It’s been a while since we discussed Sega Genesis shooters. Too long if you ask me. Today we’re going to correct that issue with a lesser known release. The topic today is Steel Empire. This 1992 release went immediately under the radar. This is understandable considering the Sega Genesis had such a vast library of quality genre offerings. On paper Steel Empire probably didn’t sound exciting back then. Regardless I’m just going to dive right in. Here’s Steel Empire.
The plot takes place in the year 18XX. What, when is that exactly? No one knows. It’s a video game, shut up. While the game itself takes place in a fictional world real life crafts such as planes and zeppelins are prevalent. Steam energy reigns supreme here, and while technology is far from modern everything is mechanical. The steampunk vibe is strong here in everything from the interface, graphics, and even the story itself. You play as a lone pilot set out to stop their homeland from being invaded an evil empire to put a stop to a coup meant to overthrow a crazy dictator. At least that’s what I got from the opening story scroll. I couldn’t have cared less because I just want to blow things up.
Alright now we get to the good part. Steel Empire is a 2D side scrolling shooter. It’s pretty traditional in that you have a life bar, can upgrade your weapons with power-ups, gain two options, and even screen filling bombs that deplete when used. There isn’t a whole lot that’s actually original or unique here. I suppose the ability to fire both forward and backward (designated to different face buttons) is, but even that was something we had seen before and after. I do like the fact that you can choose from one of two different crafts to use. There’s a biplane and zeppelin. The former is faster and has a smaller hit box, but the latter has more health. Personally I was all in on the steampunk theme so I went with the zeppelin as often as I could.
I really like the stage designs here. For the most part the screen will simply scroll from to the right, but there are some change ups with some more vertical sequences as well as a total reversal. Enemies have fun patterns and dealing with them most of the time is a real treat. What’s more is I don’t think the difficulty is overwhelming. There’s a lot happening on-screen but it never feels like you’re facing overwhelming odds. I found everything fairly easy to dodge, but I did have to pay keen attention to where my ship is at all times. Steel Empire is a little on the simple side but it’s still pretty fun overall.
The level designs are pretty decent, but there are some issues. Steel Empire starts out easy enough and gives you plenty of time to get used to the movement and mechanics. Unfortunately the difficulty ramp is pretty severe. Unfortunately stage 2 is a little much. Everything is fine and dandy until the last stretch of it. This is a section where the screen scrolls at three times the regular speed, and you have to navigate a narrow area. There’s little warning that this is there, and you kind of have to know ahead of time to choose the biplane for this section. You can try it with the zeppelin but if you’re like me you’ll die fast.
Another annoying aspect in this game is the cannons. Often you’ll be doing battle with large ships, or they’ll just be part of the environment. These are often armed with cannons on the top or bottom, but taking them out can be a real chore. You have to get close enough to the edge of the ship for your projectile to actually hit it which puts you in the danger zone. I’m talking pixel perfect accuracy. When there’s a lot happening on-screen this can be chaotic and kind of annoying to be perfectly honest. There is only one two types of weapons in the game; the straight shot and mills that fall or rise at an angle. Even these barely alleviate the issue, and you need power-ups for the latter in the first place.
Speaking of power-ups this is another aspect of Steel Empire I found underwhelming. Your primary shot is a series of bullets that move in a linear trajectory. Upgrading this only adds more bullets vertically. Yeah I know, boo hoo, right? I just feel like Steel Empire could have benefited more from having multiple weapon types. You also get missiles (with a power-up as I’ve already mentioned) and what’s interesting is they’re functionally different between the two ships. With the biplane they move diagonally downward, and the zeppelin has them firing upward but then falling. Aside from the bombs (which devastate everything on-screen) and healing items there’s not much else. The Steel Empire would have been more fun with at least a few different weapons.
Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of options either. You can change difficulty levels which is nice (but very standard for the genre) and controls but there’s nothing else. Sure you can alter the number of ships you have but the difficulty setting does the same thing basically. There’s also a noticeable lack of multiplayer. Considering the fact that there are two different ships to choose from this is super disappointing. Playing with a friend should have been a shoe in, and the level design seems geared toward it. Because of the limited amount of options there’s basically no replay value to be had here. Steel Empire is pretty much a one and done. Come on developers, it isn’t that hard.
I really like Steel Empire’s visual style. I’m no steampunker, but I do appreciate the art behind it, and Steel Empire has that in spades. Everything from the projector style introductory sequence to the backgrounds and even the ships themselves reeks of it. Everything is also highly detailed. There’s lots of parallax scrolling which looks really good even today. I’m sure at the time of release it was absolutely incredible. I also like how colorful the game is. Steel Empire doesn’t have any drab scenery. Instead it’s all sunsets and cityscapes. Even later in the game you go into space (which is hilariously over the top considering you’re flying a biplane or zeppelin). The soundtrack isn’t quite as good as the graphics, but this is the Sega Genesis after all. The compositions are decent, and I’m happy to report there’s no screeching or robot farts. That’s a win for me.
