OK, so the Switch release – and probably the other consoles, too, unless they done goofed – of Layer Section (aka RayForce, aka Galactic Attack) seems pretty good to me. For context, I’m not super sensitive to input lag, but noticed that the previous Saturn Tribute releases were way off immediately; I didn’t play Layer Section on Saturn, but it seems totally playable to me here.
As for the game, it’s another reminder that ’90s Taito shmups were really special. You’ve got a very self-assured Zuntata doin their thing (with just the right amount of vocal samples and tracks that are completely OK being meditative), and nobody – nobody – did transitions in STGs the way Taito did transitions in STGs in the 1990s. Some of these transitions make my brain feel like under-the-fig-tree enlightened for a few seconds. Even better when you’re transitioning to stages named “THE FISSURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS” and such. Also, I have a specific soft spot for pixel-based games that use tons of layers to create the illusion of solid 3D objects, which this game does constantly.
As a mechanic, having a little reticule that locks on to a bunch of stuff before you release a quiver of missiles is always cool – it’s cool in Panzer Dragoon, it’s cool in Star Fox 64, it’s cool in Sin & Punishment, it’s cool here. The tiny tweak of not having to hold down a button or otherwise take control of your reticule to lock on to objects goes much farther than it should in terms of making the whole experience feel frictionless. Differentiating between planes never really works in non-polygonal STGs and it doesn’t work 100% of the time here, but it works significantly better than most others. I love the bullet patterns, which are happy to be more interesting than Cave-ishly bountiful, but my main gripe is that the hitbox for your ship – which is pretty large considering the console screen real estate – is too unforgiving. I wanted to feel good weaving through those interesting patterns, but very often a hit on the (v. long) nose of my ship wiped me out. It felt like maybe a center-of-body hitbox would feel better.
The package is expensive and, ya know, City Connection-ish in its plainness, but it’s a solid improvement from what they’ve been offering (though sort of positioning Layer Section and Galactic Attack as two games is…c’mon, now). You won’t find a ton of display options, but I was pleasantly surprised at the accessibility features – very easy to tweak difficulty, crank up continues, rewind, configure your controls, prevent yourself from losing powerups, speed up the game and even toggle a slow-mo which (counter to a pet peeve of mine) does not slow down the music or sound effects and does not feel stuttery, making it enjoyable as a learning tool.
I don’t want to go crazy, but it feels pretty good that these Saturn releases might end up worthwhile.
