Developer: SNK Publisher: SNK Release: 07/88 Genre: Action
I was not a fan of the NES port of Ikari Warriors. It was a Micronics hack job that was so awful that I nearly wrote off the series. However the one good thing I will say about it is that riding around in the tank was cool. Apparently SNK though so as well as Iron Tank is literally Ikari Warriors in a 60 ton hunk of metal. That descriptor is selling the game short as Iron Tank is a great game with a few unique features for the time that make it much better than it probably should be.
It’s hard to believe but Iron Tank really wants to be Metal Gear bad. Your protagonist is code named Iron Snake, you have a radio to receive calls like Solid Snake’s transceiver and you even have a refuel option that replenishes your life bar before you die like Metal Gear’s rations. I would like to believe most of these similarities are coincidental but it does make you wonder. Iron Tank is another in the long line of war themed NES games from SNK and is surprisingly great. Usually tank based video games are not my cup of tea because they are so slow. To be fair it makes sense. But this strikes the perfect balance between realism and pacing that I would recommend to action fans.
The most immediate aspect you will need to adjust to is the controls. Since you are controlling a tank you can move in one direction while aiming the turret in another. You accomplish this by holding the B button while moving in order to position it. Locking the turret in eight directions while freely moving around is an unprecedented amount of control that is invigorating. That initial learning curve is a bitch to get over though.
What is a tank without an awesome array of weapons? Iron Tank has four primary weapons: rapid fire, armor piercing, bomb shells, and long range along with the requisite smart bomb. Each of these has separate ammo and you can activate them in pairs if you so choose. Power-ups are so frequent that the game encourages experimentation. It is far better than relying on the default machine gun which is so slow and weak it is embarrassing.
The journey to Normandy is incredibly long, longer than most games of this type. Technically the game does not have traditional levels. But there are very clear break points although that does not make it any easier. Despite the fact that you regain health from picking up power-ups and running over foot soldiers it is still easy to be overwhelmed and die in seconds, making this a difficult undertaking. It is more prudent to drive by enemies when possible rather than slowly positioning to line up a shot. As much as I like the controls it does have an adjustment period. Some may find it frustrating to deal with. But for what the game is asking of you I honestly cannot imagine them any differently.
The high challenge might be a deterrent for some but stick as it is worthwhile. There is high replay value as there are multiple branching paths to the end, some more difficult than others. The separate routes have different enemies and bosses as incentive to go back to find the quickest and safest path. If you study the map you can even reach the final boss in fewer than six “levels’. Few games from that era that offered such player choice so Iron Tank is innovative in that regard.
Iron Tank is a great looking game and one of SNK’s best efforts on the platform. It is deceptive; you’ll spend far more time than normal treading through similar forests and grey strongholds. But after your first big boss battle the variety in environments begins. The trip will eventually take you through a fortress, a village, and even a naval shipyard. Terrain variety is not the problem. Enemy variety is. Get used to destroying more tanks than should be possible for one country to possess. Iron Tank heavily resembles SNK’s other NES works such as Guerilla War and P.O.W. It would not be shocking if they all share assets. That is not a knock on the game either. When so many products from one company share one theme you can’t help but notice the similarities.
In Closing
I am a late fan of Iron Tank but glad I came around to it. Once you adjust to the controls Iron Tank is an excellent game worth its dirt cheap price.
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