Iguana Entertainment

Iguana Entertainment at a Glance

Iguana Entertainment was an American developer based in Santa Clara before moving to Austin, Texas. The company operated from 1993 until it rebranded as Acclaim Studios Austin in May 1999. Their catalog on PlayPile contains 19 titles developed between the early nineties and the end of the decade. They focused heavily on sports games, which make up ten of their releases, followed by six platformers and three shooters. The studio released most of its work on the Nintendo 64, with ten titles for that system alone. They also supported the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Mega Drive, and Sega Saturn with multiple ports or original designs. The quality of their output varies significantly across their library. Across twelve rated games, the average score sits at 60.8 out of 100. Only two titles achieved a great rating above 80, while three others landed in the good range between 60 and 79. Seven games received mixed reviews scoring between 40 and 59. No titles fell into the poor category below 40. Their highest-rated game is All-Star Baseball 2000 with a score of 89. Aero the Acro-Bat 2 earned an 82.8, and Turok: Dinosaur Hunter reached 74. Later releases like Turok 2: Seeds of Evil scored 69.1, which sits in the good range but shows a dip from their peak. Iguana Entertainment changed its output over time. The studio started with platformers like Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel and Aero the Acro-Bat. By the late nineties, they shifted focus to licensed sports simulations such as NFL Quarterback Club 2000 and NHL Breakaway 99. Internal trouble marked their final years. Jeff Spangenberg was fired in July 1998 and sued the company shortly after. The studio lost its independence when Acclaim Entertainment acquired it in January 1995. It eventually closed down in August 2004 following the bankruptcy of its parent company.

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