Steel Empire

Steel Empire (Empire of Steel in Europe) is a side-scrolling shooting game for the Mega Drive/Genesis video game system. The player can choose to fly the Striker Plane or the Z-01 Zeppelin to combat enemy fighters through seven progressively harder levels, each containing a boss character at the end, which must be defeated in order to advance to the next level. The levels also feature less powerful mini-bosses, which appear about halfway through a level.

Steel Empire is notable amongst shooter games for its unique aesthetic designs. Mostly low-tech in nature, the game's environments are heavily stylized, and themed towards Industrial Era technology. Steam power, propeller-based aircraft, and dirigibles play a large role in the makeup of the game's graphics.

Game History
Steel Empire was released in 1992 by Flying Edge Software for the Sega Genesis and Sega Mega Drive video game systems. It was rereleased in 2004 for Game Boy Advance under the same name in the USA (Koutetsu Teikoku in Japan).

Game Story
It is the age of steel, Mammoth battleships cruise the skies. Armored locomotives carry cannons the size of railway cars. Invincible fortresses float on air...and military might rules the day. The Motorhead Empire has conquered and enslaved most of the world.

Only one hope remains... The Republic of Silverhead. Their Z-01 Zeppelin flying ship launches lethal aerial-mines. Their Striker airplane fires armor piercing missiles. Their Lightning Bomb will reduce Motorhead's flame-shooting juggernauts to crumbling hunks of burning metal.

Enter a future that might have been. It's time to wage the war of the Steel Empire!

Source: Back of Steel Empire game box (Sega Genesis version)

Gameplay
Steel Empire is a fast-paced 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 players to fire from behind as well as ahead.

Ammunition is unlimited and players have the ability to collect level powerups, which increase their firepower strength from level one to level 20. These and other powerups may be collected by flying into them.

Players are given a certain number of "lives" and "continues". If a player loses a life, his craft simply reappears where it was destroyed. If the player loses all of his lives, then he must spend a "continue" and restart at the beginning of the level. Firepower level data is retained however throughout the course of the game. When all continues are expended, the game is over.

Powerups/Items
Power-ups take the form of small, floating circular-shaped icons containing the following:


 * B: Extra Lightning Bomb. This powerful bomb, when launched, will annihalate every minor enemy on the screen, and cause much damage to the larger ones.
 * O: Pair of mini-ships that stay next to you, allowing a wider range of fire. They will remain with you until you lose a life.
 * Heart: Small filling of the "vital" bar.
 * L: Level points. Collecting these will raise your firepower level up to a maximum of 20.
 * S: Adds 1,000 points to the player's score.
 * 1-UP: Extra life

Power-ups can be obtained by blasting enemies. Some may be found just floating around. Blasting a mini-airship yields six power-ups, usually "L" or "S".

1. Rahl
Rahl is the leading mine city of the Silverhead Republic and is under attack. If the Motorhead Empire seizes control of this city, the war is then pretty much in their favor.

The stage takes above a long railway that tunnels through small mountains. Enemies include small planes with flapping wings, railway cars armed with guns, and windmills that launch themselves into the air firing missiles. A large airship will occasionally fly overhead to paradrop enemy tanks onto the railroad.

Halfway through the stage, the player will face a mini-boss that takes the form of a large ship that takes up about one fourth of the screen. This ship is armed with many weapons, and must be destroyed slowly in pieces. Even all parts of the ship are destroyed, it falls the the ground, billowing smoke.

The boss of this stage is a large train armed with a cannon, gun gurrets, and an unforgiving blade that will strike if the player gets too close. As with the mini-boss, the train must be attacked and destroyed in pieces.

2. Liedengal Caverns
Stage two takes place in a dimly-lit, underground mine, where enemies are easily concealed in the darkness. Probably even more dangerous than the enemies are the rockfalls. Although they can be blasted in time before they hit your ship, they fall fast and in such great numbers that collisions are almost unavoidable.

The mini-boss is an oddly-shaped mining vehicle equipped with a large lamp. It fires endless hoards of missiles and bullets from its upper frame. Its weak spot is underneath the upper frame, which, although mobile, attempts to stay level to the player's position. This means that the player must fly upward and into the onslaught of missiles for breif moments, long enough to expose the interior to get some good hits in. As this vehicle is destroyed, large arcs of electricity can be seen coming from the ruined shell.

Suddenly, an explosion takes place, and a plume of flame erupts behind the player's craft; the electrical arcs have ignited a pocket of volitile gas. This part of the level is often thought to be a steep learning curve for new players. The screen scrolls leftward at an incredibly fast rate, while the player must navigate narrow, winding caverns for about two minutes. There are some health powerups to be found, but they are scarce.

Upon emerging from the collapsing cavern, the player faces the boss of the stage, a large mining vehicle equipped with many guns. The vehicle moves along the bottom of the screen, often forcing the player to get the other side of it.

3. Sky District Zektor
Stage three begins high in the clouds, with the Empire's Sky Fortress looming far off in the background. Enemy ships and missiles attack in larger numbers than in previous levels.

The mini-boss of this stage is the exact same ship as the mini-boss of level one, and the strategy is the same. This time this ship is armed with a new weapon- homing missile. These however, can be shot down so it makes the fight a little easier.

Soon after, the player flies over the Sky Fortress. The fortress is a large brick castle, covered with cannons above, and held in the sky by massive propellers beneath. Each of these elements can be destroyed, often yielding powerups.

Following the fortress, the player must face an enormous, multi-sectional enemy that takes the form of a gigantic airship. The player must dodge fire from gun turrets while the screen pans all around the monstrosity. To destroy this ship and win the stage, the player must blast open a door underneath the vessel, and destroy pod inside. This pod briefly appears at intervals and shoots in three directions.

4. Gardandi Beach
The beach is the frontline of the Motorhead Empire This stage is littered with enemies, many of which are cleverly disguised as rocks and other land features. Cannonballs rain from the sky while enemy planes approach at top-speed.

Halfway through the stage, the player must battle a large, green futuristic ship armed with many rotating gun turrets.

The boss of this stage is a large submarine with immense firepower. As the battle begins, missiles shoot upward from the sea. The player must avoid these while attacking the periscope, which is the only visible part of the submarine. Upon destroying the periscope, the submarine reveals itself and attacks from one of three gun turrets on its top. The submarine will periodically retreat to the depths of the sea to launch more missiles. When two of the turrets are destroyed, the submarine attacks in flight

5. Dama City
Dama City is the Capital of the Motorhead Empire, and it is actually a somewhat short level. The stage begins with the player facing an oncoming missile brigade. In the background, a heartbreaking scene of allied airships are trying to evade enemy fire. Suddenly, there is an explosion, and the entire screen is filled with blinding light.

Enemy planes attack in droves as the player enters the city. This continues until the screen scrolls upward, and the player is bombarded by flying pods careening toward the player's ship from all directions. The pods are fast and difficult to destroy, but doing so will yield many powerups.

At the end of the stage, the player must face not one, but two gigantic airships as seen in stage three. The battle strategy is no different than before, however these new ships are equipped with greater firepower. The airships are battled one-at-a-time.

6. Germburn Fortress
Deep beneath Dama City is the legendary Germburn Fortress, seat of Motorhead's Emperor; now it is up to the player to stop General Styron before he can escape using his Moon Cannon. The stage begins in a mountainous region in which the player is bombarded with many onsloughts of enemies from all directions. Soon thereafter, the screen scrolls diagonally upward, as the player is attacked by mountainside cannons and more flying enemies.

Upon reaching the top of the mountain, the screen resumes horizontal scrolling, and the player must confront a military train identical to the one found in stage one, however its colors are different and it is far more powerful.

After defeating the train, the player's vehicle enters a new area through a hole in the ground. In this area, the screen scrolls diagonally downward and to the left. The area is filled with enemies attacking from all directions, and the player must dodge bullets fired by gun turrets as well as avoid careening into dimly lit brick platforms.

The boss of this stage is a large craft like the mini-boss of stage four, only this time is it red and has greater firepower.

The stage ends with a scene of the player's aircraft following a large bullet into an enormous cannon. Three... two... one... zero.

7. Lunar Place
That's right, space. The mission objective stated to follow Dictator Styron wherever he may go, and he has fled to the heavens! The giant bullet you followed is in fact a starship, which has a series of voilent attacks, utilizing most of the weapons encountered in the game. It will even open a door to release a drove of minor enemies. Before it is destroyed however, it will retreat off-screen to recover. The player must face it three times before it is fully defeated.

The screen descends to a crater-filled planet where the battered ramains of the bullet-ship can be seen laying about the planet surface. It is essential to have upgraded to level 20 by this point. It is now time to face the final boss...

Dictator Styron appears flying a small but very fast ship, armed with guns facing every angle. He unleashes barrage after barrage of nearly every kind of weapon seen in the game, and all you can do is avoid them while you try to get some shots in. The battle is long and tough. As Styron gets weakened, his attacks become even more powerful, to the point of projecting large fireballs in three directions at once.

To make things more difficult, asteroids begin to fill the playing area. They move very slowly and are often concentrated to the middle of the screen. Since the majority of Styron's attacks take place at the top and bottom of the screen, this makes scoring hits nearly impossible until the asteroid has moved leftward enough for you to go over and around it. To make matters even worse, the asteroids will block your shots but not Styron's!

Eventually Styron will, on his last legs, unleash his most powerful weapon. Two large panels fan outward from his ship, and fire waves of flames across the screen. The only way to avoid the fire waves is to hide directly behind the asteroids. Well-timed lightning bombs can vanquish most of the flames providing enough time for the player to score some hits. Fortunately, shooting any part of Styron's ship causes damage at this point.

If you can hold out to the end you will get to enjoy a well-deserved ending!