Layer Section / RayForce / Galactic Attack (Sega Saturn) Review
Release Date: 1995
Date Played: 1 November 2021
I think this game's claim to fame is that it has three different names. When it was initially released in the arcades back in 1994, the game was known as RayForce. For trademark reasons, they had to change the name to Layer Section for the home console port in Japan. To make matters worse, they had to change it once again to Galactic Attack when the game was published in the West. I know, I know... that's super confusing. I didn't even mention that the game is called Gunlock in Europe....
But moving on.
As I'm writing this review, this game is listed as the 20th best shoot-em-up of all time according to Shmup's Forum. They are really the definitive source on the subject, so you typically have to take their word as gospel. Every year, the community votes for their favorites, and this game has been a perennial entry on that list. Any fan of the genre has to play it, obviously. Not only that, the game is relatively inexpensive for a Saturn shmup. In a world where the games can go for several hundred dollars, having such a renowned game that can be obtained for only a fraction of that cost is a real blessing. So, does the game live up to the hype?
Honestly, I don't think it does. I have a feeling that the reason this game is so well regarded is that it was simply played by a lot of people due to its lower price and Western release. As far as I know, it's really the only shmup for the Sega Saturn that was released outside of Japan. So, in a desert... any drop of water seems delicious.
You play as the pilot of a spaceship that has to return to Earth to defeat some A.I. that has taken over the planet and is a threat to humanity's existence throughout the galaxy. In order to stop it the CPU, you have to destroy Earth. Most of the time in a shooting game, you don't really care about the story, but I have to say that having Earth be the backdrop for fighting the enemy where you're the invader is a really unique and novel idea. I have to give the development kudos for that (even though I'm bummed that I had to destroy my home planet...)
The gameplay is a fairly standard vertical scrolling shooter. You have a standard shot that can be leveled up by grabbing upgrades that are dropped from red enemies. The shot does get stronger, but it never get's much wider and you have to be pretty precise with it. If you die, it get's downgraded and believe me, you want to keep it powered up as long as you can. There are no bombs in this game, so you have to really rely on routing and positioning to succeed. Bullet patterns will force you into corners and the paths of suiciding enemies. Many times, you can't react to this and your ship has a huge hitbox. Since there's no bombing in this game, you have to know where these spots are and learn to avoid them as best as you can. The gimmick of the game (and don't all shooters have to have one?) is basically a ripoff from Xevious. Enemies exist on 2 layers (hence the name, Layer Section) one in the sky and one below. Enemies in the sky can be hit with your standard shot but enemies below can only be hit with your missiles. In front of your ship, is a targeting reticule and as it passes over ground enemies, it will lock-on to them. You can then press the missile button and your homing shot will take them out. You can lock onto a few enemies at a time and this will increase your score more than locking onto single enemies. You can gather upgrades to increase your lock-on targets and this can be quite helpful for taking out large numbers of ground enemies before they fly up to your level. Bosses will often have sections that can only be hit by your either your shot or your missiles but never both. It's typically alternating, so learning how to take out the bosses as quickly and efficiently as possible is more important that trying to milk them for score.
The scoring mechanics are really basic and just consist of using maximum targets, killing more enemies, and not getting hit. Extends are given at 500k and 1mill respectively... but I think that's it. Once you get the two 1Ups, that's all the help you're going to get. The game also has a fierce Ranking system. The better you do, the harder the game gets. If you're able to get to 500k before the end of the second stage, the game really kicks into high gear and becomes insanely difficult. Personally, I try to avoid this and keep my score at about 480k going into the 3rd stage. I really hate "rank" in shmups, and this game is no exception. You shouldn't be punished for doing well. Plus, let's say you spend hours learning the ins and outs of the 3rd stage, then you have a really good run on stages 1 and 2 and achieve a great score. All of a sudden, the game ramps up to a different difficulty level and all of your hard work learning the 3rd stage is thrown out of the window. Lame.
The graphics are pretty decent but nothing to write home about. Some of the bosses have some nice art design which helps them out, but much of the levels can get really boring looking and tedious in their environments. There's some neat set-pieces in the game, but I feel like they are more cinematic features and stand in the way of the gameplay. Also, the music only has a couple of great spots in it. A few bars in level 5 and the closing credits are really good, but the rest of the soundtrack is very mediocre and boring. I feel like if this game had an amazing soundtrack, I would have had more enthusiasm putting in more time with it. The sound effects are nice, but are basically limited to explosions and a few voice samples.
As you can probably tell, I'm not a huge fan of this game. I'm not saying it's a BAD game, it's just that it feels so...pedestrian. I don't like the Xevious targeting reticule mechanic. Since the reticule is a fixed distance from your ship, certain enemies can only be hit from a very specific spot on the screen. So, of course enemies are designed to shoot at that exact spot and suicide crash into your ship. I hate having to wait around for the exact opportune time to rush in and sneak in a shot and then bob out of the way of some suiciding ships, and then jetting over to the other side of the screen to catch the next ground unit. There were countless times that I dodged a ship and it flew past me only to blast me with a bullet from behind while I was defenseless. Also, the game has Raiden syndrome where the screen scrolls left and right horizontally as you fly towards the edges. Often, there's some enemy hanging out right off of the screen and when you go over there, the pop you with one of their bullets before you see it coming. Most of the game is really based around knowing when and where to lock onto ground enemies to take them out before they can fly up to the top layer and unleash some annoying barrage of gunfire. It leaves little room for error and makes the game more of a memorization task than a reactionary one. If you miss a target, it will often throw off your rhythm and make it very difficult to get back in sync with the flow of the stage. This usually spells disaster and with your very limited lives, can be demoralizing.
There's no level select or training mode in this game and having to play through the first 4 or 5 stages over and over just to practice one little section of a difficult part is very annoying and time consuming. There are a total of 7 stages over the course of the game, and I had to replay the first 5 stages so many times that I had them completely memorized and could clear them without ever getting hit long before I was even able to MAKE it to stage 7. Meaning, I made it through the first 5 stages perfectly, and then died 12 times on stage 6. That's a real sign of some imbalance in your game. I'm totally fine with more difficult sections, but you can't put them all at the end of the game and not give the player a way to practice them. You're only given 4 continues, so you better bring all your skills and your patience... and an original Sega Saturn plugged into a CRT television. Because any additional input delay on this game is going to put you in your coffin.
So, my final thoughts boil down to this: If you're going to force the player to redo the same thing over and over again, you better bring some intriguing gameplay that's both a challenge and fun. If you can't deliver on that, you need to bring some aesthetics to make up for it. A massively awesome soundtrack or some fascinating graphics and art design to keep them entertained can help overcome lackluster game design. Unfortunately, this game just doesn't really bring anything other than the challenge.
I was able to get to the penultimate stage on 1 credit pretty regularly, but the final two stages chewed up my continues. I wish there was a way to just practice these sections, cause it's desperately needed. In the end, I was able to 3CC the game with a highscore of 1,760,700 which would have put me at about 7th place on Shmup's forums tournament in 2006... so I have that going for me.
Final Status: Beaten
Final Score: 7/10 (Good, but overrated)
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