There are some games in every generation that cause a gamer to make an investment in a peripheral that can make a game's price skyrocket. Many games that make the player choose this path are worth it. A few examples are Mario and Wario for the Super Famicom with the SF Mouse, Samba de Amigo for the Dreamcast with the Maraca controller, Guitar Hero for the Playstation 2 with the guitar controller, and of last but not least, Taiko: Drum Master for the Playstation 2 with the Taiko drum controller. All of these games have custom peripherals that enhance the gameplay and hopefully in the end, make the game that much more fun. Among custom peripherals, there is one game that stands alone; Steel Battalion for the original Xbox. With a price tag of $200 when first released in 2002, this game and controller combo is by far one of the most expensive but worthwhile investments a gamer can make.

Released in Japan by Capcom as ‘Tekki’, the game places the player in the cockpit of a giant mech in the midst of a training camp during wartime. The player is immediately thrust into piloting the mech when the training camp is suddenly attacked. Using the oversized 40 button controller and 3 foot pedals, the player must navigate the mech in a variety of environments to lead the battle. Each mission involves the player piloting the machine in direct combat with other mechs and other armed forces. Gameplay includes missions in many different environments, from urban areas to coastal infiltration.

Check out the difference is size between the peripheral and the Dev Kit. The controller ain’t dainty. Dev Kit's got 110 cards but the 40-button controller ain’t no joke….

The left hand goes here

And the right hand goes here

Put your feet to work too!

The control setup is very intuitive; the ‘tutorial’ consists of the player pressing the button when it flashes on the controller, engaging the mech onscreen. Controlling the mech is simple; the left joystick moves the mech to the desired location and the d-pad on the top of the joystick controls the cockpit view of the pilot. The right joystick controls the aiming sight for the primary and secondary fire as well as the targeting system to lock on to an opponent. The main panel in front of the player controls a variety of systems that are used fairly often; the cockpit screen wash to clear the pilot's view, the all important magazine reload, the main and sub fire ammo change buttons, and a few others. The panel with the left joystick features the speed control and the mech start up system toggles that are only used in the start of each mission. The right joystick panel has the zoom in and out buttons, the flip down monitor off/on switch and of course a few others for good measure, including the most important for game saving, which is controlled by the covered eject button.

The controls never feel too intensive, the gameplay doesn’t force the player to use too many buttons at one time in most missions. The gameplay is very fun but also very hard at times, where the player must constantly move to avoid fire and target 2-3 different mechs at one time.

The quality of the controller is very good and even after many hours of play the buttons are still reactive and hold up well under a lot of use. While still expensive, the controller is manufactured well and does not have any flaws that should make a gamer question if it is worth investing in. For any mecha game fans or arcade gaming enthusiast, this game is hands down a good investment for many hours of fun.

Steel Battalion does a very good job of merging the gap between the arcade game experience and a home console game. The best parts of the arcade experience are brought into a more comfortable and accessible place where the game can be enjoyed more frequently and at any time of the day or night.

The "home arcade game" platform gives the developer an almost blank canvas to create a game that does not have to be mapped to a specific control scheme, is not so strictly restrained by the technical limits of a hardware device, and does not have to be compatible with pre-existing software. This freedom can also be a challenge as well. In this case, the home console gives a developer a great platform to create a game that can be easily distributed and widely played while providing a standard platform for development.

The task of combining the fun playability of an arcade game with the structured platform of a console game is executed well in Steel Battalion. The game's control is excellent and the Xbox is a great platform to play on. Overall, the game and controller are integrated well with the Xbox and it is a lot of fun to play and a great game to show off the potential of a home theater. The game is also a great investment for an Xbox collector that wants to showcase the changes that the Xbox franchise has brought to the gaming industry. With relatively small amounts of the game and controller produced, the value of the game will no doubt increase in value as the years go on. If you can manage to find a copy and have the space to store it, then don’t hesitate to pick up this unique product.