Steel Assault is a flawed, brilliant masterpiece

Steel Assault is a throwback to difficult run-n-gun arcade platformers of the past. Despite this, though, it wonderfully evolves itself to match its peers and then some. Rendered in a gorgeous 16-bit art style with a soundtrack that soars above it as you shoot, run, jump, and zip-line your way throughout the post-apocalyptic United States of America.

Steel Assault is worth it. It has beautifully pixelated art and environment, a potent soundtrack, and fully fluid mechanics that make stringing together combos feel satisfying.

The game is ultimately let down by a poor difficulty curve where you are initially expected to 'git gud' to the point where the game becomes downright unfair unless you are playing with your third eye. In normal mode, I should not have had that much trouble with the final boss. I shudder to think what that final boss will be like in expert mode.

While I think the bosses are expertly designed, and constantly dying only to learn the boss mechanics was a fun experience that I quite enjoyed, I felt like the final boss was not tuned enough. I found myself spending hours and hours trying to defeat the final boss despite having his first-form mechanics down. I was able to memorize it, and any damage I take is mostly down to my own lack of skill.

However, the second form is horrible. I cannot stress how unfair it feels, which sounds wrong since this is an arcade-focused game. The fact that I have to replay the first form and then move into the second form is already a task in itself. The second form has several instances where it simply feels like you only have frame-perfecting timing to dodge projectiles while doing your best to stay on your zip line to prevent damage from the electrified floor.

After defeating the final boss's second form, you are greeted by a short end sequence that promises a potential sequel. Despite my issues with the game I do think this was a fantastic outing, and I do believe there is enough here to warrant a sequel.

Another minor grip is the clear overstimulation of the art style. While I love it, and they make beautiful wallpapers that are even better in-game, it makes tracking the action, particularly in the first two levels, eye-fatiguing. In levels three and four, this is paired back and feels much better than the first. They figured it out as they were going through the development.

The soundtrack for this game is absolutely genuinely fun. I can't tell you how many times I stood there bobbing my head to its soundtrack. The fact that we also have an FM Synth version of the soundtrack is absolutely fantastic. Each aspect of the audio design felt like it matched the frantic and hectic action on screen and did a lot to immerse you in the game. There were times when the audio presented problems, but for the most part, I do think the soundtrack is worth listening to all on its own.

Overall, I picked this up at a discount during the Steam Winter sale, and I absolutely loved it. It's a no-nonsense action platformer that will challenge you in Normal mode and terrorize you on anything above it. But dying and learning exactly where you made the mistake that resulted in your death made taking down the bosses a rewarding experience. Steel Assault is an absolute blast to play, and I challenge anybody and everybody to do a 1 Credit Run in the game's arcade mode.