Steel Empire / Koutetsu Teikoku (GBA)

subcons

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I just broke down and ordered a new copy of this game. Figured I'd just snag it while it's still available. Doesn't seem too common. Looks like it might be one of the best shmups on GBA. Remake of the old MD shooter. Anyone here have it or played it?

Guess I'll know how it is when it arrives. Just curious.
 

MilkManX

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Is this Import only?

Shit I need this game. Its one of my favorites.
 

ord1000

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Fantastic game and yes it is the best shooter on the GBA. They've jazzed up the grapgics and tightened up the gameplay since the Genisis title and it's just great. As far as i know it JPN only.
Enjoy it man! :glee:
 

Neo Gold

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Steel empire on the GBA?... excellent!!...should be really good, i do have this on the good old megadrive... i picked this up from a shop in bridlington for £4!!, it is mint like new... must be NOS someone found :glee:
 

LoneSage

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I think of Steel Empire on the GBA as more of a remake than a port of the Genney classic, because the graphics are updated (i.e. more colorful), and there are some new enemies and bosses.

It's a great game, you'll definitely enjoy it if you liked the original. Still, my fave shmup on the GBA is Gradius Galaxies.

Out of curiosity, how much did you pay for it? I got mine with everything a few weeks ago for $25 shipped. I think the going price for it is in that range, $25-$30.
 

subcons

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Well, can't wait to get it in my hands then. Thanks for the input.

I ended up paying $50 for it from Play Asia. That's what it goes for at online import shops. There's one on eBay, but it's cart only and it's priced at $25 before shipping. I haven't seen any other copies for sale ever. No one really even talks about it.

Oh, and Gradius Galaxies is definitely next on my list. Looks great (quite affordable too).
 

subcons

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Just a follow up. Finally got this in this past weekend. Sad to say, I'm sort of disappointed.

The game looks really great graphically. I think part of that is due to the sprites being bigger onscreen than in the MD game. Things were a lot smaller and spread out in that one. The higher color pallete mentioned really helps out too. The colors just pop.

Although the sprite size helps the way it looks, I think that's part of my problem with the gameplay. I haven't spent much time with it thus far, but I just feel really closed in, especially on boss fights, and double that when using the blimp. The lifebar helps, but this game is fucking tough even with that.

Not sure what I was expecting. It just looked so good. Guess just not my cup of tea. I'm going to give it more time, but as of now, Gradius Galaxies is the best portable shooter I've yet to play on any system. I'll probably end up trading or selling this one off (along with Iridion II--blah!).
 

LoneSage

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I prefer to play it on my Game Boy Player. Too bad to hear you're not liking it as much as you want.
 

Mad Mage

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Hmmm, I loved the difficulty. I'm not the greatest at shmups (I'm okay) and I found I was able to beat it on normal after several playthroughs. With every playthrough I made it slighty further until I beat it. I'd recomend playing it more and seeing if it grows on you. Oh, and picking the right ship for the right level can be important.
 

subcons

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Mad Mage said:
Hmmm, I loved the difficulty. I'm not the greatest at shmups (I'm okay) and I found I was able to beat it on normal after several playthroughs. With every playthrough I made it slighty further until I beat it. I'd recomend playing it more and seeing if it grows on you. Oh, and picking the right ship for the right level can be important.

All good points. I sat down with it for a little while tonight and I'm liking it a little more. Although, I'll admit, I put it on easy. I never do that with a shooter, but I just wasn't enjoying it. I'm really not even sure what bumping the difficulty down even does beyond giving me one less credit. Making it "slightly further" upon each playthrough is encouraging. Sign of a well designed game. It's what made me love Layer Section/Galactic Attack so much.

Hopefully it'll be slow at work tomorrow so I can put some real time into it. :D
 

A2ath0th

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Steel Empire was a great game on Megadrive (I found it for some euros on ebay) and the GBA version is mostly the same, I think it's one of the best shmup on GBA, in fact there are not much shmup on this little princess (yes I love the GBA SP :drool_2: )
Gradius Generation is also a very good game, I like the way they did it with a lot of very small sprites :D
 

Robert

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Shit, I saw this game when I bought my last GBA games and I didn't even know it was a shooter. Shit I took Darius R instead.

:crying:
 

subcons

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Got to spend some more time with this one today at work... glad to say, I'll definitely be keeping it!

I started to get more of a feel for it and I'm getting better. I actually bumped it back up to normal difficulty and I'm almost getting to Stage 3 on my first ship. I was having a hell of a time with Stage 2 until I just said fuck it and used the zepplin--much easier. The final boss in that stage is still giving me a problem though. I'm like one hit away from squeaking by him without losing a life. Although, the extra one up you get at the end of the stage for breaking 100k helps. I think it'd help more if I got to keep my options going into Stage 3 though.

Overall, a great little shooter. The only thing that would make it even better is some deeper scoring mechanics. But really, considering this game came out in '91, I can't complain. Modern shooters have spoiled me. Gradius Galaxies is still my favorite portable thus far, but these are two very different playing shooters, so they'll both get a lot of play from me.
 

pixeljunkie

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Any site with screens of the GBA version? I'm curious
 

subcons

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5 screenshots.

The game looks really good. Much better than the original MD version. Sprites are much larger looking from what I remember, and far more colorful. I will admit that the backgrounds are a bit repetative in each stage, but they vary greatly from stage to stage. I haven't seen beyond stage four yet however.

Oh, and the music is great IMO. I've had the song that plays on the map before each stage where it tells the story stuck in my head all day.

EDIT: Here's another gallery showcasing the first two stages. The opening of the second stage looks really nice with the steel beams in the foreground. And I love the escape sequence going from the midboss to the stage 2 boss.
 
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BIG

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Great-looking game,indeed.

For those of you who own this game,be sure to drop me a line once you're done playing it...I'll take it off your hands ;)

BIG-
 

SNKJorge

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I've had this game for a while now too, and it's awesome. Best GBA shmup
IMO. It's like a mini Pro-Gear.
 

eight one

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Good shooters on the GBA are a rare find-even if it's just a remake.
 

rarehero

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i've always tried to like this one, but it always kind got boring for me.
it is pretty good, just not my thing.
maybe just a little too simple.
 

subcons

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rarehero said:
i've always tried to like this one, but it always kind got boring for me.
it is pretty good, just not my thing.
maybe just a little too simple.

I actually felt the same way about the simplicity of it at first, but it kind of grew on me. It's a tough ass game on one credit.

This and Gradius Galaxies are really the only portable shooters that I've ever played that I really like. It's just such slim pickings unfortunately.
 
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