"Gradius V's Long Lost Great Grandcousin"

You know about how sometimes you'll read about an awesome Japanese game that was somehow never released overseas? Gley Lancer is one of them. If you're into horizontal shooters on the Genesis/Mega Drive, then this is a must play. I loved everything about this game. The level design, the enemy design, the length, the variety, the music, everything.

Story- A girl and her best friend are in some kind of military space program together. Her father is in the military too and is fighting aliens. During a battle, the girl's father's ship disappears, so her daughter and her friend steal a powerful space ship, the Gley Lancer, to try to go off on a rogue mission to save him. The entire story is in Japanese, but there are pictures to go with everything, so it isn't hard to figure out what is happening.

Presentation- The graphics are incredible. Bright colors, detailed sprites, dynamic backgrounds that scroll in more directions than just left and right… Gley Lancer could challenge Thunder Force IV to “best looking shooter on the Genesis”. Enemy designs are rarely reused, so you're always fighting something different and interesting. Levels look nice, but they're of the “tried and true” variety. There's a water level, a fire level, a cave level, an enemy base, all that stuff.

The sound is okay. Music is pretty good, but some of the sound effects are to quiet. Your ship's computer will talk to you, give you warnings, and sometimes even encourage you to keep fighting, but it can be hard to hear it.

Gameplay- Gley Lancer's greatest strength is that it allows you to aim your options and set how they move. Normally, they just follow you in the formation you choose wherever you go, but you can lock the way they aim by simply holding a button. If you set it to autofire, then Gley Lancer become a 1 button game, simplifying the controls down to whether or not you're moving and holding the button. There's a beauty to its simplicity and not having to always hold down two buttons at once.

Weapons are varied, but there's usually a “right” weapon for every situation, almost always the one the game is throwing at you. A great example is in the third level. The game gives you a weapon that bounces off of walls in the beginning because that level is full of walls and enemies in hard to reach places. You could theoretically go through the whole game with just the spread gun, but it's much more satisfying to pick the “correct” weapon for each situation.

Level design is superb. Sometimes they're fast paced and full of enemies and other times they're slower, more methodical, and require you to think things through. There is a lot of terrain to navigate and if you die, you have to restart from the last checkpoint. This can add a bit of difficulty to things, but otherwise Gley Lancer is pretty forgiving. You get as many continues as you want, so memorizing everything should be easy.

Cool Fact- “Gley Lancer” is actually a mistranslation of “Gray Lancer”. I personally think Gley Lancer sounds cooler.

Boobs!- Near the end of the game, you fight enemies that resemble ancient idols. They're naked, kind of gross, and made out of stone.

Also Try- Gradius V has similar gameplay because you can aim your options. It's also a lot harder, so beware.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10 | Originally Posted: 02/06/13

Game Release: Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer (JP, 07/17/92)

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