SteamGear Mash [スチームギア・マッシュ] Game Sample - Sega Saturn

SteamGear Mash is a cute short-but-sweet action/adventure Sega Saturn exclusive presented by Takara and Tamsoft in 1995. Taking place in "Tam World", the story is a simple afair that deals with a brilliant old inventor (Hakase Sendagaya) and his grand-daughter (Mina Sendagaya), an aspiring inventor and brilliant mechanic herself. Noticing that his grand-daughter has no one she can call a friend, the two come together to build her a robotic body known as a "SteamGear". Adoringly named "Mash" by Mina, the two play together and are the best of friends, and all seems right on Tam World... until things change. Deemed the "Beautiful Flower of Tam World" by outside forces, Mina is one day spotted from outer space by a mysterious group of intergalactic misfits, the leader of which falls in love with her and orders his minions to kidnap her. Mash, who at this point was not fitted for battle, tries to protect her but is easily defeated by a powerful Red SteamGear (your rival of sorts who goes by the name of Gash) and left as a pile of scrap. Hakase, in a bid to get her back, repairs Mash and arms him with a powerful cannon and multi-directional movement and firing. Now, equipped for battle, Mash travels to their space base to get even and save Mina.

SteamGear Mash combines hectic shooting action with mild adventure/exploration aspects and utilizes pre-rendered graphics and an isometric display similar to games like Landstalker, Light Crusader, and a variety of other games. The game is spread across six main stages (four of which are main stages and two of which are special shooter segments in the vein of titles like Viewpoint) and the game allows you to save as well as warp to previous areas. Throughout the game, you will come across various weapon upgrades that help you tackle enemies more effectively in addition to destroying various barricades to progress further, but you'll also find supplementary skills that allows Mash to operate differently. For example, in the beginning, Mash can only stop and shoot or "Lock" (strafe), but can later "Roll" (spin and shoot while moving), "Back" (shoot opposite the direction you're facing while moving), "Dash", and more. Special weapons have different range, damage output, and speed, but also have different power costs. When all else fails, Mash can charge his main cannon for a power shot (somewhat more powerful than rapid fire, but its main advantage is superior range). Mash moves quickly and controls well, and platforming / shooting seldom becomes an issue. As you become more powerful, you can return to old areas to find secrets.

SteamGear Mash has pretty good visuals for the time of release, but also has great audio quality... I say this because some of the only videos up for this game were emulated in (what I presume to be) an older Saturn emulator, where the sound is butchered. While I appreciate some footage over no footage, I don't want people to believe it actually sounds that way, because it doesn't; the actual game has almost crystal clear music and clean sound effects. The game also runs at a silky smooth 60FPS and rarely has any slowdown. Even in spite of the game's attempt to add longevity through secret areas and multi-tiered stages, the game is still incredibly short. Even with a little procrastinating and a fair understanding of the game, it can be completed in only an hour (three tops), and a speedrunner could finish the game considerably faster. The game is also too easy, as special weapons can make short work of most bosses. Still, the game is cheap and pretty easy to find, so adding it to your collection couldn't hurt.

This is a video going through roughly half the game to show you the first few bosses and one of the "Viewpoint-esque" levels to understand the flow of the game. Enjoy.