Steel Empire

Steel Empire is a horizontally scrolling shmup with roots reaching back to 1992 on the Sega Genesis console, which studio Starfish-SD brought in reworked form to the Wii U eShop as well. The player pilots an airship in an alternate steampunk history where airship and steam-engine technology developed in place of modern aviation, fighting through waves of enemy aircraft, giant bosses, and fortresses in the style of classic arcade shooters. The game's aesthetic combines brass mechanisms, steam, and wooden constructions with enemy machines, giving it a visual identity markedly different from typical sci-fi shmups.

The gameplay stays faithful to the original - the player fires a base weapon and collects temporary upgrades, while a key mechanic is the ability to switch between the airship and a smaller, more agile aircraft depending on the situation on screen, which changes the available maneuvers and how you dodge enemy fire. The Wii U version offered slightly improved graphics over the original while keeping the same pace and difficulty, which let the game appeal to both longtime fans and new players discovering it for the first time via the eShop with no knowledge of the earlier release.

Steel Empire was never a commercial blockbuster, but among shmup fans it has a reputation as an honest, craftsmanlike game that shows how the genre can retain its playability even after twenty years without changing its basic principles. On Wii U it was one of several smaller eShop titles aimed directly at fans of classic arcade shooters, and for that group it remains a pleasant, undemanding choice even today, when similarly styled titles appear only rarely on modern consoles and the classic arcade shmup thus remains more the province of smaller, specialized studios that target a narrow but loyal group of genre fans.

Why play it: For loyal fans of the classic arcade shmup, this is an honest, craftsmanlike choice, though outside this narrow circle of players it remains a rather niche affair.