Iron Man / X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal

Moby ID: 9650
SEGA Saturn Specs
Buy on PlayStation
$26.99 used on Amazon
Buy on SEGA Saturn
$38.95 used, $150.00 new on eBay
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Description

This game is a linear beat 'em up Final Fight type game with the choice to play as one of two comic book heroes: Iron Man or X-O Manowar. The game follows the pattern of sidescrolling action in each level with a comic book boss at the end of each.

Levels are as follows:1. Nuclear Plant Siege with bosses Mr. Hyde and the Melter. 2. Stark Enterprises with bosses Titania, Yellowjacket and Goliath. 3. Retake New York City with bosses Vizier and Mistress Crescendo. 4. Dromak Base Assault with bosses Absorbing Man and Dromak Gladiator. 5. Assault on Zola's Castle with bosses Arnim Zola and Mistress Crescendo. 6. Alien Dig: The Cosmic Cube with bosses Baron Zemo and Mistress Crescendo. 7. Board Dromak Ship with Final Boss General Krytos.

Spellings

  • アイアンマン/XO - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Credits (SEGA Saturn version)

125 People (118 developers, 7 thanks) · View all

Dedicated to the Memory of
Vice President of Product Development
Executive Producer
Producer
Interactive Director
Development Team
Senior Manager
Test Supervisors
Lead Analysts
Project Leads
Quality Assurance Testers
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 49% (based on 17 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.2 out of 5 (based on 24 ratings with 1 reviews)

A Decent Side-Scrolling Platformer

The Good
Heavy Metal Wars is an early game in the lifespan of the PlayStation 1. As superhero games go, it's not as groundbreaking as, say, Spider-Man. However, it is better than the Fantastic Four and Incredible Hulk games that were released on the system.

Up to two players can play at once, and the basic gameplay mechanics are familiar. Both Iron Man and X-O Manowar walk, run, jump, duck, punch, shoot (upgradable) unlimited laser beam projectiles, fire a big (limited ammo) chest laser projectile, and fire your lasers at certain background objects or enemies.

Both superheroes can also fly/hover (which depletes an energy bar). Killed enemies drop the usual set of icons and powerups.

It's pretty easy to pick up the game's mechanics and the game features some nice (early) 32-bit era graphics and some nice "to the extreme" 1990s rock music.

Basically, the game is trying to be like, say, "Turtles in Time", but with Marvel Comics characters. I found Heavy Metal to be a fun, but not terribly innovative, game to play.

The Bad
Heavy Metal Wars has a story, but it's poorly developed. You are given quite a lot of drab (even hard to read) text to read before levels. These intermission sequences could have been better done, especially when dealing with locations or supervillains from the comics.

Frankly, I generally ignored the text and it doesn't make the game unplayable. It does make it difficult for the game to stand out or even connect with comic book fans.

The Bottom Line
Heavy Metal Wars is a fun game, but it doesn't bring anything new to the 2D platforming genre. Iron Man and X-O Manowar look good and are fairly responsive, playable characters. But the PlayStation hardware ain't being taxed, and you can replace these comic book stars with just about any 2D action hero from the 1990s. It's a good, solid platformer that won't tax your brain.

PlayStation · by Shamal Jifan (20) · 2017

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Charles Lippert.

DOS added by Terok Nor. SEGA Saturn added by Kilmaat.

Additional contributors: Ms. Tea.

Game added July 10, 2003. Last modified January 15, 2024.