Iron Soldier (Atari Jaguar) Review - Master-Cast TV

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[@matthewshort6625]

Another Spot on Review. Loved this game.

[@coleshores]

One of the best games on the system and easily the best mech series I've ever played.

[@MasterCastTV]

Best mech series, huh? Damn! Even better than Gungriffon and Armored Core?

[@coleshores]

Ive never played those unfortunately. I have played GunMetal, Virtual On, Mech Assault, & old school Mech Warriors. As a series its better than any of those I mentioned by quite some distance IMO. Also, if you get a chance to play the 3rd one on PS1(you can burn a CD if you have to). It pretty much exausted every ounce of performance from it.. It's stunning. If you can get your hands on a Nuon even better, burn Iron Soldier 3 for it. Its like the PS1 release but with 6th generation graphics. *just viewed Gungriffon on KZbin* Oh yeah IS3 for PS1 looks way way better than that. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGnbpIuZh5arrsU

[@miked4377]

another freakin winner for the underated jag!

[@MasterCastTV]

Fuckin' A right!

[@RetroGameLivingRoom]

This was one of two games I got when I picked up the Jaguar. The other was AvP.

[@MasterCastTV]

So you had two great games right off the bat? NICE! :D

[@RetroGameLivingRoom]

I knew what to look for. ;) Then I got Tempest 2000. But my next game was Cybermorph. I know you like it, but even when it was new I didn't see it as much more than a tech demo.

[@saurondp]

Iron Soldier remains one of my favorite Jaguar games. I played the hell out of it back when it was released, and still go back to it from time to time. Despite the extremely dated graphics, it's still quite fun to play.

[@MasterCastTV]

It's a damn fun game. Still need to play Iron Soldier II. Won't lie, it's one reason I wanted to get a Jaguar CD. Also, didn't you comment on another video? It looks as though it's vanished.

[@saurondp]

@@MasterCastTV Yes, I commented on the Zero Tolerance video.

[@MasterCastTV]

@@saurondp Did you try Battle Frenzy on Mega CD/Mega Drive? While it doesn't have as many levels, it looks a bit more robust for the time.

[@saurondp]

@@MasterCastTV No, never played it, and honestly never even heard of it until you name-checked it in the video. I'll have to check it out.

[@ArmoredCoreRaven]

I don't own a Jaguar 64 myself, they're very rare here in Sweden, but I've been lucky enough to get to play this game a few times over the years. I love mech games and this is easily my favorite game for the system. I've sadly never played the rarer 2nd one for Jaguar 64 CD, or the even rarer still cartridge version, but I own Iron Soldier 3 on PlayStation and love it. It's basically a heavily upgraded version of the two previous games and a great mech game even by the insanely high standards of PlayStation mech games (as in it has to stand up against opponents like Armored Core, Front Mission 3 and Omega Boost). I highly recommended it to anyone who enjoys the two first games or mech games in general.

[@MasterCastTV]

Damn! Nice haul, bro. Do you have the NUON? If I remember correctly, it received its own Iron Soldier game. I think it may have been Iron Soldier 3 as well? Not sure. Wish I could play 2, but I can't afford a Jaguar CD yet. I've heard the cartridge version's a stripped down version of the CD game that recycles many elements from the first rather than taking assets from the CD.

[@ArmoredCoreRaven]

Nah, I've never even seen a NUON in real life. As far as I recall it was Iron Soldier 3 that got a NUON release, yes, I don't know if there are any notable differences from the PSX version though. Makes sense, they had to do something to make it fit on a cartridge and it's not like the Jaguar was doing too well at the time, some budget and shortcuts were inevitable. Still I bet both versions are probably very enjoyable, they have "Iron Soldier" in their title after all, so they have to be good!

[@RichardTroupe]

Great review! I recently completed this game a few months ago myself and your observations were pretty much spot on. The difficulty tends to ramp up fairly quickly but the game never feels unfair. Any error is user related and it does force you to reconsider your strategic approach to various missions, from the weapons load out choice to the way you navigate the mission area. Graphically, I didn't find the game offensive in the slightest and I find that it holds a charm - in fact, I'd go as far to say that it has aged fairly well when stood alongside that all-too-common modern 'retro desire' with indie releases nowadays. The music is fucking superlative as well. Thick synths with an inimitable 1980s aesthetic which pound and pump the gameplay along. I've heard people give mixed opinions about this game (some say that it controls slowly, but you're a big fuckin' mech! It WILL control slowly!) but I'm beginning to think that they'd genuinely shite on the game regardless as they usually haven't experienced it first hand and tend to base their opinions of the Jaguar on AVGN's early videos satirising it. Keep up the great work man. I don't know if you're a fan of podcasts, but I thoroughly recommend checking out the 'Atari Jaguar Game by Game Podcast' by Shinto - it's brilliantly researched and goes in to a lot of the detail behind each game.

[@mattthompson5951]

This channel is so underrated, all your reviews are stellar - full of personality, thorough examination of different elements, and a clear passion of someone who actually is into this stuff!

[@praetorprime]

Iron Soldier is the first proper video game I ever owned, and I love it. Thanks for the review.

[@NoAgendaNewsDaily]

This was one of my favourites for the Jag.

[@MasterCastTV]

It's one of my favorites now. LOL!

[@CasperEgas]

I kind of like it. It took a while to get into it, but after that I liked the challenge. The Jaguar cd sequel is fun too. Never played the cardridge version though.

[@MasterCastTV]

God, I envy. I keep thinking I'm gonna' pull the trigger on Jaguar CD (a few came up for less than $300 in working order), but I just can't justify the expense.

[@silverwings21]

One of the better games for the Jaguar. I bought this one new/sealed, of course I opened that fucker up and played and beaten it.

[@MasterCastTV]

Good man! Of course, someone told me it's stupid to unwrap sealed games. Could've bought two games for what you paid for one, and blah-blah-blah. Tell me, do you feel as stupid as I do? LOL!

[@silverwings21]

+Master-Cast TV Nope; keeping them sealed is for someone who owns a museum or is an archivist. Other than that, they are meant to be played. I usually don't buy old sealed games, but they were so cheap, cheaper than they were when they were 1st released, what the hell, might as well buy 'em. Buying a sealed game is good because you know the game was never touched by anyone and not fucked with in any way, shape, or form, so you are 100% getting what was intended back in the 90's.

[@MasterCastTV]

Fuckin' A!

[@ChadTi99]

Excellent game for the Jag and the sequel on the JagCD is excellent as well. Great Review!

[@MasterCastTV]

Thank you very much, good sir! Have you played the cartridge version of 2? If so, how does it compare?

[@ChadTi99]

Master-Cast TV same experience just lacking music and FMV cut scenes. As far as I can tell but I haven't spent a lot of time with the cart version.

[@randyfemrite7525]

Great review; couldn't have said it better myself.

[@MasterCastTV]

Thanks, man! You rock! :D

[@Kotstulle81]

And one of the not so expensive Games for the Jag. Got mine sealed for 32,50 €.

[@MasterCastTV]

Yeah, mine was sealed too. Bought it off Amazon for $39.99.

[@LonnyLeonzo]

The fact that you can destroy buildings in this game is amazing, and I'd say was revolutionary back in 1994, how many consoles before the jaguar had any games where you could roam around in 3D and destroy buildings, and is there any reason that rockstar hasn't made it possible to destroy buildings in their grand theft auto games?

[@PvtHudson]

Great video as always.

[@MasterCastTV]

Thank you, Private. ;)

[@thefurthestmanfromhome1148]

Along with Tempest 2000 and AVP, this Sam Tramiel claimed could not be done as well on the Sega Saturn. I loved this game,but Sam..32X Metal Head had full texture mapping, as for Saturn Mech games, ahem, Mech Warrior 2, Gun Griffon 1 and 2, Krazy Ivan

[@BioPhoenixReviews]

this looks like a really good game. probably one of the better jaguar games just from the ones iv seen

[@MarceloKamui]

This game looks fun!

[@gameblaster64]

Are you Canadian? I love your accent and just general way of speaking!

[@MasterCastTV]

Haha! Thanks! No, I was born and raised in San Pedro, California. Moved around the country quite a bit, living in Arizona, Jersey, and now Maryland. It's kind of a collage these days.

[@TheSouthernSegaGentleman]

Auto bots... ROLL OUT!

[@MasterCastTV]

LOL! Fuck! I didn't even think about Transformers.

[@TheSouthernSegaGentleman]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@rayzaramon6598]

Soooooo Transformers.😍

[@MasterCastTV]

Hahaha! I didn't even think about Transformers. Ever since I saw the second movie came out, I can't bear to think about 'em. :(

[@PedroSilvahf]

Look really good

[@MasterCastTV]

Well worth a try if you can.

[@TheAgradeneu]

Joypad, A+C = 2x fast turn rate :-)

[@thefurthestmanfromhome1148]

95% from French Magazine, Player One 😍

[@aliencatcrew3336]

Can I borrow your copy of iron soldier. You said RIGHT NOW, THATS WHY IM ASKING

[@MrSuperlollo]

Game looks funny and playable but those graphics....damn it they fucking suck! It makes Armored Core on PSX look like a next gen game

[@MasterCastTV]

I'm sure many say the same when they look at Genesis games in comparison to Saturn.

[@MrSuperlollo]

Master-Cast TV well the Jag came out Nov 93, the PSX Dec 94, only 1 years separates the two. Genesis and Saturn are 6 years apart

[@MasterCastTV]

That's irrelevant. The Genesis was still alive and kicking when Saturn was released. Regardless, if you think these visuals look terrible, then you probably don't like Virtua Racing or Virtua Fighter. Both arcade games were released prior to Jaguar.

[@Some_Werewolf_Dude]

To be completely honest, I don't understand why this game is praised so much. The controls are horrendously stiff and clunky, turning is really damn SLOW and the ProController did nothing to help. I swear it feels like I'm a snail and all the enemies are cheetahs. I find Checkered Flag more playable despite the worse frame rate. I'm not going to mention the graphics, although I will say that I think flat-shaded polygons have aged better than textured polygons, so there's a positive. I do think I would have enjoyed the game if I was around in 1994, but I wan't born until a decade later. Although Cybermorph can also be clunky, it can get pretty fast-paced at times which (for me, at least) can hide the control issues. So, I would say that out of every Jaguar game I own, Iron Soldier is the only one which I think is pretty bad. Like I said before, if I was around when this game was new, I would be able to play it just fine.

[@MasterCastTV]

Being a mech-simulator of sorts, and when taking the era into consideration, it's not an issue for me personally. The Pro-Controller wouldn't be much of an aid here since it wasn't developed with the controller in mind. Checkered Flag, on the other hand, is an epic fail in control for even a tap can send you careening into a barrier - regardless of speed. To be fair, there's a ROM available that's supposed to correct this somewhat, though I've yet to try it for myself. Admittedly, flat-shaded/Gouraud shading does end up looking a little better over blocky textures in some cases. That being said, I can be forgiving with others, like Darxide or Metal Head on 32X. I think many players have issues with Cybermorph and Iron Soldier because acceleration doesn't require constant contact like so many arcade-like sims. Instead, you set it at the speed you desire, freeing your thumb for 'fire' and other options. Darxide on 32X works the same way. It's unusual, certainly, though I was able to adjust to it. Taking all of this into consideration, I can relate to your perspective with one game in particular - Alone in the Dark. I may have enjoyed it on PC, using a keyboard, but the control on 3DO renders it virtually unplayable for me. I just can't enjoy it.