No Review for Iron Man 2?

Well, God forbid any video game websites actually review what might be perceived as a hot or high-profile title. Specifically, a game based on one of this Summer’s blockbuster movies.

I am, of course, talking about Iron Man 2. At least, that’s what Metacritic seems to imply.

Look among the listings in the link, and yes, you will indeed find reviews for Iron Man 2; however, look closer and you’ll see that the reviews are only for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions. Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, and the Wii have all gone unrepresented.

Now, while this may on the surface appear understandable, consider this. The 360 and PS3 versions which have been reviewed (as well as the DS version) were created by SEGA Studios of San Francisco. And apparently, their work was not well-received at all, and SEGA opted to shut the studio down.

While one would expect that the Wii and PSP versions, made on “lesser” hardware, to perhaps fall short, something to bear in mind is that those versions were not watered-down ports. Instead, they were developed by another studio, High Voltage Software, who has their fans and seems to have people excited for some of their upcoming works. Maybe, just maybe, there is a chance that the Wii (and PSP) version is the better game.

But who would know? Again, no reviews. It appears that once the HD versions were reviewed, they called it a day. And having just come from seeing the movie and being blinded by a haze of red and gold, I would like to find a decent game starring ol’ Shellhead. Naturally, games based on that movie seem like a good place to start.

Of course, there is a good chance that this is no fault of any of the reviewers. When I worked for Kombo, there had been a number of titles from SEGA I was chomping at the bit to review: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games and Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing immediately spring to mind, just off the top of my head (and I loved the demo of the latter). I believe Sonic and the Black Knight was another.

But, they never came. For whatever reason, SEGA didn’t seem interested in letting go of any review copies.

So, could that be what happened here? They only handed out copies of the HD version of the title? One might suppose that they thought it would fare better than the others, but right now, who can say? Given the scores that the PS3 and 360 versions received, I doubt they’d have done much worse.

Funny enough, even Amazon’s listing has no review. Then again, the 360 version only has one, while the PS3 version has a whopping three.

Oh well. I imagine I’ll get over it soon enough, as it’s not as though there is a shortage of games that have come out or are soon coming out. But I would have liked to know if any version of this one was worth looking into, perhaps as a rental or a later purchase.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

David Oxford

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

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