Steel Empire (EU,JP) (Shoot Em Up) (GBA)

2004 · shooter · Nintendo Switch · Nintendo 3DS · Game Boy Advance · The Data Archivist V0.01

MANUAL (JP) : https://archive.org/details/steel-empire-jpn-manual VIDEO LONGPLAY : https://archive.org/details/Game_Boy_Advance_Longplay_050_Steel_Empire Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_Empire Steel Empire (originally released as Koutetsu Teikoku ( 鋼鉄帝国 , lit. " Empire of Steel " ) in Japan, and otherwise known in various English materials as The Steel Empire or Empire of Steel ) is a horizontally scrolling shooter released on the Sega Genesis in 1992. Versions for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo 3DS were released in 2004 and 2014, respectively. The game is scheduled for release on the Nintendo Switch in 2023. Steel Empire is notable among shoot 'em ups for its unique aesthetic designs. Mostly low-tech in nature, with it being set in a late-19th century alternate world, the game's aircraft, weaponry, power-ups, environments, enemies and bosses are heavily stylized adding strong steampunk elements to the style, themes and visuals of the game. Steam power, propeller-based aircraft, biplanes, dirigibles and heavily armored steam trains with giant cannons play large roles as the game's protagonists and opponents. The original leaked Japanese arcade beta version (now rare, with its source code believed lost), the Mega Drive version and the GBA remake were all critically well received. Plot Setting The game has a steampunk -inspired setting, during the year "18XX" of the "Age of Steel", "an age almost familiar". In the earlier game materials, this is explained as being the 19th century of an alternate history. However, in some later game materials, it is explained alternatively as a possible future scenario in which the world has been depleted of resources, forcing most of the world back to steam power. Most materials, including the original Japanese versions, hold the alternate 19th century explanation to be the case. [ 5 ] In this "Age of Steel", mammoth, floating, steam-powered 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, Damd ("Dama" in Asian markets) and power-hungry dictator, industrialist and robber baron General Styron ("Sauron" in Asian versions) rules by brute force and military might, his Goliath-like defenses carrying armor-piercing missiles and lethal aerial mines. With none strong enough to stand up against him, Styron sets his vision of steel and steam on the whole planet. The Republic of Silverhead and the Motorhead Empire General Styron's Steel Empire are commonly called the Motorheads by their subjects and enemies alike, due to the Steel Empire's emblem of a blue-grey, steel, mustachioed colossal head , sometimes emitting steam. Although the Motorheads have conquered and enslaved most of the world, one small independent republic remains free and defiant. This is the Republic of Silverhead, placed far from the reach of the Steel Empire, centered in Antarctica , and where some of the greatest minds in the world have fled from Styron's tyranny. Silverhead is impressively ahead of its time in technology however; whereas the Motorheads still rely on steam power, dynamite and coal burning with almost religious zeal, Silverhead has perfected sustainable energy, geothermal energy, and even cold fusion. If the wider world were to also harness the power of lightning and the atom, it could pose a threat to Styron's coal and steam-based status quo, and so the dictator wants all "abominations of nature" ended. Silverhead have a small yet elite air force, whose symbol is a silver eagle with a star between its wings. Although dwarfed in number by the legions of Motorheads, Silverheads are renowned for both the advanced technology of their aircraft and the aerial skill of their pilots. The Silverhead air force is also feared for the "Imamio Thunder"—known as the " Lightning Bomb" to Silverhead's enemies—which is more powerful than anything in the Motorheads' arsenal. Silverhead are the last hope for freedom, and they alone have the will, and the weapons, to bring about the Motorheads' downfall. Mission questline The player is a Silverhead pilot, launched from their titanic-sized, airborne, propelled aircraft carrier "Rheinhalt", and has a choice of two different class of aircraft for each mission. The game begins with the Motorhead Empire attacking the mining city of Rahl, an ally of Silverhead in southern Patagonia , [ 6 ] and the player is tasked with retaking it. Further missions will take the player into the vast subterranean (and partially submerged) caverns of Liedengel, where the Motorhead are gathering a surprise attack force against Silverhead; Sky District Zektor; and the foremost defenses of the Steel Empire—the heavily fortified Gardandi Islands, which lay in front of Damd, the Motorheads' capital city. [ 7 ] The final assault occurs in the heart of the Steel Empire, the steampunk metropolis of Damd, and within the cavernous Germburn Fortress. Finally, after General Styro