Steel Empire (originally released as 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 popular Mega Drive version and the GBA remake were all critically well received.
Development and release
Japan
Koutetsu Teikoku was a Japanese title developed by HOT・B, under lead game designer Yoshinori Satake. Satake originally began development of an arcade game in the late 1980s based around themes of steampunk aviation, inspired by anime such as Laputa: Castle in the Sky and Future Boy Conan. Explaining on why he wanted to do a steampunk-themed game, Satake said:
"The image I had for the world was one of outrageous and nonsensical science. People [in the late 19th century] didn't understand the limitations of the steam engine at all, and they thought that the steam engine could do anything. They wrote many blueprints [for things like] this. My idea for Steel Empire was to bring those designs to life. People back then thought there was an atmosphere in space, and that the Aurora Borealis actually existed in space, too. So I tried to express that in the last stage by having an atmosphere in the background, and I told the designer how people back then drew images of space with mist. Using that as our image, we designed the graphics of the final stage to have a colorful, Aurora-like mist even though its in space. So even in space the propellers on the planes are spinning, and since there's an atmosphere, there's smoke too."
The West
Originally, the Western versions of the Sega Genesis game were going to be published by Sage's Creation, titled as Battlewings. Instead, they were published by Flying Edge and Cube Corporation as Steel Empire (with minor variantions across PAL territories) in 1992. The in-game credits of the Western versions specify that the inspiration of the game came from the 1819 novel Imperio do Aceiro (Empire of Steel) by Caar H. Schitch, but there is no meaningful evidence that this book actually exists outside the game's universe.
Sega contracted well known cover artist Marc Ericksen for Steel Empire'''s retro steam era look, closely following the inventive creations battling onscreen (see above right), and requested him to specifically design and execute the battle scarred steel plate title block logo, which appeared as both the "Steel Empire" and "Empire of Steel" iterations.
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. 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.