Gleylancer is a name that immediately catches the eye of those in our team with a love for retro shooters, so the rather pleasing news is that publisher Ratalaika Games is bringing an improved version to the Switch eShop; it launches on 15th October priced at £5.99/ €5,99/ $6.99USD.
When originally released on SEGA Mega Drive (or Genesis for those of you in North America) in 1992 it was Japan-only, though it did appear globally on the Wii Virtual Console 16 years later. It's worth noting that original physical copies are rare and very expensive, though a reprint did help more collectors get a copy a few years back.
Its updated eShop release does make some enhancements, though the core flavour of the 16-bit game is still very much in place.
Billed as a no nonsense, single player, horizontally scrolling shooter, this is a must have for your collection.
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 customise the ship’s attacking power
* Iconic retro console graphics and sound
* Legacy 16-bit title from the 1990s!
Let us know if you're tempted to pick this up next week!
Comments 37
Looks tempting as I love retro shooters, however I sure hope TMNT Shredders Revenge does not take too much longer to release!!
Better news than Metroid Dread! Can’t wait, this’ll be a....BLAST HAHAHAH
The BEST Shmup OST of all time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y9lvbLltZ0&t=6s&ab_channel=DUSTINODELLOFFICIAL
NINJA APPROVED
Superb. A certain purchase and a good price too.
Fantastic. I’ll definitely pick this up
I’ll look into it as long as it’s not a basic rom dump!
I had this game on Virtual Console. Definitely picking it up when it comes out. It's a great game with a pretty decent soundtrack.
Quite possibly my favourite shoot 'em up simply because of the music coming from the Mega Drive's Yamaha YM2612 sound chip. The first stage sets the mood for the frantic action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DoxbSN9Q2Y
The "select mover" track could be the best and that's not even a stage!
From, the same folk that made Cybernator if I remember correctly.
@trcsf When I'm at a restaurant ordering food I sometimes play the "select mover" theme in my head, wishing we had music during item selection
This game looks totally gley man;)
Neato. I've enjoyed the OST when I listened to it in the past, and the difficulty seems... approachable. Also love the 80s anime aesthetic in the cutscenes.
Not a huge shmup fan, but I might download this.
@karatekid1612 In case you missed it, Turtles was pushed back to 2022. No indication of when in 2022. Hopefully it won't be too long after the new year, but who knows at this point. It is looking good so far,
Acceptable emulation should be a highlighted feature if it’s got it, because there’s a lot of laggy emulation on switch especially in the shooter dept
Even if not under the Sega Ages banner, it’s good to see another Mega Drive game for a similar price. Keep em coming. Games from any Sega console are welcome.
@NinChocolate
Which ones do you mean? The Sega Genesis collection? Btw. I had recently the impression that Progear in Capcom Arcade is playing more smoothly than before, a patch maybe?
incoming: shmup killjoy guy to tell us it has 45 frames of lag
Oh yes this game is fantastic, from the tight gameplay to the incredible use of parallax. And not forgetting the amazing soundtrack. Easily up there with the best.
Feels like only yesterday when I said Switch could never have too many shoot em ups!
Another one out of the blue....a real good shmup library machine is the Switch.
I’ve always heard of this game but never played nor do I know what it looks like. If it’s a non-bullet hell style, and it looks appealing to me, it’ll be the first one I buy of all the horizontal shooters.
The game is Grey Lancer, not Gley Lancer. Japanese people have difficulty distinguishing between the English sounds "L" and "R", but when they bring the game to the west we can just go ahead and spell the name properly instead of pretending to be Japanese. Similarly, the Growlanser series is actually Glow Lancer.
This is an awesome surprise! I wasn't expecting Gleylancer, but I'm happy to get it on Switch!
Hopefully there won't be an input delay problem...
@OldManHermit I <3 your comment
@NeonPizza Gley Lancer is, in my opinion, the superior game in all aspects. But it’s like saying which is better, Mario 3 or Mario World? I’m not a fan of Thunderforce 3, but Lightening Force is excellent. I just like Gley Lancer much better, due to all the wonderful extra touches they put into it.
This is what I love about the e shop. Day 1 for me xx
It's worth noting that despite being in Japanese, the Wii VC version featured minor changes to the game. The electronic manual included was basically a guide for the Japanese dialogue, unless I'm mistaking this bit for the Star Parodier release.
@BloodNinja nothing can be better than Metroid news
@NeonPizza R-Type 3 is one of the greatest shmups ever made, it's an incredible game that will challenge you! Mushihimesama is probably my favorite, but I prefer the sequel, Mushihimesama Futari: Black Label.
Have you ever played any of the classic Touhou games? Unfortunately those are not on consoles, PC only, but still worth your time if you can track them down!
@Dirty0814 Except Gley Lancer news!
“Gley lancer” haha what the hell.
I’m kinda done with games that try to stand out with deliberately dumb sounding names. Or names that have no respect for the English language.
I want to like this but the name is too bad. So instead I’ll play another game that is proud of spelling words correctly.
@Mynameishello Hm, demanding respect for the English language...this should be fun.
Mynameishello (didn't capitalize the name "Hello," didn't separate individual words with spaces.)
“Gley lancer” haha what the hell.
(Ends a question as a statement, "Lancer" is a title, should be capitalized.)
I’m kinda done with games that try to stand out with deliberately dumb sounding names.
(Stylistically, this sentence makes no sense because you can't be "kinda" done. You are either done, moving towards done, or continuing whatever you were doing. Next time, make an actual statement, as this is worded in a rather weak manner.)
Or names that have no respect for the English language. (Began a sentence with a conjunction [or.] Another stylistic error, since a name has no capacity to respect anything. Choose an actual subject for this sentence, such as "...developers that have no respect for...")
I want to like this but the name is too bad.
(stylistically awkward, recommend "so" instead of "too.")
So instead
(redundant, "Instead," would have sufficed by itself, should be followed by a comma.)
I’ll play another game that is proud of spelling words correctly. (games are inanimate, and cannot display pride. Choose a different subject, such as "I'll play another game by a different developer that is proud of spelling words correctly." Either that, or find a way to personify your original subject.)
Sorry, you heckled my favorite shmup, so I had to do a heckle put-down. I'm sure you understand.
There could be various reasons for their usage of "Gley" instead of "Grey," and I have a feeling that it's intentional. For further reading, I suggest:
gley
Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
noun
A sticky, bluish-gray subsurface layer of clay found in some waterlogged soils.
from The Century Dictionary.
To shine; glance.
To look obliquely or askance; squint.
noun A squint or sidelong glance.
Awry; asquint.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
adverb Asquint; askance; obliquely.
intransitive verb Scot. To squint; to look obliquely; to overlook things.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
noun soil science A type of hydric soil, sticky, greenish-blue-grey in colour and low in oxygen.
Focusing on the definition "to shine, glance," it's very possible that they were going for something along the lines of "Shining Lance," or some similar take on the word "gley." It's also possible that they were going for "glance" as in, "glancing blow," inferring that the ship is so quick you can't get a direct hit on it.
https://www.wordnik.com/words/gley
It's worth it alone for the soundtrack, which is a real ear worm!
I Googled lists online of best Sega Genesis games. Assigned points based on rank and added them together.
16 lists, 398 unique games, 1,465 separate entries.
Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer made Top 50.
@sdelfin yep, did see the release announcement and like you, I think it's looking really good too! Fingers crossed, not too long into 2022!!
Hell yes! I will probably be buying Switch, Xbox, and PS5 copies. I bet there isn't a Switch physical edition either, which sucks.
Tap here to load 37 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...