鋼鉄帝国 / Koutetsu Teikoku for the Gameboy Advance System by HOT・B / Starfish inc. Known as Steel Empire / Empire of Steel in the west it first appeared in 1991/1992 on the Sega Mega Drive / Sega Genesis. While seeing only moderate success on it’s original release but with a small group of fans still following japanese company Starfish decided to released this updated version of the game for the GBA in 2004. Opinions about this port tend to vary. The BGM is clearly a step back from the original so are some of the new enemy designs. On the other side many of the newly drawn sprites look quite nice redone backgrounds with good use of color and detail improved (PCM)samples and some eyecandy FX here and there(Lightning Bomb Paralax Line Scrolling on backgrounds etc.). EDIT: Unfortunaly the japanese original release for the Mega Drive tends to be rather expensive now with 12000-16000 yen being the normal price tag (original release price ~5800 yen). EDIT²: slightly video/audio sync problem it seems. thank you Youtube. Additional and related tags: Shoot em up セガ メガドライブ Japan シューティング Steampunk edit: the little cgi intro/logo thingy was done by me
Original Air Date: July 13th 2009 Anybody remember a oft-forgotten SHMUP that was released for the Genesis/MD known as ’Steel Empire’ or ’Empire of Steel’? Well it was released over ten years later for the GBA with some ’enhancements’ though the general consensus is that the Gen/MD game is better. This game is pretty uncommon in general but it was actually released in Europe (but not in the US) as Steel Empire where it seems to be even harder to find. This game is not to be confused with the PC and Atari ST game. We don’t own the European version so we’ll be putting up a video for the Japanese one first although I don’t think it matters much either way... it’s a horizontal SHMUP. Koutetsu Teikoku/SE is a pretty nice old-school shooter for the GBA that packs lots of action decent visuals and some rare steampunk aesthetic for a shooter. You can choose between a plane and a zeppelin (Zeppelin is a bit easier to use overall) who have different strengths and weaknesses. Everything is nice and smooth and the game is rather challenging. Your characters can deploy deadly bombs and also shoot in front or behind. There isn’t a whole lot more to say about the game really. I don’t know which version of the game is cheaper but Japanese copies can run about $30 on average for complete copies. Enjoy. Note: Jump in about 2 mins. to skip the story some of which is in English lol.
Koutetsu Teikoku Steel Empire Starfish Game Boy Advance