The Legend of Steel Empire (Nintendo Switch) – The test

There are titles that reappear a little from beyond the grave to remind us of our youth for some and therefore complete the retrogaming catalog. The Legend of Steel Empire is part of it: from its original title Steel Empire developed by HOT-B in Japan for the SEGA Genesis in 1992, it has become a cult retro shooter classic. It was ported several times for Game Boy Advance in August 2005 (Studio Starfish) then 3DS in July 2014 by the studio Mebius and Teyron as well as PC in September 2018 and which will therefore recast the title under “The Legend” in addition to the original title for the Switch in January 2024 and during the same year for PS4 still by Mebius but this time accompanied by INN Games studio.

INN Games is a studio that mainly focuses on publishing retro games and is in charge of e.g. Rainbow Cotton Remaster released recently on all media on May 9 (see our September news here).

Redesigned title in HD with reworked controls based primarily on the PC version. We therefore forget the pixel and pale colors for HD, smoother and more curved with color.

It's a horizontal action shoot'em up which reminded some of us of the Metal Slug saga but a little less clumsy all the same.

What if!

What if we travel in time? In an alternate history of steam-powered airships, military fanfare, oppressive regimes and rebellion in a dystopian steampunk tone?

This is what The Legend of Steel Empire offers:

“The Motorhead Empire is the supreme authority over most of the world, ruthlessly ruling its subjects and enslaving most of the population. Few have found refuge under the Republic of Silverhead, the only region freed from Motorhead's dictatorship. Immerse yourself in the alternate steampunk universe of the 19th century and take on the role of Silverhead's elite air force to lead the rebellion against the tyranny of the all-powerful Motorhead Steel Empire.”

And so to carry out this rebellion, what could be better than having the possibility of controlling a plane or an airship of yesteryear? With each of their own specificities: movement speed, rate of fire, etc.

The gameplay is therefore simple to learn: A to shoot forward and Y to shoot backward, B to use the super bomb and the left stick or the directional cross to move. Please note that the keys are configurable as you wish.

The title is made up of 7 stages divided into around twenty levels with an introduction to each stage giving a few bits of history only in English. Offered at €24.99 oneShopthe price is for the nostalgic overhaul rather than for the lifespan which in a straight line ends in 1 or 2 hours in easy mode, which is rather a shame for a title of its kind.

Moreover, 4 difficulty modes are offered, the last of which can be unlocked by finishing the game with the previous difficulty (normal -> hard, then hard -> very hard) which “adds” time to time. Also a ranking system is present but locally as well as an achievement tab which would correspond to the trophies / successes of other consoles represented by a table showing a scene from the history of Silverhead probably cut into 5×4 squares. Each small image square can be unlocked under the conditions described below: complete stage 1, destroy the boss, score xx points, etc.

So many extensions to the lifespan of the title are not necessarily necessary in my opinion, but we're taking it all the same!

It's a shame though, like Metal Slug not to be able to play with two or four players locally… It would have been interesting anyway.

The soundtrack has also been improved. It remains simply correct but not really interesting to our ears.

In terms of gameplay, the title does the job: hectic gameplay, it comes from everywhere that we lose our minds a little, and many enemy models we will face.

Also numerous mini-bosses and bosses, enormous retrofuturistic machines such as armored locomotives, battleships, floating fortresses among other absurd and Dantesque machinery of the steampunk universe.

Cultural reading:
Dystopia is a fairly marked and striking literary genre which above all allows us to create and imagine poignant stories, utopias turning into nightmares, powerful dictatorships removing all freedoms from anyone.
Literature is the first to represent it: The Time Machine by HG Wells or 1984 by George Orwell or Sulfuric Acid by Amélie Nothomb to name just a few.
In the cinema: Judge Dredd, V for Vendetta, Fahrenheit 451, Hunger Games, Ready Player One… among others.
But in video games, it is a genre that has proven itself with Bioshock, Metro 2033, Rage, Beyond Good and Evil, and Cyberpunk 2077.
The first use of the term dystopia is attributed to John Stuart Mill, in an 1868 speech to the British parliament criticizing British policy in Ireland.