Steel Empire

About Steel Empire

Steel Empire (1992), Koutetsu Teikoku in Japan, is Hot-B's steampunk Mega Drive shooter of biplanes, dirigibles and armoured steam trains, inspired by Laputa: Castle in the Sky.

Steel Empire in Depth

Set in an alternate late-19th-century world, it stands out among shoot 'em ups for its mostly low-tech, heavily stylised design. Its aircraft, weapons, power-ups, environments, enemies and bosses bring strong steampunk elements to its style, themes and visuals, with steam power, propeller aircraft, biplanes, dirigibles and heavily armoured steam trains with giant cannons cast as both heroes and foes.

Lead designer Yoshinori Satake began it in the late 1980s as an arcade game about steampunk aviation, inspired by anime such as Laputa: Castle in the Sky and Future Boy Conan. He wanted a world of "outrageous and nonsensical science", bringing to life the blueprints of 19th-century people who believed the steam engine could do anything. Because people then thought space had an atmosphere and that the aurora existed there, the final stage, set in space, has a colourful aurora-like mist, propellers that keep spinning and smoke. The Western credits claim it was inspired by an 1819 novel, Imperio do Aceiro by Caar H. Schitch, but there is no meaningful evidence the book exists outside the game.

Making Steel Empire

Hot-B developed it, and it was released on the Mega Drive in Japan in 1992, with Flying Edge publishing the Western Genesis versions. It sold well in both markets and gained cult status in Japan. Western reviews were mixed: Computer and Video Games gave it 90 per cent, while Sega Power gave it 54, saying its graphics and enemies were different but "the gameplay's exactly the same as other Mega Drive shoot-em-ups".