Steel Talons

n/a

Steel Talons

System(s): Sega Mega Drive

Publisher: Tengen

Developer: Polygames

Original system(s): Arcade boards

Developer(s) of original games: Atari Games

Genre: Simulation^[1]

Number of players: 1

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	1993-06-25	¥6,8006,800	T-48103
US	1992		301043-0150
EU	1992		T-88046-50
KR	199x		GM4101JT

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Steel Talons (スティールタロンズ) is a helicopter combat game originally released in arcades by Atari Games. It was later brought to the Sega Mega Drive.

Gameplay

Steel Talons is an early 3D shoot-'em-up, in which players pilot a helicopter tasked with destroying a certain number of enemies on the map (combat missions) or enemy helicopters (head to head). As an arcade game (as opposed to contemporaries such as LHX Attack Chopper) the controls are greatly simplifed, and while a "real heli flight" option exists to bring more lifelike helicopter physics into play, by default the player can pick a height and expect to always remain at a fixed position above the ground.

fires missiles, fires the cannon, and adjusts the height in Z. All of the weapons in the game automatically lock on to enemies if in short range.

Versions

Steel Talons was designed for much more powerful hardware than any home system available in 1991/1992, and so compromises were made for every platform the game was ported to; the Mega Drive, Super NES and Atari Lynx (with an Atari Falcon030 version appearing later in 1995). No home versions match the arcade game's performance, screen resolution or polygon count.

While the Mega Drive renders a true 3D world (versus the occaisonal simple polygon on a 2D gradient seen on the SNES), its version of Steel Talons was critically panned at release for its very low frame rates, often to the point of being unplayable. Conversely the Lynx version, designed for a much weaker handheld system, is a more accurate port with a smoother frame rate, and the Super NES, while looking very different to the arcade, also avoids many of the huge performance dips.

In complicated scenes, it is not uncommon to see the Mega Drive version drop below 5FPS.

Magazine articles

Main article: Steel Talons/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

US print advert

Print advert in Sega Visions (US) #10: "November/December 1992" (1992-xx-xx)
also published in:

Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #41: "December 1992" (1992-xx-xx)^[3]
Game Informer (US) #8: "January/February 1993" (199x-xx-xx)^[4]
Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) #5: "February 1993" (1993-01-12)^[5]
Sega Visions (US) #11: "February/March 1993" (199x-xx-xx)^[6]

Print advert in Mega Force (FR) #18: "Juin 1993" (1993-0x-xx)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1993-07: "July 1993" (1993-06-08)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average

Publication

Version

Score

1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)

40

^[12]

Beep! MegaDrive (JP)

NTSC-J

48

^[13]

Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US)

NTSC-U

78

^[14]

Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK)

29

^[15]

Famitsu (JP)

NTSC-J

45

^[16]

GameFan (US)

86

^[17]

GamesMaster (UK)

PAL

51

^[18]

GamesMaster (UK)

57

^[19]

Hippon Super (JP)

NTSC-J

60

^[20]

Joypad (FR)

PAL

43

^[21]

Mega (UK)

NTSC-U

55

^[9]

Mega Action (UK)

NTSC-U

45

^[22]

Mega Force (FR)

45

^[23]

Mega Fun (DE)

NTSC-U

67

^[24]

MegaTech (UK)

NTSC

68

^[25]

Mean Machines Sega (UK)

NTSC

29

^[10]

Play Time (DE)

45

^[26]

Sega Power (UK)

NTSC-U

27

^[27]

Sega Pro (UK)

PAL

69

^[28]

Sega Pro (UK)

NTSC-U

62

^[29]

Sega Zone (UK)

NTSC

74

^[30]

Sega Force (UK)

PAL

62

^[11]

Sega Saturn Magazine (JP)

NTSC-J

56

^[31]

Sonic the Comic (UK)

PAL

80

^[32]

Tricks 16 bit (RU)

54

^[33]

Video Games (DE)

PAL

25

^[34]

	54
Based on 26 reviews

Steel Talons

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US (cardboard)

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, KR
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, FR

Manual

References

↑ http://sega.jp/fb/segahard/md/soft_licensee.html (Wayback Machine)
↑ File:SegaForce UK 14.pdf, page 83
↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "December 1992" (US; 1992-xx-xx), page 99
↑ Game Informer, "January/February 1993" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 68
↑ Electronic Games (1992-1995), "February 1993" (US; 1993-01-12), page 34
↑ Sega Visions, "February/March 1993" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 65
↑ File:BeepMD_JP_1993-07.pdf, page 22
↑ File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf, page 87
↑ ^9.0 ^9.1 File:Mega UK 04.pdf, page 52 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Mega UK 04.pdf_p52" defined multiple times with different content
↑ ^10.0 ^10.1 File:MeanMachinesSega04UK.pdf, page 74 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesSega04UK.pdf_p74" defined multiple times with different content
↑ ^11.0 ^11.1 File:SegaForce UK 14.pdf, page 82 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SegaForce UK 14.pdf_p82" defined multiple times with different content
↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 289
↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "July 1993" (JP; 1993-06-08), page 22
↑ Electronic Games (1992-1995), "January 1993" (US; 1992-12-10), page 68
↑ Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 96
↑ Famitsu, "1993-07-02" (JP; 1993-06-18), page 39
↑ GameFan, "Volume 1, Issue 2: December 1992" (US; 1992-xx-xx), page 9
↑ GamesMaster, "February 1993" (UK; 1993-01-21), page 50
↑ GamesMaster (UK) "Series 2, episode 13" (1992-12-24, 24:00) (+6:05)
↑ Hippon Super, "July 1993" (JP; 1993-06-04), page 44
↑ Joypad, "Avril 1993" (FR; 1993-0x-xx), page 67
↑ Mega Action, "September 1993" (UK; 1993-08-12), page 12
↑ Mega Force, "Avril 1993" (FR; 1993-0x-xx), page 104
↑ Mega Fun, "11/92" (DE; 1992-10-xx), page 35
↑ MegaTech, "January 1993" (UK; 1992-12-20), page 66
↑ Play Time, "2/93" (DE; 1993-01-07), page 109
↑ Sega Power, "February 1993" (UK; 1993-01-07), page 54
↑ Sega Pro, "February 1993" (UK; 1993-01-14), page 36
↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 67
↑ Sega Zone, "February 1993" (UK; 1993-01-20), page 40
↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87
↑ Sonic the Comic, "12th June 1993" (UK; 1993-06-12), page 12
↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 179
↑ Video Games, "10/93" (DE; 1993-09-29), page 104

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F.2A.2Fhttp:.2F.2Fsega.jp.2Ffb.2Fsegahard.2Fmd.2Fsoft_licensee.html-1] ttp://sega.jp/fb/segahard/md/soft_licensee.html (Wayback Machine)

[:File:SegaForce_UK_14.pdf_p83-2] File:SegaForce UK 14.pdf, page 83

[:File:EGM_US_041.pdf_p99-3] Electronic Gaming Monthly, "December 1992" (US; 1992-xx-xx), page 99

[:File:GameInformer_US_008.pdf_p68-4] Game Informer, "January/February 1993" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 68

[:File:ElectronicGames2_US_05.pdf_p34-5] Electronic Games (1992-1995), "February 1993" (US; 1993-01-12), page 34

[:File:SegaVisions_US_11.pdf_p65-6] Sega Visions, "February/March 1993" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 65

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1993-07.pdf_p22-7] File:BeepMD_JP_1993-07.pdf, page 22

[:File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf_p87-8] File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf, page 87

[:File:Mega_UK_04.pdf_p52-9] 9.0 ^9.1 File:Mega UK 04.pdf, page 52 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Mega UK 04.pdf_p52" defined multiple times with different content

[:File:MeanMachinesSega04UK.pdf_p74-10] 10.0 ^10.1 File:MeanMachinesSega04UK.pdf, page 74 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesSega04UK.pdf_p74" defined multiple times with different content

[:File:SegaForce_UK_14.pdf_p82-11] 11.0 ^11.1 File:SegaForce UK 14.pdf, page 82 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SegaForce UK 14.pdf_p82" defined multiple times with different content

[12] 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 289

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1993-07.pdf_p22-13] Beep! MegaDrive, "July 1993" (JP; 1993-06-08), page 22

[:File:ElectronicGames2_US_04.pdf_p68-14] Electronic Games (1992-1995), "January 1993" (US; 1992-12-10), page 68

[:File:MeanMachinesEssentialSegaGuide_Book_UK.pdf_p96-15] Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 96

[:File:Famitsu_JP_0237.pdf_p39-16] Famitsu, "1993-07-02" (JP; 1993-06-18), page 39

[:File:GameFan_US_0102.pdf_p9-17] GameFan, "Volume 1, Issue 2: December 1992" (US; 1992-xx-xx), page 9

[:File:GamesMaster_UK_002.pdf_p50-18] GamesMaster, "February 1993" (UK; 1993-01-21), page 50

[gamesmastertv2x13605-19] GamesMaster (UK) "Series 2, episode 13" (1992-12-24, 24:00) (+6:05)

[20] Hippon Super, "July 1993" (JP; 1993-06-04), page 44

[:File:Joypad_FR_019.pdf_p67-21] Joypad, "Avril 1993" (FR; 1993-0x-xx), page 67

[:File:MegaAction_UK_04.pdf_p12-22] Mega Action, "September 1993" (UK; 1993-08-12), page 12

[:File:MegaForce_FR_16.pdf_p104-23] Mega Force, "Avril 1993" (FR; 1993-0x-xx), page 104

[:File:MegaFun_DE_1992-11.pdf_p35-24] Mega Fun, "11/92" (DE; 1992-10-xx), page 35

[:File:MegaTech_UK_13.pdf_p66-25] MegaTech, "January 1993" (UK; 1992-12-20), page 66

[:File:PlayTime_DE_1993-02.pdf_p109-26] Play Time, "2/93" (DE; 1993-01-07), page 109

[:File:SegaPower_UK_39.pdf_p54-27] Sega Power, "February 1993" (UK; 1993-01-07), page 54

[:File:SegaPro_UK_16.pdf_p36-28] Sega Pro, "February 1993" (UK; 1993-01-14), page 36

[:File:SegaPro_UK_18.pdf_p67-29] Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 67

[:File:SegaZone_UK_04.pdf_p40-30] Sega Zone, "February 1993" (UK; 1993-01-20), page 40

[:File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf_p87-31] Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87

[32] Sonic the Comic, "12th June 1993" (UK; 1993-06-12), page 12

[33] Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 179

[:File:VideoGames_DE_1993-10.pdf_p104-34] Video Games, "10/93" (DE; 1993-09-29), page 104

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Steel Talons

From Sega Retro

Contents

Gameplay

Versions

Magazine articles

Promotional material

Physical scans

References