Steel Empire
| Steel Empire | |
|---|---|
 Steel Empire Genesis box art | |
| Developer(s) | HOT・B |
| Publisher(s) |
|
| Engine | Proprietary |
| Platform(s) | Sega Mega Drive, Game Boy Advance |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Horizontal scrolling shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Steel Empire (otherwise known as The Steel Empire or Empire of Steel in various English materials), and originally released as Koutetsu Teikoku (鋼鉄帝国) in Japan, is a 1992 side-scrolling shoot 'em up video game for the Sega Mega Drive home console, and was ported to the Nintendo Game Boy Advance in 2004.
Steel Empire is notable amongst shoot 'em up games for its unique aesthetic designs. Mostly low-tech in nature, with it being set in the late-19th century of an alternate world, the game's aircraft, power ups, environments, enemies and bosses are heavily stylized with a strong steampunk theme to the technology. Steam power, propeller-based aircraft, biplanes and dirigibles play a large role in the game's graphics.
History and port
Koutetsu Teikoku is a Japanese title developed by HOT・B. HOT・B originally began development of the game based around themes of steampunk aviation, inspired by anime such as Laputa: Castle in the Sky and Future Boy Conan.
The in-game credits of western versions specify that the inspiration of the game came from the 1819 novel Imperio do Aceiro (Empire of Steel) by Caar H. Schitch, but there is no meaningful evidence that this book actually exists outside the game's universe.
In 2004, a Game Boy Advance port was released in Japan by Starfish Inc., retitled Koutetsu Teikoku from HOT・B. In 2005, British software house ZOO Digital Publishing brought this port of the game to Europe, as Steel Empire.[1] The game features numerous alterations in order to function on the smaller screen of the Game Boy Advance, including alterations to some boss attack patterns.
Designer Yoshinori Satake has stated that it "would be great" if the game could be made available on a modern console via a download service, but the Mega Drive source code has been lost.
Plot
The game is set in a steampunk-inspired alternate timeline, during the year "18XX" of the "Age of Steel", where mammoth floating battleships cruise the skies and gigantic armored locomotives carry cannons the size of railway cars. A military coup has occurred in the world's largest city, Dama, and power-hungry dictator General Sauron (Styron in English versions) rules by brute force and military might, his goliath defenses carrying armor-piercing missiles and lethal aerial mines.
While Sauron's Motorhead Empire has quickly conquered and enslaved most of the world, one small independent republic remains free and defiant - the Republic of Silverhead - who have developed an elite air force, as well as the "Imamio Thunder" - known as the "Lightning Bomb" to Silverhead's enemies - which is more powerful than anything in Motorhead's arsenal. Silverhead are the last hope for freedom, and they alone have the will and the weapons to bring about Motorhead's downfall.
The game begins with the Motorhead Empire attacking Rahl, Silverhead's chief mining city, and the player is tasked with defending it. Further missions will take the player into the vast subterranean caverns of Liedengel, the war torn no-man's land of Z-Sector which lies between Silverhead and Motorhead, and the foremost defences of Motorhead - the Gardandi Islands, which lay in front of Dama, Motorhead's capital city. Finally, after General Sauron has launched himself into orbit via space cannon, the player must pursue him and his flagship into space to the moon, where you must destroy Sauron once and for all.
Gameplay
Steel Empire is a multi-directional scrolling shooter. Gameplay is linear in that the player is restricted to flying in only one direction, and the player will meet enemies in a predesignated order. However, unlike many scrolling shooters, Steel Empire allows the player to fire from behind as well as ahead.
As a pilot in Silverhead's air force, launched from Silverhead's flying battleship Etopilica (a mistranslation of "Etopirika," a species of Japanese tufted puffin), the player can choose to fly either the eagle-like "Striker" - a small, swift and manoeuvrable ground attack aircraft armed with bombs; or the "Z-01 Zeppelin" - a larger, slower, yet tougher and more durable rigid airship with upward-launched aerial mines.
Gameplay focuses on combat with enemy aircraft, ground units and other assorted enemies and obstacles through seven progressively harder levels, each containing one or more bosses, which must be defeated in order to advance to the next level. The levels also feature less powerful minibosses, which appear about halfway through each level.
Ammunition is unlimited and players have the ability to collect experience powerups, every three of which increase their ship's firepower strength by one level, up to a maximum of 20. If the player uses a continue, their level is retained and enemies will continue to drop powerups. Designer Yoshinori Satake explained that this system was designed to favour unskilled players by allowing them to level up more if they were stuck; it was originally planned to have 40 levels, but his superior pointed out that players did not need to be at level 40 to beat the game and most would never see it.[2] These and other powerups (speed, points, lightning bombs, "option" craft which follow the player's ship and shoot, health and extra lives) may be collected by flying into them.
Players are given a certain number of lives and continues, with higher difficultly levels granting more continues but with fewer lives per continue. If the player's ship's health is completely depleted a life is subtracted, with play continuing normally. If all lives are lost (including the "zeroeth" life) the player must use a continue, which will restart at either the beginning or midpoint of a stage depending on how far the player was when they continued; as such, the stages are divided into "A" and "B" sections for purposes of the high score table. Continuing also zeroes the player's score. When all continues are expended, the game is over.
Reception
Critical reception upon the game's release on the Sega Mega Drive in 1992 was mixed, with some saying that the game was an unremarkable and unoriginal shooter.[3] However the majority of the reviews were positive,[4] with the positive reviews noting some original features in the game such as being able to fire behind you, a rarity in shooters of the time.[5] Positive reviews also praised the unique steampunk style, visually appealing colour themes and backgrounds, and innovative enemies of the game.[6]
References
- ^ http://www.mobygames.com/game/steel-empire/release-info
- ^ http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=41905
- ^ http://www.honestgamers.com/reviews/3494.html
- ^ http://www.mobygames.com/game/genesis/steel-empire/mobyrank
- ^ http://videogamecritic.net/genss.htm
- ^ http://www.sega-16.com/review_page.php?id=816&title=Steel%20Empire
External links
- Steel Empire at MobyGames
- Steel Empire Mega Drive review from Mean Machines Archive
- Steel Empire and Empire of Steel on GameFabrique