Layer Section / Galactic Attack S-Tribute for Switch/PS4/XB1

[Lone Deranger]

Looks like we've got another classic Shump coming to current gen consoles:

https://twitter.com/shmups/status/1488659312327401472

"Layer Section & Galactic Attack S-Tribute" has shown up on the Taiwan Digital Game Rating Committee, planned for XB1, PS4, and Switch & published by City Connection!

Galactic Attack is the NA/EU name for Rayforce, consolized in Japan as Layer Section.

[Untitled1]

great news!!!

Lets just hope it's a good port.

And only the first, not Layer Section II??

Need more info

[Steven]

Still waiting for them to patch Cotton. Even after they do that, I don't trust them. I'll just keep playing Layer Section on my Saturn instead.

[Sumez]

Lets just hope it's a good port.

Pretty sure "S-Tribute" means "Saturn tribute". So it's the Saturn port, emulated. Using the same emulator as everyone's favourite Cotton release.

[Bassa-Bassa]

Also, hardly they're emulating the beast that is the arcade game's hardware - it took M2 two public versions to get it right. Which is a shame, 'cause Rayforce deserved something much better and now we're not getting it like ever. They could make it even lamer by including Layer Section II instead of Raystorm, but that fortunately won't happen because chasing Media Quest for the license is nuts unless you're called M2.

[Steven]

Also, hardly they're emulating the beast that is the arcade game's hardware - it took M2 two public versions to get it right. Which is a shame, 'cause Rayforce deserved something much better and now we're not getting it like ever. They could make it even lamer by including Layer Section II instead of Raystorm, but that fortunately won't happen because chasing Media Quest for the license is nuts unless you're called M2.

Is there any difference between RayForce and Layer Section aside from being able to disable the HUD on Saturn? I played RayForce for the first time today at the arcade and it seemed basically identical to me aside from the title and not being able to disable the HUD.

[Bassa-Bassa]

I was wondering in the other thread. I recall the default difficulty setting is different and the lives you get aren't the same, but I could be wrong.

[Sengoku Strider]

And only the first, not Layer Section II??

Honestly, you wouldn't be missing much. Everyone would just complain that it's not the PSX version.

Plus it's kind of lame.

[EmperorIng]

On the Saturn:
-YOKO mode has less enemies
-YOKO removes graphical effects
-Difficulty is different; no one knows if there is even a way to get "arcade accurate" and it would not matter because of point #1
-extends are different

Honestly I don't see a reason to port the Saturn rayforce. And God help us if we get the lame and watered down Layer Section 2.

And yes, getting the SS version of RayStorm and not getting the PS1 port is like getting a Unicorn for christmas when you asked for Unicron.

[Austin]

The Saturn version does have TATE at least. Difficulty is much different from YOKO mode since the top third of the screen is no longer chopped out. The original visual effects are restored too.

The Saturn game is a great package, but I'd prefer the arcade version be emulated or ported. This is especially true if these supposed issues of Saturn emulator input lag are anything to go by (I haven't bought any of the ports based on that).

[pablumatic]

I've had Galactic Attack forever. So less enthused for this release. Hoping they do better with Saturn porting this time around.

[jehu]

Okay, so don't get me wrong - I love that our community's underrepresented, minority needs are being catered to by the Saturn Tribute project. That's very heartening and all. But, WHY - if you've developed a Saturn engine that can run any game on the platform - taking into consideration that that engine is, as they say in the business, super dooper laggy - WHY would you choose to use it to serve up a bunch of shoot 'em ups?

Unless they've discovered an arcane secret that'll obliterate all the engine's inherent lag, I don't see how this will turn out to be a worthwhile port. Even with the long-teased patches to Cotton and the engine itself, you're still dealing with Saturn lag + engine lag - am I wrong?

I was out here being a full-on City Connection apologist after Deathsmiles - I'm hoping they've got a card up their sleeve, because I'll soon feel like an idiot for that.

[Sengoku Strider]

taking into consideration that that engine is, as they say in the business, super dooper laggy - WHY would you choose to use it to serve up a bunch of shoot 'em ups?

Because they're an easy sell to Western boutique publishers and import shops who know collectors will snap them up regardless?

[Rastan78]

It's all about the extras for nerdy collector man caves. Maybe we'll get a roll of double ply, 2 layer, Layer Section toilet paper for the man cave bathroom from Strictly Limited.

The key is to preorder and spend your money before you find out there are 8 frames of lag. Seriously though I'll remain cautiously optimistic til this is actually out.

Also while the Saturn version is solid and may only have minor differences (at least in Tate mode) you gotta go with the arcade version for a port. C'mon bros.

[Bassa-Bassa]

Okay, so don't get me wrong - I love that our community's underrepresented, minority needs are being catered to by the Saturn Tribute project. That's very heartening and all. But, WHY - if you've developed a Saturn engine that can run any game on the platform - taking into consideration that that engine is, as they say in the business, super dooper laggy - WHY would you choose to use it to serve up a bunch of shoot 'em ups?

Unless they've discovered an arcane secret that'll obliterate all the engine's inherent lag, I don't see how this will turn out to be a worthwhile port. Even with the long-teased patches to Cotton and the engine itself, you're still dealing with Saturn lag + engine lag - am I wrong?

Saturn lag in Layer Section was zero or close to that. It feels extremely responsive, likely even more than the arcade version. It was a really awesome port, first game with a tate mode on the system, and first in bringing home such an advanced 2D technology, way above the subpar Rad Mobile "port". For some reason they failed at the easiest part - leaving intact the game's difficulty, but that was quite common by then, sadly (sup, Parodius Da!). The engine's (emulator's) added latency is likely there to stay, it seems. It is said that they could remove 1 frame, not much more - they're using an old well-known emulator made for Windows PCs which they bought for quantity-over-quality releases. So yeah, a shame they're not using it for Langrisser IV instead or something, Hyper Duel or Shienryu could be next.

[jehu]

taking into consideration that that engine is, as they say in the business, super dooper laggy - WHY would you choose to use it to serve up a bunch of shoot 'em ups?

Because they're an easy sell to Western boutique publishers and import shops who know collectors will snap them up regardless?

Sometimes I feel too close an affinity with the angry hoards howling at the moon about 'da grabbers.' Frustrating.

[harborline765]

I'm hoping the existence of this collection is down to the technologists at Zerodiv being confident that Zebra Engine is low latency enough to carry more shmup ports, but this was probably in production before the Cotton games released last September.

If this one isn't up to par I'm going to regret selling my Saturn copy of Layer Section last year.

[EmperorIng]

Layer Section is a lame port anyhow, in 2022. The newest versions of mame accurately emulate RayForce and that's the way to go.

[Bassa-Bassa]

The newest versions of mame accurately emulate RayForce

They say the sound gets broken after the first game over, though?

Anyway, glad to know they fixed the 3rd boss, it took some time, phew.

[BrianC]

I already have both the US and JP Saturn versions and I'm a bit disappointed S-E/Taito licensed it out to City Connection instead of going to M2 or Gotch for a port.

[To Far Away Times]

One one hand: buying Layer Section on Switch would normally be a no brainer.

On the other hand: Cotton 2 is so damn laggy that its unenjoyable.

Are we getting City Connection or Shitty Connection this time?

[Jonpachi]

I have a hard time playing any game from this series after playing Soukyugurentai. Souky hits so many of the same notes, only better.

[Bassa-Bassa]

Cotton 2 was already laggy on the Saturn. LS wasn't. It still will be Shitty because there'll be added software lag (and let's not forget here the hardware's latency) and no scanlines options at all. But I'm sure many won't find it totally unenjoyable this time (so the game will sell well enough to encourage this company to keep destroying more classics).

[xxx1993]

Maybe we deserve a port of Soukyugurentai, Mars Matrix, and Border Down next.

[heli]

This whole forum is one big wish-list.
No i prefer Layer-Section 2 above souku, i like the music better, excellent.
Layer-Section 1 ?, boring.

[kid aphex]

Maybe we deserve a port of Soukyugurentai, Mars Matrix, and Border Down next.

I’d love to live in your dream world.

[davyK]

An accurate port of Layer Section with a level select/practice mode would be nice. I've had the Saturn port for years and only recently discovered an AR cart cheat to unlock a level select - it really should have been an unlockable after credit feeding to the end (the game gives you 4 credits to do that).

It plays fine in MAME but the save states are glitchy and don't always work. The sound screws up too sometimes. Moving between MAME and the Saturn port at default difficulty and in TATE mode there isn't much of a difference as far as I can see. My 1 credit runs still crap out in level 6 in either version!! The main difference is the 1UPs (500K and 1M on Saturn, 1M and 2M in arcade) but once you get long runs going that doesn't really matter.

The Saturn port has a remixed soundtrack (at least it sounds different to MAME - maybe that's an emulation issue). Would be nice to have the option of original or Saturn.

[kid aphex]

I hear there’s a demo of this out on the JP eShop …

[Steven]

I hear there’s a demo of this out on the JP eShop …

There is. Downloading now... hopefully it's good, but at least this time we won't have to waste money to find out.

Good news: it's perfectly playable. How much lag does it have? I don't know because it's far below the threshold where I can detect it, so I find it to be 100% lagless. They still have not learned how to scale 2D games properly, though... you get fullscreen with shimmering because they didn't scale it properly or a mode with what looks maybe like it's been line doubled to 640x480 (just a guess), which is of course kind of super tiny, especially in handheld mode. It plays just fine, though. Is there a difference between Layer Section and Galactic Attack other than the title? You can opt to play either one, but I don't know if there's a meaningful difference.

[bigbadboaz]

The titles just changed with the region; however I believe "Galactic Attack" didn't show up until Acclaim did the US Saturn release. Did they actually include the Saturn arranged soundtrack here? If so maybe that's tied to the title.