While this game has a mixed reputation as a “gooner-shooter” it sounds like there’s some mechanical problems hindering the gameplay:

While the graphics are much improved in the Saturn version and the music is pretty good, the locations remain fairly uninteresting and bosses tend to lack any distinct personality outside of their cutscene appearances. The one thing about Steam-Heart’s that jars most is that it’s almost impossible to know when your ship has been hit unless you check the life gauge. There’s no clear audio or visual feedback, which just means you kind of glide through things not realising you’ve taken damage until it’s too late. This, if we remember correctly, was an issue in the PC-98 original, too, and by 2025 should really have been rectified.