Gleylancer

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CIT
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Gleylancer

Post by CIT »

Whoopee! Got this game in the mail yesterday. I've given it a brief spin on emulation before, but have really gotten to work with it in-depth today for the first time.
I have to say this is definitely one of the top-tier shmups on Megadrive IMO, just below Thunderforce III & IV and Eliminate Down, and right above Steel Empire and Gaiares.
The story is pretty awesome/cheezy too, I think. Kind of a rip-off of the Anime Gunbuster, if anybody's seen that.

I'm interested in hearing what mover configuration people use. I've settled for the Multi-R for now. Find it very useful for those narrow pathways, etc.

Anybody want to share their thought on this game.
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Post by Turrican »

I'd want this one badly. How much did you pay, if you are allowed to tell?
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Post by CIT »

Payed 75,- Euros incl. shipping. Not cheap, but a decent price for this game, I reckon. :wink:
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Post by Turrican »

Yeah, it is probably worthy a price like that. 75 USD would have been more fitting though.

I guess I cannot hunt this one until I get myself a MUSHA. I need it so badly.
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Post by MadSteelDarkness »

^Yes...yes, you do...MUSHA is the shit.

As much as I've played Gleylancer in emulation, I really can't wait to find the actual cart. $75 seems a bit steep for a Megadrive game (for my purposes anyway, not considering market value). But if I find it for that price, I'm sure I'd snatch it up.
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Post by ST Dragon »

Gley Lancer along with Zero Wing (E) (PAL) are two MD shooters that I could have picked up real cheap (10Euros) back in 1997 from a shop that was clearing it's old stock of games.

Stupid of me that I didn't get them. :(
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Re: Gleylancer

Post by Palmer Eldritch »

Seven Force wrote:Anybody want to share their thought on this game.
I think it´s way better than both the Thunderforce and Eliminate Down games.

Mine was pretty expensive too, and that was three years ago. Something like £55, which I guess is pretty close to your 75 EUROS.

The game´s quite well-balanced until the final two stages. Haven´t actually managed to complete the game yet because the final boss totally destroys me every single time.
Two times I actually thought I´d beaten it, whereas it morphs into a new incarnation and ends my game quite rapidly.

Great game though. Love the packaging also. One of the best megadrive covers ever.

--Michael
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Post by Jon »

I have the game as well and would also agree thats it is up there among the best shooters on the Genesis. Not quite as good as Thunderforce IV but better than Eliminate Down imo. I think I paid about forty U.S. dollars for it but have the cart only. :cry: Its funny you mention the last boss, I can pretty much zoom through the game every time only to repeatedly get killed by him in his last form too. :evil:
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Post by Samudra »

I bought it a few years ago, but never got into it. Not very long after I traded it for a whole bunch of other games.


Edit: Small mistake.
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Post by zinger »

I got this game about two years ago (found it in mint condition, 20 euro), and instantly fell in love with it. The music is amazing and the graphics are very nice too (especially the enemy design, some of the backgrounds are a bit lacking though). The gameplay is great and controls are spot on. A true classic!

I'm having trouble with the final boss aswell. I'm usually too tired when I get there to continously keep trying (haven't even beat it with multiple credits yet), since the game is so damn long. Otherwise it's a pretty damn easy game. I use Normal mover configuration BTW. Search seems to be the best option IMO, but I feel like cheating when using it.
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Post by CIT »

Yesterday I tried playing with the Roll configuration. Once you get the swords you can set the movers to outward roll, and you'll have these two laser batons continuously whacking everything in your path. Looks very cool, but ultimately not that useful I guess. I'll try Search today.
Got to level 9 last time. It's kind of true that rather than being overtly hard, the game just tests your perserverence. After dying a couple of times I just didn't feel inclined to keep playing, although I'm sure I could've made it to the final boss after a couple more tries.
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Post by TWITCHDOCTOR »

Yea, I've always liked it, and I put it in the same catagory as ThunderForce III.
Its also one of the many shmups that I've been able to 1CC!
I believe that I used the "Search" option.

If only this game was a little easier to find, I would definitely buy the whole package, as in complete.
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Post by CIT »

So what do you think? Should Gleylancer be considered Masaya/NCS's best shooter?

Only other thing I can think of they did on Megadrive is Gynoug, which is decent, but not great IMO, and I'm kind of drawing a blank on PCE right now. Only ones that come to mind are the Choaniki games.

EDIT:

Assault Suit Valken on Super Famicom might be a contender, bu that's not really a true shmup tho...
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Post by Jon »

Seven Force wrote:So what do you think? Should Gleylancer be considered Masaya/NCS's best shooter?

Only other thing I can think of they did on Megadrive is Gynoug, which is decent, but not great IMO, and I'm kind of drawing a blank on PCE right now. Only ones that come to mind are the Choaniki games.

EDIT:

Assault Suit Valken on Super Famicom might be a contender, bu that's not really a true shmup tho...
I think so. Wings of Wor was decent enough (curiously this is another abnormally long shooter, Masaya must have a thing for epic shmups eh?)
I really do think Gleylancer is the developer in top form though. I need to break the game out and give it another go.
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Post by zinger »

As for presentation, or as a whole, I'd say Gleylancer is NCS Masayas best shooter. Everything is just extremely well-made and solid. Gynoug comes second, with its well-designed bullet patterns, odd atmosphere and fantastic enemy design - but I feel the levels are too long and the first few are just boring.

I've yet to try the Choaniki series though.

EDIT:

Eventhough it doesn't count, they ported Toaplan's Hellfire to the MD. It's a solid conversion of a very frustrating game. :)
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Post by ST Dragon »

Gynoug is Masaya/NCS's best shooter on the MD imo.
Gley Lancer did not impress me when I 1st played it via emulation back in 1997.
But I do regret for not picking it up for something like 10Euros back in 1998.

I liked Zero Wing for the MD better than the Arcade original. The gameplay wasn't as frustrating & it was possible to 1'cc it...

As for the Cho Aniki series, well...
This game goes down in the annals of gaming history as the gayest shooting game ever.
Not many games can take that title. So enjoy.
Then fire up Dead or Alive 2, don't worry you'll be ok. :mrgreen:
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Post by zinger »

ST Dragon wrote:I liked Zero Wing for the MD better than the Arcade original. The gameplay wasn't as frustrating & it was possible to 1'cc it...
But man, Toaplan ported that game.
ST Dragon wrote:As for the Cho Aniki series, well...
This game goes down in the annals of gaming history as the gayest shooting game ever.
Not many games can take that title. So enjoy.
Then fire up Dead or Alive 2, don't worry you'll be ok. :mrgreen:
:P
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Post by CIT »

ST Dragon wrote: As for the Cho Aniki series, well...
This game goes down in the annals of gaming history as the gayest shooting game ever.
Or should that be "anals of history"? :lol:
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Post by Texhnolyze »

Seven Force wrote:
ST Dragon wrote: As for the Cho Aniki series, well...
This game goes down in the annals of gaming history as the gayest shooting game ever.
Or should that be "anals of history"? :lol:
I didn't realize the designer of Gaylancer...I mean Gleylancer was the designer of the ChoAniki series.

The latest one for the PS2 has an interesting title and description:

Choaniki: Sei Naru Protein Densetsu is a remake of Maisya / NCS's classic shooter, which features two naked muscle men Adon and Samson as the main characters, and a bunch of muscle men as bosses.

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-r-1 ... 0-2jh.html
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Post by zinger »

Texhnolyze wrote:I didn't realize the designer of Gaylancer...I mean Gleylancer was the designer of the ChoAniki series.
It's not that hard to figure out. Both games share the same graphical theme "flesh vs machine" - just as with Gynoug (same designer here too!). :)
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Post by adam76 »

Gleylancer is a top draw game though not as good as either Thunder Force 3 or Gynoug IMO. My only gripes would be that its a touch too long and there are a couple of parts in the game where you get screwed if you don't have the right weapon(level 4(?) the maze).

Gynoug wins over it for me on account of having some of the most amazingly gory and imaginative enemies i've ever seen in a shooter.

*shivers* Level 4 boss is like something Clive Barker would've dreamed up.
Seven Force wrote:Or should that be "anals of history"? :lol:
I think its the "history of anals"... :shock:
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Post by ST Dragon »

Choaniki: Sei Naru Protein Densetsu
Remake of Maisya / NCS's classic shooter from the PC-Engine, Funny Gay game, featuring two naked muscle men Adon and Samson as the main characters, and a bunch of muscle men as bosses.
The player's objective is to guide a legendary glob of protein to holy lands through groups of enemies that are aiming for the protein in order to get the ultimate physique.

I bought this game. Reason why I bought it: cuz the two guys on the cover told me to...
Do I regret it?
NOWAY..its a shmup!!!!
:mrgreen:

Yeah Gynoug Designer is the same guy that made the graphics in Cho Aniki series. Same Flesh-Machine Theme. Very grotesque in some cases. (Especially that half-rotten corpse Boss dude in Level 4 Gynoug)
Reminds me of Lord of the Flies Boss from CastleVania SOTN in the Reversed Castle.
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Post by GateofThunderforceIII »

Pretty off topic for this thread, but someone mentioned Gleylancer's cover. Hows about that Eliminate Down cover, though, eh? Is it just my perverted mind or is there something a little "fishy" in ED's cover? Everytime I look at it it feels like I'm looking at a Penthouse page.

Great games. I need to bust out my S-Video modded Genesis and play both Gley and Down. The Mega Drive is the best damn console ever made!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by Ganelon »

Masaya/NCS also designed Macross 2036. I prefer that to Gleylancer but that might be because I'm a huge Macross fan...
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Post by ST Dragon »

Macross 2036 & Gynoug are beter games than GleyLancer imo.
Masaya/NCS knew how to make cool shooters back in the day.
What was the last system they developed for?
Are they still around?
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Post by zinger »

I'm quite sure the last game they made was Langrisser Millenium (Dreamcast, 1999), which is said to be crap (I'm sure Ganelon can tell you more about this:)). AFAIK, they are still around but not making games (google Nippon Computer System). Last time I saw their original logo (the horse) was on the X-Nauts developed remake of Assault Suit Valken on the PS2 (2004).
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Post by Ceph »

I consider Gleylancer to be THE most stylish Mega Drive shmup (the ship is so cool!), and while the gameplay dynamics don't quite match TF IV, it's definitely better than TF III. The only problem with Gleylancer is that it is too easy (at least on normal difficulty). Compared to Eliminate Down (which is much tougher) Gleylancer is less inventive. Eliminate Down has way more variety (reminds me of R-Type somehow) but simply isn't as stylish (just look at the cover!). Anyway, I love both and I would never sell them - it was such a pain to find mint copies (you think Radiant Silvergun is rare? LOL!). And besides, they are both great games in their own respects.
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Post by ST Dragon »

GleyLancer better than TFIII?! Heresy, Infidels! ;)

GleyLancer has poor level-enemy design & little variation. Most levels I remember only take place in space. There is one where you circle a gigantic ship similar to the Cerberus stage in TFIII, but the gameplay is nowhere near as fun as TFIII.

The cover of GleyLancer is stylish but not as good as the TFIII cover imo.
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Post by Crunch »

http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASI ... 94-7149150

Wish I knew someone with a amazon.co.jp account...
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Post by CIT »

That's a good price. It says the case a little bit dirty, dunno what that means, but you can order from amazon.co.jp even with a US account.
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