The Legend of Steel Empire on PS5 is a compact, joyful throwback that wears its retro roots like a badge, and its new port mostly understands what made the original click: brisk, mechanical spectacle wrapped in a steam-driven aesthetic. Playing it feels less like discovering a lost classic and more like being invited to sit in the cockpit of a lovingly restored vintage machine – everything is familiar, tactile, and purpose-built for short, sharp bursts of adrenaline. That fidelity is its greatest strength and, in some ways, its most obvious limitation.
The worldbuilding leans hard into steampunk melodrama: the Motorhead Empire’s ironclad dominance, armored locomotives and zeppelins, and the desperate Republic of Silverhead give the levels a clear thematic identity. The narrative is lean and functional, serving primarily to string together set-pieces rather than to unspool a deep, character-driven saga; the setting’s atmosphere and visual cues do most of the storytelling work, which will delight players who care about tone but may feel lacking to those seeking richer exposition or plot complexity.
Gameplay is faithful to the euro-shmup blueprint with a few wrinkles that make each sortie feel tactical. Choosing between the nimble Striker and the lumbering, heavy-hitting Zeppelin forces real decisions about positioning and risk, and the forward/rear shooting scheme pushes you to manage both the sky and the ground rather than simply spray-cover the screen. Power-ups and screen-clearing attacks reward daring play and create satisfying moments of catharsis when a tight situation is turned into glorious chaos. That said, the game rarely surprises beyond its core mechanics; its loop is enjoyable but conservative, and the short campaign and lack of substantive modern extras mean longevity depends largely on whether you enjoy replaying stages for higher scores.
Controls on PS5 are mostly crisp, with the platform’s responsiveness helping the game feel immediate. The health-bar approach softens the one-hit-kill harshness of many classic shooters, making the experience more approachable for newcomers while preserving tension. Yet this same design choice sometimes blunts the sense of high-stakes mastery that purists crave, and a handful of boss encounters and tight escape sequences can lean into memorization rather than improvisational skill, exposing a slight inconsistency in the challenge curve.
Visually, the PS5 build is handsome: the sprites retain their 16-bit charm while upgraded backgrounds, improved lighting and tasteful effects make large-scale enemy encounters and boss reveals feel cinematic. Scale and detail are the port’s headline improvements, and the presentation often elevates otherwise straightforward stages into memorable tableaux. Still, the upgrade is mostly visual fidelity rather than a reimagination; collectors and newcomers looking for extensive archival material, developer extras or deeper remastering will notice the package’s relative sparseness.
The soundtrack and sound design remain a high point, with driving themes that complement on-screen action and give the game a sense of momentum. The PS5’s audio fidelity helps the score breathe, though the mix isn’t perfect and occasional moments see SFX overpowering musical subtleties. Technically the release is stable overall, but minor slowdowns and a few presentation quibbles persist, reminding players that this is an enhanced port rather than a full rebuild for modern hardware.
The Legend of Steel Empire on PS5 is therefore best appreciated on its own terms: a polished, affectionate revival of an arcade-era shooter that prioritizes style, pacing and bite-sized thrills over reinvention. It’s ideal for players who love retro shmups and want a visually refreshed, approachable version of a steam-powered classic; it’s less suited to those craving deep modern additions or an expansive campaign. The PS5 version delivers crisp controls, striking presentation and reliably entertaining action, but it keeps its feet – firmly and deliberately – on the well-worn tracks of its original design.
Score: 7.2/10
Press Play Media 