Contents

Steel Talons

• NuFX (Lynx)
  Polygames (Genesis) Panoramic (SNES)

• Arcade
  • NA/EU: Atari Games
• JP: Sega

Ed Logg
Ed Rotberg

Ed Rotberg

Sam Comstock
Chuck Eyler
Nicholas Stern

Brad Fuller
John Paul

Arcade, Atari Falcon, Lynx, Genesis, SNES

Combat flight simulator

Single-player, 2-player multiplayer

Atari Hard Drivin'^[1]

Steel Talons is a 3D combat flight simulator arcade game released by Atari Games in 1991. The player takes on the role of a pilot for an "AT1196 Steel Talons combat helicopter". Steel Talons was ported to the Sega Genesis, Atari Lynx, Atari Falcon, and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. A Jaguar port was announced, but never released.

Gameplay[edit]

Steel Talons is an air combat arcade game. The player flies a helicopter equipped with a machine gun, rockets, and a limited number of air-to-surface guided missiles. It originated as a two-player cockpit arcade cabinet with both cooperative and competitive modes. In single-player mode or cooperative two-player mode, there are 19 missions. In competitive mode, players attempt to destroy each other's helicopter.

The arcade version has a joystick, analog collective lever on the left side that controls the altitude of the helicopter, and rudder pedals. The back of the seat has a speaker thumps when the player's helicopter is hit. It has a button called "real heli mode" which makes flying more difficult, but also allows more freedom of movement and can be an advantage during multiplayer games.

Development[edit]

Release[edit]

The game's date of publication is listed by the United States Copyright Office as August 23, 1991.^[2] In September 1991, Steel Talons was shown at the 1991 Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) expo in Las Vegas.^[3][4] That November, the game was released internationally, by Sega in Japan^[5] and by Atari in Europe.^[6]

It was ported to the Sega Genesis, Atari Lynx, Atari Falcon, and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. A Jaguar port was announced, but never released.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Reception[edit]

In the United States, it topped the RePlay arcade charts for dedicated arcade cabinetsinOctober 1991,^[11] and then the deluxe cabinet charts from November 1991^[12][13]toFebruary 1992,^[14][15] before topping it again in April 1992.^[16] In Japan, Game Machine listed Steel Talons in its March 15, 1992 issue as the third most-successful upright arcade unit of the month.^[17]

Upon its AMOA 1991 debut, The One magazine compared the arcade game favorably with Taito's 3D helicopter simulation Air Inferno (1990), stating that "Atari has gone even further, making it a lot easier to play, without compromising the complexity of the controls". They said that, despite "the complexity of the controls, the game is a classic".^[3] Sinclair User listed it among several games making the "best use of 3-D technology" at the show,^[4] and later gave it an 87% score upon its European release.^[6] Julian RignallofComputer and Video Games gave it a 96% rating.^[18]

The Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) nominated the game for the "Most Innovative New Technology" award in 1992.^[19]

GameFan reviewed the Sega Genesis version, scoring it 172 out of 200.^[20]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Steel TalonsatGameFAQs
• Steel TalonsatGiant Bomb
• Steel TalonsatKiller List of Videogames
• Steel TalonsatMobyGames