speed power-ups. This, combined with individual runner's stats, which are the regular speed, acceleration and also stamina and agility, the players can strategically match up a character and a pod that will work together.
1UP writes: "Have you ever had visions of manning a pod racer or partaking in intergalactic races against other sentient beings in a hovercraft? Well, get those preposterous images of the future out of your head once and for all -- the evolution of racing is all about using your feet...at least according to Iridium Runners. Pumping your legs furiously upon a hard track may have gotten old back in high school, but this simple concept is oddly compelling in this budget PS2 racer. Who would've thought frantically tapping the X button could be this much fun?"
