Old School Review: Iron Tank

[Saint_Michael 3]

Iron Tank: The Invasion of Normandy

It has been awhile since I last did an old school review, the last of which was back in February with Contra. Now that school is officially over for me, for now, I thought I bust out a few old school reviews and I thought I go into some military based games and so I bring you Iron Tank. One of the few games that I enjoyed, I believe I barrow this game and also rented it as well, I think, but either way this should be a interesting review since I haven' played this game, emulator wise, in a long time but still remember it fondly.

So let's begin a wonderful review and see if any of you remember this game.

Some Screen Shots:



Game Maker: SNK

Year: 1988

Price: $40-$50

Levels: 9 levels with various branch off points

Sound: 7

Graphics: 6

Mini-Games: none

Difficulty: Back then 8 Now: 6

Game play:

Shoot' em up game in top view perspective

Plot:

The Date: June 5, 1944. The United Forces are preparing for their final assault on the Normandy Coast. The Mission: Establish a beachhead, break through the front lines, and infiltrate and destroy enemy headquarters.
To spearhead the invasion, they have chosen Paul, from Command Unit 88 - a secret unit known as "Iron Snake." An experienced combat veteran with special forces training. Paul has been called a Man of Iron.
But to succeed in his mission, Paul will need the full firepower of the United Forces' mightiest fighting juggernaut: the Iron Tank!

First Impressions:

This was one of my favorite tank games back in the day, and one of difficult games until you memorized everything that showed up in this game. What I like best about this game is the branching off point and the fact you have specialized ammo as well. The music was ok with a catchy beat, and of course, the graphics lived up to the 16-bit era as well. I would have to say that I spent as much time with this game as I did with Iron Sword, Super Mario Bros 2 and a baseball game. I think the farthest I ever got was maybe half way through; although I might have Game Genie the game as well might have beaten it. Iron Tank was one of the few military games that I enjoyed in my youth, besides Jackal and Ikari Warriors. It is interesting to note that codename snake is used with this game and is the same name used in Metal Gear/Solid series. However, two different companies use the name, but with Konami using that name a lot better.

21 years later:

The last time I played this game was last year, and still a bit challenging, I think I spent about an hour getting through this game with lots of restarts, thank you emulator. Still the game is very challenging, especially if you are playing it for the first time, and because of the multiple paths you could take in this game, it never is the same and so there is lots of replay value once you hit every combination of the map.

Overall Ranking: 7

This is a great game, the replay value also makes it good, and once you look past the old school graphics. This game can become a challenging if you don't use your special ammunition and don't remember passwords to continue where you left off.

Now for that Catchy slogan

"Games don't get old, just people!"

Now for some copyright info

Images and of course games are copyrighted to its perspective owners blah blah blah. Roms are illegal and so do not get caught blah blah blah or else blah blah blah. Reviews and opinions are my own so don't argue with me unless you can prove otherwise why this game sucks and 100% of the time you are wrong because one your either a new school gamer and don't know a good game when you see it or two, well there is no two so HA!!. All slogans, trademarks and names excluded the games I review are copyrighted to me blah blah and blah. 2007-2009 SM Old School Legend.