Steel Empire

Template:Tone Template:Infobox CVG 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, with a steampunk theme to the 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".

Levels

Spoiler

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 place 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.

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.

3. Sky District Zektor

Stage three begins high in the clouds, with the Empire's Sky Fortress looming far off in the background.

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.

5. Dama City

Dama City is the Capital of the Motorhead.

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

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!

External links

• Steel Empire Megadrive review from Mean Machines

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