Thank you ININ games for sending us a review code!

Steel Empire was originally released for the Sega Megadrive in 1992. It has since been re-released on the Game Boy Advance, 3DS, PC, and it’s now available on the Switch. We reviewed the 3DS version which really took advantage of the 3D depth effects. The price fluctuates depending on the version. The 3DS remake sold for $29.99 and the less optimized Steam version’s normal price is half of that. The HD enhanced Switch version of The Legend of Steel Empire sells for $24.99.

Other than a different screen layout, I haven't noticed many differences between 3DS and Switch versions. The controls have been revamped and they're flawless. There are still seven stages and this game can be completed in less than an hour. To get your money’s worth you can play on different difficulties (Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard), switch ships, and collect all of the gallery images. The Very Hard difficulty isn’t available from the start and has to be unlocked.

Once your difficulty is selected, you’re shown the story about the war between the Silverhead Republic and the Motorhead Empire. The story campaign consists of seven stages and before each one begins you’re given the choice of flying an airplane or a zeppelin. The airplane is faster, but has less armor. The airplane can also attack ground targets while the zeppelin is limited to airborne foes.

The stages have a nice variety of backdrops, enemies, and level design. Each stage has a mid-boss and a final boss that has to be defeated before going to the next area. Power-ups are scattered throughout the levels and include money, increased firepower, additional bombs, drones, and an extra life. At the end of a stage, your score will be tallied up and you’ll earn bonus points for unused bombs, and lives.

For every 100,000 points, you’ll be granted an extra life. If you lose all of your lives, you’ll have the option to continue once. When you continue, your score will be reset. After completing the game, you can add your initials to the local leaderboard.

Morally, there’s little to worry about in this title. Enemies will attempt to shoot down your aircraft so you better take them down first if you want to survive. I like how you can change from shooting from the front or the back. You’ll have to be agile and able to shoot from multiple directions to take down the bosses. The bombs will take a significant chunk of their health away too.

All in all, The Legend of Steel Empire is fun, but short and a bit pricey. Sure the Switch is portable, but if you have a Steam Deck you can play the same game (Steel Empire) on the go for $10 less. If it does go on sale on the eShop, it’s worth checking out though.