User Reviews (1 - 3 of 3)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Galatic Attack... Yes, One of the Best Shooters Available!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Galatic Attack, the very first installment along with Ray Storm and Ray Crisis, is arguably the best installment out of 3. It's so depressing for the fact that shooter genre is no longer mainstream in video gaming, however, if you are looking for a really good(I said REALLY GOOD)shooter and you still own Sega Saturn, then please get this game because you will thank me tremendously.

This very first installment, also known as Layer Section in Japan, set the standard way to high for its sequels to catch up with. The second installment, Ray Storm, did managed to catch its magic, with substandard-graphic-but-with-better-ending, however, last installment, Ray Crisis, falls flat on the ground.

The game is obviously very challenging, most challenging out of 3, and graphic is just sweet, JUST SWEET-. The music was done by Zuntata, whose work involve with Darius Gaiden and Ray Storm, and you can really tell and will be grateful.
If you look at the title of each stage, you will feel, almost feel that this is not just a mere shooter game, but because of that title you can almost sense the story line flowing as you go along. I think that's really something, being able to convey the feel of storyline just with title of each stage? You gotta play for yourself to see what I mean.

I remember playing this game again, again, and again to finish- it's really tough, you will have to put lot of time into it.
To be honest with you, I've literally played all the shooter games available on all the dominating console systems(ok, may be not all of them and I'm not being proud here), strictly 2D, and I would pick Galatic Attack as the best shooter in domestic gaming without any hesitation. What about graphically superior games like Silpheed for PS2? What about classics like Gradius 3&4? What about so called innovative Einheinder for PS? What about arguably best game for DC, Mars Matrix? Really, mark my word, Galatic Attack will just dominate them, not necessarily because it has better graphic or more innovative feature, it's will just blew away the competition because of its tight gameplay and all the thrill you will enjoy out of this shooter. Everyone has different taste on different games, but I LOVE SHOOTERS- I love shooters than any other genre and I'm proud to admit that(ok, again, not being proud here).

So if you are looking for a shooter (now, you will have to be REALLY WANTING for a GREAT shooter here..)with awesome graphic, intuitive music, palm-sweating gameplay, and making-you-playing-it-again-and-again challenging factor, with everything in balance to give you that masterpiece feel, look no further and pick this one of the best shooter of all time, really, I'm not joking here.

Well, I'm truly honored, truly honored to be the first one to review this game and I dedicate this review to Galatic Attack, one of the best shooters of all time! I know no one's gonna read this review since it's the game for deceased Sega Saturn, however, if you happened to read this and own Sega, then you know what to do, right? (mild smile)

Enjoy it-

One of the five greatest 2D space shooters of all time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I love 2D shooters---especially space shooters---and this game is one of the top five 2D shooters of all time. The others are: Blazing Lazers(Turbografx), Musha(Genesis), Gaiares(Genesis), Star Force(NES) and Zanac(NES). There might be a few other great shooters out there (Gradius, Life Force, R-Type, Mars Matrix, etc.) but Galactic Attack is one of the best ever made and definitely money well spent if you own a Saturn. You might want to pick up a Saturn Stick cuz it makes playing this game (and any other shooter) alot easier and more enjoyable. The graphics, sound, and gameplay are all top notch and will hook you the first few minutes of playing and never let go until hours later. Consider this a warning...

Bargain Bin Gem

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Galactic Attack (a.k.a. Rayforce, Layer Section) is the first game of Taito's "Ray" arcade shoot`em up (shump) series. When it was ported to the Saturn, no special additions were made; no "arrange" mode, no art galleries, none of those little goodies shumps get when they get ported to a home console. However, it is still a worthy addition to any shump fan's collection.

Two players can participate in this vertically scrolling shump. There's not much variety with each ship's arsenal. The main weapon is the standard forward firing laser that changes in color (from green to red) and size with each red crystal power-up. Each ship is also equipped with homing lasers that could simultaneously lock on to eight enemies on a lower plane than your ship. In front of each player's ship is a lock on reticle. Just place that reticle over any enemy at a lower altitude and hit the laser button to release a salvo of homing lasers.

So what makes this game special from the seemingly countless list of shumps for the Saturn? Not much, really. It's not overly difficult, but it's no cakewalk either-the difficulty curve seems fair enough. The plot is still the generic "one spaceship against the world" type. However, there are impressive backgrounds in this game. Space battles between armadas are drawn really well, and it's always fun to find which ships in the background are susceptible to your homing lasers. There are even some floating landscapes that fall into the depths if you destroy specific structures below your ship. I also liked how my ship didn't lose ALL its power-ups once I got shot down. It seems that the ship's firepower is reduced by half if shot down. It definitely makes the loss less painful after carefully collecting all hose red crystals. The soundtrack is composed by Taito's in-house synth band, Zuntata and it fits game quite nicely. One thing also worth noting is that Galactic Attack is the first and only "Ray" game that used 2-D sprites for game models. The later sequels, Raystorm and Raycrisis used 3-D models.

In the end, Galactic Attack will fix any shump fan's craving for quick, twitchy action. For a game that's less than $10, that's not too bad.

Review Page: 1 

Actions