The world of Steambot Chronicles
Steambot Chronicles lets you take your time. There’s a mystery to follow, but you can also spend an afternoon playing music, taking on a job or getting to know the people in town. If you remember the game, that freedom might be part of what brought you back.
- Platform
- PlayStation 2
- Developer
- IREM
- First released
- Japan, 2005
An adventure with room for detours
Steambot Chronicles starts with a simple question: who is Vanilla? Washed ashore without his memories, he meets Connie, a singer whose help leads him into a much larger adventure.
For now, though, there is a beach to leave. A missile brings rocks down across the exit, leaving Vanilla and Connie stranded on Seagull Beach. Near an abandoned house, they find a Trotmobile: a way to lift the boulder blocking their path, and their first step towards the world beyond.
There is a story to follow, but the places between its events deserve some attention too. Conversations offer different ways to answer, side jobs introduce you to new people, and a visit to town can turn into an afternoon spent playing music or browsing the shops.
You have room to give Vanilla a personality through the things he says and does. Sometimes a choice changes what happens next. Sometimes it simply changes how a conversation feels.
That is part of the pleasure of Steambot Chronicles. The same pair of walking legs can carry you into a fight, take you to your next job or bring you back to a favourite place. What you stop for along the way gives the journey its own shape.
What is a Trotmobile?
Trotmobiles are the game’s two-legged vehicles: machines that carry people and goods, tackle practical jobs and fight when trouble comes along.
Changing their parts changes what they can do. A different arm might help in battle or with an excavation; equipment on the back can make room for a delivery. Colours, emblems and body parts give each machine a character of its own.
Moving one means using both analogue sticks together. Push both forward to walk, or in opposite directions to turn. Getting familiar with that movement is part of learning to pilot your Trotmobile.
Remember your old combination, or curious about what you would choose?
Try the Trotmobile builderMusic along the way
Music is part of the adventure itself. Connie sings with the Garland Globetrotters, and Vanilla can learn instruments and join in with their performances. There are opportunities to play on the street, practise and discover songs as the story unfolds.
For returning players, hearing those songs again may bring back a particular journey or performance. For someone new, they offer a first taste of the game’s atmosphere.
Listen to the songs
Life between adventures
A job, a game of billiards, a fossil for the museum: there are plenty of small reasons to pause along the way. You can choose clothes for Vanilla, furnish a rented room or get caught up in an activity you hadn’t planned to try.
Those details give you things to remember beyond the main story. Perhaps it was a place you liked visiting, a conversation that made you laugh or the instrument you finally learned to play.
The original instruction booklet introduces many of these activities, alongside the characters and controls.
Read the original US manualFrom Bumpy Trot to Steambot Chronicles
Developed by IREM, the game first appeared on PlayStation 2 in Japan in 2005 under the name Bumpy Trot. Overseas releases introduced it as Steambot Chronicles, with Atlus publishing in North America and 505 Game Street in Europe.
Behind its world were artists, programmers, writers, musicians and localisation teams. This archive brings some of their work together so you can explore the game through its illustrations, songs, booklet and the people who helped make it.
Explore the game credits
A closer look at the game
KBash takes a longer journey through Steambot Chronicles, from its world and Trotmobile battles to the story that holds it all together. Along the way, he looks at the two spin-offs that followed.
Includes story spoilers.
