Any way I can play the iron soldier games without dropping a grand?

[captainblack]

I found out a friend of a friend of mine has a Jaguar. I asked if he wanted to hang out some time and game some Jag and he said yes. I then went looking around local retro game shops for Iron Soldier. Most had zero Jag games. Then I found this guy in a small shop that had exactly 1 Jag game, Iron Soldier shrinkwrapped CIB. I was expecting it to be 200 bucks or something dumb like that but it was actually 60 bucks. I couldnt believe it, told him to hold it for me and immediately drove there to pick it up. Got back from lunch break half an hour late and didnt even care. Tonight I finally played Iron Soldier. It plays and feels like a decent N64 game except every now and then you get those sprite based Doom style graphics on fireballs and stuff and it throws you off. Its makes it feel like its stuck between two generations, but of course when you consider this is 1993 hardware its basically a generation and a half ahead of the curve. Most 1st person mech games have an awkward feel to them and IS is no exception, although it feels 100x better than those Sega CD mech games but noticeably slower than the N64 ones. Also its pretty tough. I think next time I play it I will stop trying to win and just smash up the cities. Looking forward to picking up IS2 some time, just gonna enjoy this one for now though.

 

Also I should add that while it is the most difficult to emulate, it is not the most technically impressive to the eye. Cybermorph is faster, I-war has a more detailed 3D world, and that Zero game with the rotating ship also outshines it. 

Edited August 6, 2020 by captainblack

[agradeneu]

27 minutes ago, captainblack said:

I found out a friend of a friend of mine has a Jaguar. I asked if he wanted to hang out some time and game some Jag and he said yes. I then went looking around local retro game shops for Iron Soldier. Most had zero Jag games. Then I found this guy in a small shop that had exactly 1 Jag game, Iron Soldier shrinkwrapped CIB. I was expecting it to be 200 bucks or something dumb like that but it was actually 60 bucks. I couldnt believe it, told him to hold it for me and immediately drove there to pick it up. Got back from lunch break half an hour late and didnt even care. Tonight I finally played Iron Soldier. It plays and feels like a decent N64 game except every now and then you get those sprite based Doom style graphics on fireballs and stuff and it throws you off. Its makes it feel like its stuck between two generations, but of course when you consider this is 1993 hardware its basically a generation and a half ahead of the curve. Most 1st person mech games have an awkward feel to them and IS is no exception, although it feels 100x better than those Sega CD mech games but noticeably slower than the N64 ones. Also its pretty tough. I think next time I play it I will stop trying to win and just smash up the cities. Looking forward to picking up IS2 some time, just gonna enjoy this one for now though.

 

Also I should add that while it is the most difficult to emulate, it is not the most technically impressive to the eye. Cybermorph is faster, I-war has a more detailed 3D world, and that Zero game with the rotating ship also outshines it. 

 Iron beats all 3 easily. Calling it  on par with N64 is quite a stretch though, it is not even PS1 or Saturn quality. 

Edited August 6, 2020 by agradeneu

[RREDDWARFF]

2 hours ago, agradeneu said:

 Iron beats all 3 easily. Calling it  on par with N64 is quite a stretch though, it is not even PS1 or Saturn quality. 

To each there own, I totally disagree with you. I also prefer I-war and Cybermorph.

[RREDDWARFF]

@captianblack - Iron Soldier 2 is more of a challenge than Iron Soldier 2 for many people. I suggest getting a feeling for the first one.

[agradeneu]

1 hour ago, RREDDWARFF said:

To each there own, I totally disagree with you. I also prefer I-war and Cybermorph.

Iam speaking technically and graphically. Irons 3D engine is heads and shoulders above any of them. Don't need to mention that in terms of artwork and soundtrack, Cybermorph has none of that.

Edited August 6, 2020 by agradeneu

[RREDDWARFF]

1 hour ago, agradeneu said:

Iam speaking technically and graphically. Irons 3D engine is heads and shoulders above any of them. Don't need to mention that in terms of artwork and soundtrack, Cybermorph has none of that.

Right on, makes sense. I totally read that the wrong way.

[captainblack]

4 hours ago, agradeneu said:

Iam speaking technically and graphically. Irons 3D engine is heads and shoulders above any of them. Don't need to mention that in terms of artwork and soundtrack, Cybermorph has none of that.

I'm sure you're right, but I still find I-War much more visually appealing. Cybermorph is lacking in many ways but I find its speed very impressive. It makes it so easy to pick up and play.

[agradeneu]

15 minutes ago, captainblack said:

I'm sure you're right, but I still find I-War much more visually appealing. Cybermorph is lacking in many ways but I find its speed very impressive. It makes it so easy to pick up and play.

Have you played it? Yes Cybermorph was quite impressive for 1993. 

[captainblack]

47 minutes ago, agradeneu said:

Have you played it? Yes Cybermorph was quite impressive for 1993. 

Ya I love it, both the tank levels and the flying ones.

[RREDDWARFF]

Cybermorph is incredibly good. I thought the game was going to be trash now, considering how much grief it gets. In 1993 I would have been very impressed by the game. Probably by the ability to free roam in a 3d world rather than strictly the graphics. I played it for the first time in 98. The one thing I don't like about the game is the lack of an intelligent save state. Battlemorph is much better in this regard. It saves your progress after each level completed to the Memory Track cartridge. 

 

I-war is another Jaguar game that seems to get a lot of hate. I really enjoyed it back in the 90's and was pleasantly surprised how well it holds up today. The art style is very neat and Tron like. For me, I-war is one of my favorites on the console. 

[tripled79]

3 hours ago, RREDDWARFF said:

Cybermorph is incredibly good. I thought the game was going to be trash now, considering how much grief it gets. In 1993 I would have been very impressed by the game. Probably by the ability to free roam in a 3d world rather than strictly the graphics. I played it for the first time in 98. The one thing I don't like about the game is the lack of an intelligent save state. Battlemorph is much better in this regard. It saves your progress after each level completed to the Memory Track cartridge. 

 

I-war is another Jaguar game that seems to get a lot of hate. I really enjoyed it back in the 90's and was pleasantly surprised how well it holds up today. The art style is very neat and Tron like. For me, I-war is one of my favorites on the console. 

Never played I-War. Intrigued by it for sure. Seems to get mixed reviews. Some love it, some hate it.

 

I have mixed feeling towards Cannon Fodder. It gets fairly good reviews. It's gameplay and presentation is good. The first few missions are challenging but okay. Once I get to about mission 9 or 10, the difficulty ramps way up to impossible mode. I was stuck on that game for 20 years. Finally I sold it on eBay. I just couldn't take the frustration anymore.

 

Anywho, "Do the math!"

[RREDDWARFF]

12 minutes ago, tripled79 said:

Never played I-War. Intrigued by it for sure. Seems to get mixed reviews. Some love it, some hate it.

 

I have mixed feeling towards Cannon Fodder. It gets fairly good reviews. It's gameplay and presentation is good. The first few missions are challenging but okay. Once I get to about mission 9 or 10, the difficulty ramps way up to impossible mode. I was stuck on that game for 20 years. Finally I sold it on eBay. I just couldn't take the frustration anymore.

 

Anywho, "Do the math!"

I have Cannon Fodder, but I've only played through about 4 or 5 levels. It seems really good. For me it's  already becoming a challenge so I can imagine that the latter levels are pretty tough.

[agradeneu]

7 hours ago, RREDDWARFF said:

Cybermorph is incredibly good. I thought the game was going to be trash now, considering how much grief it gets. In 1993 I would have been very impressed by the game. Probably by the ability to free roam in a 3d world rather than strictly the graphics. I played it for the first time in 98. The one thing I don't like about the game is the lack of an intelligent save state. Battlemorph is much better in this regard. It saves your progress after each level completed to the Memory Track cartridge. 

 

I-war is another Jaguar game that seems to get a lot of hate. I really enjoyed it back in the 90's and was pleasantly surprised how well it holds up today. The art style is very neat and Tron like. For me, I-war is one of my favorites on the console. 

The "hate" is deserved IMO. If the frame rate was better and it had a decent strafe function with weapon power ups that were actually fun, I War would have been a somewhat decent game. But from the start, the cookie cutter concept/game design was not really that exciting: controlling a clunky tank and collecting orb things (Club Drive?) + shooting random enemies+lots of trippy gouraud shading in an abstract environment (Cybermorph). Meh!

Its actually less fun than Cybermorph and almost 2 years too late. Clunky controls, all over the place framerate, boring concept, sorry, can't recommend it.  

Edited August 7, 2020 by agradeneu

[tripled79]

Anyway, I can sell my copy of Iron Soldier for $999.99 if you don't want to spend a grand...

[captainblack]

Just want to note that 3 months after Iron Soldier came out Sega released Metal Head on the 32X which is a mech game that is way better than Iron Soldier in every way except that the buildings dont break into cool rubble cubes when you shoot them. Though it would still cost you 280 on ebay if you didnt have a genesis or 32x.

[The Helper]

Playstation has a version of Iron Soldier 3.  Pretty much the same game of course not on the Jaguar but you could probably pick up for a fraction of the price.

[ARETHIUS]

On 11/16/2020 at 9:50 AM, captainblack said:

Just want to note that 3 months after Iron Soldier came out Sega released Metal Head on the 32X which is a mech game that is way better than Iron Soldier in every way except that the buildings dont break into cool rubble cubes when you shoot them. Though it would still cost you 280 on ebay if you didnt have a genesis or 32x.

I haven't played Metal Head, but to me it always look poor and basic. It seems that there is more variety of missions in IS than MH.

Metal Head seems also more arcade while IS is more a simulation game.

 

Beside I personnaly think that flat shaded polygons have aged better than early 3D maped polygons.

 

But still I need to play Metal Head to see if I'd like it.