Iron Man is an Action-Adventure video game published by Sega, based on the 2008 film starring the eponymous Marvel superhero.
Following the basic plot of the movie, the player takes control of the brilliant weapons manufacturer Tony Stark, who ends up captured by the terrorist organization known as the Ten Rings. Held captive alongside fellow scientist Ho Yinsen, Stark secretly develops a mechanical suit of armour to escape at the cost of Yinsen's life. Realizing the devastation his weapons have wrought firsthand, Tony vows to track down and destroy the remaining supplies held by his former clients; the criminal organizations of the Maggia and AIM. Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, and Shaun Toub reprise their roles from the filmnote .
The player can periodically upgrade Tony's suits in-between missions using money earned by completing certain objectives. Clearing bonus missions can unlock new suits of armour that are lifted straight from the original comics.
Not to be confused with the virtual reality game, Iron Man VR.
This game contains examples of:
- Adaptation Expansion: Tony spends far more time in the suit compared to the movie. The majority of the game's story focuses on Tony's excursions to stop the machinations AIM and the Maggia. By contrast, the only mission Tony went on prior to the film's climax was a single trip to Afghanistan to stop the Ten Rings.
- Adapted Out: Many supporting characters from the film are left out of the game's story, the most notable of which include Phil Coulson and Happy Hogan.
- Catch and Return: Tony can catch enemy missiles launched at him and toss them directly back against his attackers.
- Damsel in Distress: After Obadiah steals Tony's arc reactor, he has AIM kidnap Pepper and hold her captive at one of their testing facilities. Tony knows AIM is only trying to lure him into a trap, but he flies in to rescue Pepper anyway.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation:
- Yinsen is blown up when a group of Ten Rings members open fire at him and accidentally ignite a supply of Stark's weapons that was in the room. The movie had Yinsen simply being shot to death while he provided a distraction for Tony to don the Mark 1 armour.
- Raza dies a lot earlier compared to his film counterpart. In the movie, he's killed by Obadiah and his men after delivering the Mark 1 armour to him. In the game, Tony finishes him off by blowing up his tank during his initial escape from the Ten Rings.
- Finger-Twitching Revival: After defeating Titanium Man for the first time, Tony briefly checks his body for any signs of life before flying off. Bullski's fingers twitch once he leaves the scene, paving the way for his second fight with Tony later in the game.
- Interface Screw: If Tony flies into a energy field generated by a Control Drone, the in-game HUD will disappear as the surrounding areas appear distorted.
- Justified Tutorial: The second mission of the game introduces the player to the game's flying controls, with the in-universe explanation being that Tony is testing out the flight capablities of his Mark 2 armour.
- Mission Control: JARVIS and Rhodey serve as Tony's eyes on the ground during missions. JARVIS helps keep track of mission objectives and enemy projectiles, while Rhodey informs Tony of the background details about the enemies he's facing.
- Mythology Gag: During one mission, Tony briefly makes a note that he needs to cancel a golf game he has planned with Danny Randnote .
- Press X to Not Die: Tony can occassionaly tear apart enemy vehicles with his bare hands, prompting a quick time event encouraging the player to button mash as fast as they can.
- Reformulated Game: The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game were developed by Secret Level (now Sega Studios San Francisco), while the PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii, PC and PlayStation Portable versions were developed by Artificial Mind & Movement (now Behaviour Interactive).
- Secret Identity Vocal Shift: While Tony Stark retains the voice of Robert Downey Jr., Iron Man is inexplicably voiced by Stephen Stanton.
- Timed Mission:
- Mission six gives the player a nine-minute time limit to destroy the Maggia's flying fortress before it makes landfall. Otherwise, it will crash into a city and cause severe civilian casualties.
- Mission twelve has a four minute countdown for Tony to destroy the remaining control centers for AIM's satellite. Doing so will cause the satellite to detonate harmlessly in the Earth's orbit, while failing will cause the debris to strike civilian populations.
