JEO 35/46
   ||  Mini-Review: Iron Soldier 2 cart
   ||  By: Clay Halliwell
\__//  halliwee@ts436.dyess.af.mil
In late December, Telegames released their limited edition cartridge
version of Iron Soldier 2. This review only touches on the differences
between this version and the CD release. For a full review, see JEO
Vol.1, #2.
IS2 cart comes in the same packaging as IS2 CD, except the "CD"
sticker is absent from the box (as it also was from the first, CD-R
run of IS2). The cartridge itself is a standard, yet strangely heavy,
Jag cartridge case, with a small silver-gray label.
Surprisingly little was sacrificed in the transition from 600+
megabyte CD to 2-megabyte cartridge. All the FMV is gone (no great
loss), as is the in- game music (a rather more significant loss).
Everywhere that FMV existed in the CD version, still images from the
FMV have taken their place.  Interestingly, the stills are from the
source renders of the FMV, instead of the CinePak-mangled versions
we've seen before. After months of playing IS2 CD, it's startling to
see how sharp and detailed the uncompressed images are.
As for the music, while all in-game tunes are gone, there's still a
song that plays during the menu screens. This was chip-generated even
on the CD version, and remains so. One oddity... even though there is
no in-game music, you can still adjust the music volume while paused.
Overall, the loss of in-game music is unfortunate, but not crippling.
IS players are known for turning off the in-game music anyway... it
gives the game more of a "sim" feel.
In addition to the excised music and video, the cart drops the number
of save-game slots down from 10 to 4. This is still much better than
IS1, which only supported a single saved game.
That's basically it. No music, no video, and fewer save slots. Other
than that, IS2 cart is 100% identical to IS2 CD, and well-worth owning
if you don't have a CD player. Even if you do own a CD player, you
might consider picking it up so you can still play IS2 years from now
after your CD player has gone out of alignment (assuming you're
paranoid about that sort of thing...).
A final note... to reach the break-even point on their production run,
Telegames manufactured slightly more IS2 cartridges than they received
pre-orders for. So if you'd like to pick up a copy of this rarity, you
might still be able to.
//// Final Ratings
        Title: Iron Soldier 2            JagNet: No
       Design: Eclipse                  Players: 1
 Published by: Telegames                  Media: 16 megabit cart
       Retail: $69.95              Availability: NOW - LIMITED
  A Summary of Ratings:
              "*" is a whole
              "+" is a half
               5 stars maximum
Graphics - *****  Lots of texturing at a smooth frame rate.
   Audio - ****   No in-game music, but we're used to that, right?
 Control - *****  Same as IS1.  A bit of a learning curve, but gets
                  the job done.
Gameplay - *****  A near-perfect mix of strategy and reflexes.
 Overall - *****  A must-have for Jaggers without CD players.
Key to Clay's ratings
  (a Swiss Army state of mind)
   ***** - The Knife
    **** - Bottle Opener
     *** - Nail File
      ** - Corkscrew
       * - Toothpick Holder
... "They are gone. They sought the Havens long ago." -Legolas Greenleaf
--- JetMail 0.99beta22
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