Steam Heart is a ridiculously cool old school run and gun steampunk shooter inspired by Gunstar Heroes and Dynamite Heddy, that’s packed full of powerful weaponry, excellent pixel art animation and huge bosses to blast.
Created for Ludum Dare 36, Steam Heart takes the form of a single level from a long lost Genesis (or Mega Drive) game. It may be one level, but the amount of variety on show throughout makes it feel more like three – we counted seven different bosses and three distinct zones to blow stuff up in!
The run and gun combat in Steam Heart is fantastic, recalling Treasure’s classics and also a touch of Metal Slug. There’s lots of OTT weaponry to pick up throughout the game, and the boss design is excellent throughout, with each one having set attack patterns for you to learn and exploit.
Surprisingly for a retro run and gun combat game, Steam Heart doesn’t have a punishingly hard difficulty level, so you should be able to blast your way through it in around 15 minutes. After running, jumping and blasting through 15 minutes of awesome retro arcade action, you’ll be dying for another episode of this spectacle-filled steampunk shooter. Highly recommended.
Note: You’re best holding your finger on the fire button at all times as it makes ducking while firing to avoid bullets easier (if you duck, and then fire you’ll do a slide which can get you in trouble!)
Check Out a Steam Heart Playthrough Here
Download Steam Heart Here or Play in a Browser Here