Preview: Steel Century Groove

If there are two genres that I would never have paired together, it’s mechs and Pokémon. Dancing mechs at that. But that’s exactly what we have in Steel Century Groove, with developers Sloth Gloss Games mashing up genres that shouldn’t work together but somehow do, with a fun narrative, interesting mechanics and some catchy tunes helping to glue them together. 

The generous demo that this preview is based on is available right now on Steam, so you can see for yourself how well this combination works, which includes quite a chunk of the opening section. The story is ripped straight from a Pokémon game, with it starting at the player’s home. It’s your birthday, and you’ve been given the tools for your own dancing mech from your mum, which kick-starts a journey from zero to champion as you traverse across the land, improving your skills – and your mechs – to become the world champion. To achieve this, it’s claimed that four professors need to be reached and defeated in order to gain the right to challenge for the world champion, which won’t be an easy task. 

This game world is an instant kick in the Pokémon feels, with interstates (instead of paths) connecting towns that could have easily been ripped out of the pocket monster series. Stationary NPCs hang around street corners or in handy places ready to dish out their advice or to give you hints on where to go, and there’s plenty more on interstates ready to instigate a battle with you. There’s even a part where you have to choose a starting mech, as your birthday present isn’t exactly up to winning standards.

The Pokémon similarities are pretty endless, but that all ends with the battling. Instead of monsters to instruct, giant mech robots are at hand to dance to the music and win the fight by filling up its acclaim meter. The first to do so wins the battle. This is achieved by standard rhythm-based game mechanics by hitting the button when a cursor is above a numbered circle on a ribbon; hit it spot on and you will feel the benefits. Sloth Gloss Games have gone a step further though and added in mechanics that have injected some interesting strategy into the battles.  

These took some time to master, but when they clicked, they made for some unique rhythmic battling. With options to hit the opponents’ acclaim meter and diminish it, and support mechs to block opponents’ moves, it gives the gameplay a fresh lick of paint. The biggest thing, though, is by building up your audience bar, which, when full, will launch you into a solo and give the player even more options to hit their opponent into failure. This all led into fun and engaging rhythmic battles that left me wanting more.

There’s plenty to upgrade too, with new powers for your mechs to find and a cool character XP feature through a social media system that earns new moves and more each time you level up. This is all based on the posts you decide on and how many new fans you attract from that post. A robust character creator is also present so you can model the player character however you wish, name them and add pronouns. 

This is all wrapped in a mashup of visual styles too, with the exploration showing much inspiration from Pokémon, with clean, bright and smooth visuals, with the rhythm battles taking on a loud, busy anime style. Each worked in tandem perfectly and never jolted my senses. The music you’ll be dancing to is also a mix of genres, from pop music through to instrumental dance tracks. I walked away impressed with the selection included in the demo, and I can’t wait to hear what else is in the full version. It’s also worth mentioning that the demo includes the ability to incorporate your own music, which the game will work with in the dance battles. A mech dance-off with Gangnam Style is now very much a possibility!

If you’ve ever dreamed of a rhythm-based Pokémon-style mech RPG, then it’s become a reality. I walked into the demo uncertain, but once I’d finished, I was 100% in. I enjoyed the exploration and narrative, checking out the towns and interstates and finding upgrades for my mech, and then loved being thrown into these crazy robot-dancing rhythm battles, which not only were a complete u-turn on the chill exploration but also one that needed my full attention as I attempted to win my musical fights. If the developers can keep the momentum shown in the demo in the full game and build on the mechanics to help them stay fresh, then this will be a really special game and a great way to end what’s already been a stellar year for indies. 

You can play the demo of Steel Century Groove right now on Steam, and while you are there, I’m sure the developers would love a wish list!