I have always been a massive fan of rhythm games that break the mold a bit more than typical, with ideas and themes that are pretty out there. Steel Century Groove definitely does that, merging this weird, neon love of competing with giant robots and dancing with monster-taming tactics.
While playing through to the end, I couldn’t help but hope that there would be more installments in the future. Something about collecting a ton of giant, dancing robots feels like it should be a part of a series. Well, maybe without the song choices selected in this one.
As a gaming experience, it’s nearly perfect for the players who are looking for a short and well-written narrative that just happens to have some pretty sick songs and battle gameplay attached to it. For some, it’s probably best that those songs can be changed out.
Colorful Atmosphere With a Dark Interior
When you first start Steel Century Groove, you’re immediately pulled into the world’s language and understanding of real people. You’re so far into the future (the 22nd century) that concepts like gender, marriage equality, and the general misunderstanding of the human condition are simply not there. In fact, every NPC has a plaque beside their name that lets you know of their preferred pronouns, whether or not you will ever actually talk to or refer to them ever again.
However, that doesn’t automatically mean that the world is some wishy-washy narrative on the things that are so terrible in the real world. The story revolves around these century-old robots, called Tenzerks, that were created to essentially perform in battles that act no differently from those in Pokemon games.
These robots are massive and have different abilities designed to take down your enemies that are disguised as sweet dance moves, though that exterior starts slowly breaking down as you and your best friend, Seny, journey on your First Pilot Tenzerk mission (which, again, isn’t very much different from your first Pokemon adventure).
Similar to the monster-taming franchise, getting from place to place in Steel Century Groove requires you to walk from city to city, fighting a variety of Tenzerk pilots along the way. You’ll face pilots in the depths of rocky caves, swimming far along on the waterways beside a bridge, or even at an amusement park while trying to locate and fight the Four Principal Pilots necessary to move onto the Tenzerk Tournament. Again, sound familiar?
I’d also like to mention that you are following a rival around while also taking advice from your hometown’s professor after leaving your mother behind to go on this journey. So, do with that information what you will.
Collect ‘Em All and Dance All Night
The battles in Steel Century Groove are really where it’s at, with each one consisting of rhythmic button pressing and strategic decision-making for which abilities are most useful in that moment. Sure, you can press an available button to the beat, but if it isn’t optimal, or the ability can be countered by your opponent, then you don’t score nearly as much.
With every move you land correctly, your dance gauge fills up and puts you in a position to win. Of course, the same goes for your enemy’s Tenzerks.
If you are unfamiliar with rhythm games like OSU, then the gameplay might be a bit of a learning curve. Here, dance battles consist of a song (either one of the many on the Steel Century Groove soundtrack or one of the songs you might have put in as a custom MP3), your Tenzerk’s abilities, and whatever abilities you placed on the background dancer Tenzerks.
Steel Century Groove blends fun rhythm gameplay and a deep narrative without sacrificing either.
You’ll then need to press buttons according to the beat that’s presented, very similarly to the popular rhythm game being compared, which is just the gameplay term for a string of beats that you need to press correctly, as opposed to tiles falling from the top or bottom of the screen, like in Guitar Hero or Dance Dance Revolution.
After a short while, you’ll be trying out different Tenzerks, switching out the different mods they have, and even changing out their color schemes to better match your personal vibes. With every Principal Pilot you defeat, you’ll also be granted a new space in your Tenzerk for an additional mod for a total of four each.
You’re also able to choose those things for yourself. Throughout the whole game, you are able to change how you look, how you dress, your name, and even what pronouns others refer to you as to make the experience as your own as possible.
Because of all this customization, I definitely found myself creating a made-up dialogue in my head about when my character would grow their hair, change their Tenzerks out, gain a little bit of weight, or make decisions about themselves that just happened to fit with the narrative of what was already going on in-game.
Repetition and Accessibility For the Win
While I absolutely loved the game’s cel-shaded design and colorful atmosphere, I couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed with the choices of songs available on the in-game soundtrack. They felt incredibly disconnected from the rest of the game, which really just prompted me to use my own music instead. At least, I didn’t feel that the game screamed funky club beats and the one-off pop song.
Sure, maybe Pixies and Pearl Jam aren’t the greatest replacements for what was already available, but having that choice really did help with the decision of whether or not I would be playing the game on mute. However, I’ll also be the first to admit that maybe the disco/dance music with questionable lyrics available just weren’t of my personal preference.
I also felt that the battles felt incredibly repetitive at times, with dance moves of different Tenzerks pretty much being all but exactly the same. Despite some of the actual First Pilots having different looks or names, their Tenzerks don’t necessarily reflect that all the time. It’s not as though there are water-type or fire-type Tenzerks; just ones that look different and have slightly differing abilities.
As a result, I felt that the real difficulty was in being able to quickly and accurately attack to the beat. A lot of times, I felt a bit confused about which abilities countered what, or which buttons to press at what time, which resulted in a lot of failed battles and general luck to proceed. This also led me down a little rabbit hole of accessibility features, which I felt was incredibly well done.
Despite Steel Century Groove being an overall simple game, there are a lot of features that can make it even better for players. You’re able to change the difficulty at any point in the game, and allow it so that even if you lose, it will be counted as a victory. I’ll admit to having used this more toward the latter half of the game.
There were some battles where this didn’t work out, which was a bit disappointing after being able to do it for every battle beforehand. However, I can also see how the narrative wouldn’t have made sense at times if you didn’t truly battle now and again.
An Unexpected Story About Loss, Happiness, and Dance
Now, with all the above said, I absolutely adored the narrative for Steel Century Groove. I felt that it started off a bit deceptively and then branched out into a much deeper and memorable story than I originally thought it was going to be. The colorful atmosphere almost feels like it was meant to be a distraction from where things were actually going to be headed.
While there weren’t many side quests (if any) to really concern myself with, even they caught me off-guard with how well they were written or how the characters you only knew for a short time had evolved.
I also very much appreciate how none of it seemed shoe-horned into the narrative, and flowed easily with the rest of what was going on. Yes, there are gay and disabled characters throughout, but their involvement doesn’t seem as though they had to be there in order to fulfill some unspoken rule about inclusion.
Now, I can really delve into how much of a crush I have on Chanda… maybe Seny too…
Review Summary
Steel Century Groove is a stylish rhythm-RPG that blends Pokémon-inspired monster collecting with neon robot dance battles and a surprisingly heartfelt narrative about acceptance, identity, and emotional vulnerability. Its cel-shaded visuals, character and Tenzerk customization, and inclusive future setting help it stand out, while rhythm-based combat rewards precise timing and offers generous accessibility options for players of all skill levels. Although battles can feel repetitive due to limited mechanical variety between Tenzerks and the default soundtrack often clashes with the game’s tone (thankfully offset by custom music support), the experience is elevated by strong writing, memorable characters, and a story that grows darker and more meaningful beneath its colorful exterior. Short, creative, and emotionally resonant, Steel Century Groove feels like a passion project with series potential, especially for players who value narrative and atmosphere as much as gameplay.
The Good
- Strong narrative and themes.
- Unique concept and style.
- Great customization and accessibility.
The Bad
- Repetitive combat.
- Soundtrack mismatch from rest of game.
- Unclear mechanics and balance.
