Genesis

The Steel Empire

Once your get past the dull-colored intro, you'll be surprised to see how bright and colorful Steel Empire is. Besides large blimps and other mechanical monstrosities, you'll see many strange creatures. Flying windmills. Flying fish wearing Santa Claus hats. The screen scrolls every which way, often reversing itself. That's OK because you can shoot in both directions, and your firepower is pretty good. There is some slowdown during encounters with large bosses, but you'll be grateful for it because it improves your control. You also have a supply of smart bombs. There are seven levels, and you get three continues. Steel Empire is not a bad choice for shooter fans.

To blaze your way through Steel Empire from start to finish is an entertaining experience, if not a particularly repeatable one. It is perhaps worth playing through at least twice, to try each level with the two selectable aircraft, but undoubtedly you will settle on one as your favourite and stick with it against what hints in the level briefings otherwise suggest. I found the 'leveling-up' system for weapon enhancement to be restrictive compared to the half-dozen or so individual weapon sets available in most other shooters, but it certainly allows you to think less about which items to collect in the heat of battle. The ability to fire behind your craft makes for superior rear defense, and is a very useful feature handled well in Steel Empire. It is an enjoyable enough shooter with a unique feel, and (like many Genesis games of similar quality) worthwhile picking up if found for a sensible price, preferably single digit.

"Steel Empire" isn't a shooter that's going to satisfy a hardcore shooter fans appetite. It's not particularly tense for the most of the game, it's excessively easy, and all of this has been done better before. That doesn't mean it's not worth playing. It does try to be unique in its premise and bi-directional shooting is a nice touch. It just desperately needs a multi-player mode, more processing power, and larger variety in the boss battles.

Steel Empire sieht recht hübsch aus, vermittelt gekonnt das Flair des 19. Jahrhunderts und hätte somit das Zeug zum guten Ballerspiel - wären da nicht peinliche programmiertechnische Schlampereien. Tummelt sich mehr als eine Handvoll Sprites auf dem Bildschirm, fängt das Programm dermaßen an zu stottern, daß man glaubt, es leide an Schüttelfrost. Daß Steel Empire bei den großen Obermotzen nicht gänzlich stehen bleibt, grenzt an ein Wunder. Fazit: "Slow Motion" bei vielen Sprites macht das Spiel zwar einfacher (nach zwei Stunden hatte ich's durch), aber auch wesentlich nerviger. Ein Jammer um die durchaus vorhandenen spielerischen Qualitäten und Gags.

In nearly every way, the game is not only uninteresting, but worse than typical Genesis fare. Even a shooter fan who just wants to test his or her skill will breeze through this in one or two sittings. Steel Empire desperately reaches for average, but it still manages to miss that humble mark. Add one more broken body to the pile of unremarkable shooters.