| Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer | |
|---|---|
Japanese cover art |
|
| Developer(s) | Masaya |
| Publisher(s) | Masaya (Japan) Samsung (South Korea) |
| Platform(s) | Mega Drive Virtual Console |
| Release date(s) | Sega Mega Drive
|
| Genre(s) | Scrolling shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Media/distribution | Cartridge |
Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer (グレイランサー) is a scrolling shooter game developed by Masaya. It was released in 1992 for the Sega Mega Drive game console.
Originally, the game was published only in Japan and South Korea, and because of this was somewhat unknown worldwide. Strangely enough the weapon selection screen at the start of the game is written completely in English with very few language errors.
The game was eventually released outside of Japan with a Virtual Console release in Europe and North America in 2008.[1] Previously, an unofficial fan-made translation patch was made available, allowing non-Japanese players to understand the story.[2]
Contents |
The story is narrated through manga-style panel illustrations, similar to Phantasy Star IV or Gaiares. The manual of the Virtual Console version includes translation of the Japanese voice and text of the first few narrations.
The story follows Lucia, a 16 year old star fighter pilot in the Earth Federation. A war breaks out between humans and an unknown alien race in the year 2025. Lucia's father, Ken, a high-ranking admiral in the Federation Navy, is captured after his ship is warped out of the combat zone with 4 alien modules which have the ability of teleportation. Lucia, heart-broken after hearing her father's disappearance, decides to hijack the prototype fighter CSH-01-XA "Gleylancer" with the help of her friend Teim and go after her father.
The name of the fighter "Gley Lancer" is possibly a pronunciation error, as the Japanese language does not distinguish "R" and "L". The corrected name of the game is most likely to be "GREY LANCER".
The gameplay in Gley Lancer is similar to most shoot 'em up games on the Mega Drive.
During the game, the Gley Lancer can toggle through four different speeds. This is always done in a 1-2-3-4-3-2-repeat order, although the starting point can be chosen in the game options. By shooting silver and blue pods, the player can pick up various weapons which take the form of Gunners:
The player can have up to two Gunners. Both Gunners will always have the same weapon, with subsequent power-ups overwriting them both.
In addition, at the beginning of the game, the player chooses one of seven formations to use for the Movers that the Gunners are mounted on.