The Iron Man game on DS briefly taps into the movie lore. We meet the enigmatic Tony Stark, billionaire playboy, charismatic salesman, weapons maker and all-round genius as he comes to terms with himself and his family's weapon making legacy after he is captured by a group of terrorists and forced to build them weapons of mass destruction. Rather than building them a series of missiles that could wipe out the planet, Stark decides to build himself a suit of iron in order to escape their clutches - which itself becomes the prototype for the sleek red/gold suit that he later builds to become Iron Man.
"Flame on!" Whoops, wrong Marvel reference...
Unlike its console brothers, Iron Man on the DS features a top-down view of the action in lieu of the vast open world that was offered in other versions of the game. The game features an action-packed design with controls that work similarly to those in Geometry Wars Galaxies. Players will find themselves moving around Iron Man using the DS's D-pad while furiously sliding away on their stylus to get Iron Man to aim and shoot in a 360 degree motion. This style of play can often hamper left-handed players as they are usually forced to conform to the standard controls, but Iron Man does give lefties their own controller options to play with.
The game's missions - there are eight in all - challenge players to blast away at anything and everything that the enemy throws at them – missiles, tanks, helicopters, gun turrets, you name it and it is probably firing on you – while avoiding getting shot by the enemy through constantly dodging incoming fire. Unlike the console versions focus on flight, the Nintendo DS version of the game divides Iron Man's time between trekking around on foot and blasting enemies from the sky. Whether you're on foot or in the air, both scenarios carry the same basic control scheme and gameplay mechanics, except for one very large exception – airborne missions tend to be full of fast-paced gameplay in comparison to fighting from the ground. While it may not seem like much, this mechanic does help distract you from the fact that the game offers up very similar missions whether you're fighting from the air or on the ground - and most likely serves as the only reason that you are bothering to play through the thing in the first place.
As well as having a specific mission focus, each level encourages you to blast everything that pops across your screen, and the trigger happy players will find that their effort is rewarded as the game rewards you with points that you can use to upgrade Iron Man's equipment - which is really handy as Iron Man in the early missions is about as tough as a little girl armed with a fly swatter. Players will actually find that the game becomes more enjoyable as you upgrade Iron Man's weak weapons for the more robust blasters and shields.
My gun goes pew pew.
For a DS title, the audio of Iron Man is quite good. The musical score provides all the powerful booms and crashes that we expect from an orchestral piece, while the game's action sounds provide a solid base of effects to keep gamers interested in playing with the sound on. Like with the other versions of the game, Robert Downey Jr. provides the voice of Tony Stark/Iron Man - the major difference being that in the DS version he actually sounds like he was trying his best to deliver solid lines, although the occasional flat dialogue does appear in sections of the game.
The graphics of the title are quite good as most of the action looks very clean, without the dreaded blurry pixel effect spoiling the party too often. The only draw back is due to the angle of the game's camera it can be difficult at times to prepare for the incoming enemy as you can not see them until it is too late, but considering that Iron Man would have to be nothing more than a little red spot on the screen for you to get a good view, it's an issue that isn't too hard to live with in comparison to the alternative.
While Iron Man's latest foray on the DS is not the usual movie tie-in shovelware, its basic gameplay keeps it from becoming a truly super title. The action proves to be both fast-paced and challenging but the many design flaws in the awkward gameplay will ensure that you only get minimal enjoyment out of [i]Iron Man/i] unless you are under the age of ten.
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