I’ve been, um, recently writing regularly regarding remakes of rare shooting games, and they all have had something to offer. Cotton Reboot offered modern style and sensibility to a classic game (along with a port of the classic itself), Zombie Nation offered, at the most basic level, the first wide availability of a very weird and notable game.
Ratalaika’s port of the Mega Drive game Gleylancer exemplifies my favorite aspect of these rereleases: I can cheese the heck out of it.
1992 JC would have dug Gleylancer, but I didn’t have the bucks back then to import a Mega Drive game from the Chips & Bits catalog. Basically, it’s a side-scrolling shooter with “option” style ships that fly around with you, like Gradius. Except you can pick up powerups to change the options’ weapons in seven different ways, like 5-way or Laser.
More importantly, you can choose how the options behave. A setting available at the start of the game allows you to choose whether they shoot behind you, in front of you, whether they circle you, etc. In itself, this is a very cool customization, but the modern port totally one-ups it by letting you aim the options’ shots yourself with the right analog stick, effectively making a twin-stick shooter out of it.
I’m sure this wrecks the initial balance of the game, by making it much, much easier to aim a barrage of multiple guns at enemies, but… good. 1992 JC would only have enjoyed a game like this for a rental period, having barely cleared the first stage. Here in the beautiful perfect future (let’s pretend for a minute) I can hold my own against a game designed to punish me. And what was originally a very well-designed feature for its time is now even better. I’m sure if controllers had dual analog back then, Gleylancer would have supported it.
Furthermore, like many retro ports, I have immediate access to a rewind button. If I wanted to, I could ignore that button and enjoy the difficulty of the game as designed. But I don’t want to. I want to cheese my way through the game, no matter what it says about my character. I find it tremendously satisfying to be able to get through a game I never would have had a chance to finish.
And these features aren’t just for people like me who are just regular bad at action games. Features like rewind and save states offer crucial accessibility to more people who might never have been able to enjoy a game like this before. And all the accessibility and difficulty modifications are totally optional, and can be ignored at will by people who don’t need or want them.
Next week, Ratalaika will publish a port of Gynoug, originally released here as Wings of Wor, and I look forward to being able to play it for more than 15 agonizing minutes at a time!
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Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer - PlayStation 4 - 2021
Developer: Masaya (Original Mega Drive game)
Ratalaika Games SL (PS4)
Publisher: Ratalaika Games SL / Shinyuden
Out today at a budget price of £4.99 is the PlayStation 4 port of the 1992 game Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer on Mega Drive. This very expensive Mega Drive title finally gets a easily available modern version. It includes the original Japanese Mega Drive release and a new enhanced version with English text and a new twin stick fire mode that allow you to control the fire arc of the ship mover satellite. It is also available to buy on Nintendo Switch and Xbox, more details here. It's a superb arcade shmups and one well worth owning. Thanks to PR Hound for providing us a preview copy.
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Ratailaika Games, in partnership with Masaya Games and Shinyuden, will release classic shoot ’em up game Gleylancer for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch on October 15 for $6.99 / £5.99 / €5.99, the publisher announced.
Gleylancer first launched for Mega Drive in July 1992 in Japan. Its first release outside of Japan was for Wii Virtual Console in May 2008 in Europe and July 2008 in North America, following Japan’s February 2008 release. A PC version was released in Japan in July 2016.
Here is an overview of the game, via Ratalaika Games:
About
Originally released in 1992, Greylancer was exclusive to the Sega Mega Drive, released only in Japan and then made an appearance worldwide on the Wii Console in 2008. With continued retro fans and community requests for its appearance on current consoles, its port, with enhancements, which include new accessibility features, translations for the cutscenes has now been completed ready for its release.
Billed as a no nonsense, single player, horizontally scrolling shooter, this is a must have for your collection.
Story
The story follows Lucia, a 16-year-old star fighter pilot in the Earth Federation. A war breaks out between humans and an unknown alien race in the year 2025. Lucia’s father, Ken, a high-ranking admiral in the Federation Navy, is captured after his ship is warped out of the combat zone with four alien modules which have the ability of teleportation. Lucia, heart-broken after hearing her father’s disappearance, decides to hijack the prototype fighter CSH-01-XA “GleyLancer” with the help of her friend Teim and go after her father.
Key Features
Improved modes available with accessibility features and modern controls.
Classic and deep space shoot ’em up gameplay.
Epic space opera with anime cutscenes.
Option to customize the ship’s attacking power.
Iconic retro console graphics and sound.
Legacy 16-bit title from the 1990s!
Watch a trailer below. View a set of screenshots at the gallery.
CSH-01-XA "Gley Lancer A.K.A Busterhawk The story follows Lucia, a 16-year-old star fighter pilot in the Earth Federation. A war breaks out between humans and an unknown alien race in the year 2025. Lucia's father, Ken, a high-ranking admiral in the Federation Navy, is captured after his ship is warped out of the combat zone with 4 alien modules which have the ability of teleportation. Lucia, heart-broken after hearing her father's disappearance, decides to hijack the prototype fighter CSH-01-XA "Gley Lancer" with the help of her friend Teim and go after her father. Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gley_Lancer
