Galactic Attack

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NTSC-U/PAL NTSC-J
Galactic Attack
System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment (US, Europe), Taito (Japan)
Developer: Ving
Distributor: Arcadia Software (ES), Ecofilmes (PT) Roadshow New Media (AU)
Licensor: Taito
Original system(s): Taito F3 System
Developer(s) of original games: Taito
Sound driver: SCSP/CD-DA (17 tracks)
Genre: Shooting
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1995-09-14 ¥5,800 (5,974)5,800e T-1101G JP (Satakore) 1997-04-25 ¥2,8002,800 T-1112G US 1995-11-29 T-8116H EU 1996-02 T-8116H-50 DE 1996-02 T-8116H-50 PT 1996 STJAK0102 UK 1996-02 £44.9944.99 T-8116H-50 PL 1996
Non-Sega versions Arcade Windows PC

Galactic Attack, known as Layer Section (レイヤーセクション) in Japan, is a shoot-'em-up published by Acclaim (US and Europe) or Taito (Japan) for the Sega Saturn. It is the home conversion of Taito's 1993 arcade game RayForce (also known as Gunlock), ported by Ving.

Story

Introduction

In the distant future, human have unified all of the computer networks in the world into a single massive neuro-network called "Con-Human," starting a new age.

Shortly before this, mankind began colonizing the outer planets of the solar system. As exploration probes begin returning from their missions to the outer reaches, Con-Human mysteriously starts to break down. This causes a malfunction in its weather control system and results in a global climate disaster. Humans take control of the atmospheric control system as the composition of the Earth's air starts to change. However, Con-Human eventually becomes sentient and rejects the human control. It begins to induce calamities across the planet, destroying its human masters and exterminating the nature it was intended to protect. Human militaries, because of their dependence on Con-Human, are unable to muster adequate resistance.

As Con-Human drastically changes the environment and makes the planet uninhabitable, a mass exodus of humans occurs. Outer planet forces begin smuggling people off the planet. Con-Human eventually transforms Earth into a planet-sized mobile fortress that comprises its body and continues to drive humanity to extinction. Mankind has produced powerful ships with the intent of retaking the planet, and it deploys two prototype RVA-818 X-LAY starfighters, developed under "Project Rayforce," to lead the landing operation.

Gameplay

Galactic Attack is a vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up that can be played by one player or by two players simultaneously. Players pilot RVA-818 X-LAY starfighters on a mission that starts in space, then breaks through the atmosphere of Earth to the surface, and finally delves into the core of the planet to assault the supercomputer Con-Human. A second player can join the game at any time by pressing  START .

The starfighters move in any direction using the D-Pad. They are outfitted with two weapons. The primary weapon fires straight lasers by pressing or (which can be held for continuous fire, though it can be fired faster by disabling the rapid-fire in the options and using a rapid-fire controller). This weapon hits enemies on the same plane as the starfighter, and it can be powered up by collecting red or yellow pyramid-shaped items, increasing its size and damage. The secondary weapon is a lock-on laser launcher, which is used to target enemies in the background that cannot be hit by the primary weapon. A targeting reticle is located a fixed distance in front of the player's ship, and it highlights up to a certain number of enemies when it passes over them. Similar to After Burner, the ship launches a volley of lasers at every highlighted enemy when is pressed. The number of enemies that can be locked-on can be increased by collecting the "L" capsules. A higher score bonus is awarded when more enemies are locked-on and destroyed at a time.

The starfighter is destroyed if it is hit by an enemy. Players have multiple lives, and the starfighter respawns instantly at the cost of a life. The shot level and the laser upgrades are reduced by one level when the player loses a life. The game ends when the player runs out of lives but can be continued for a credit. Extends are given at 500,000 and 1,000,000 points.

There is a Game Mode setting that switches between a pillar-boxed presentation that crops the height of the playable area ("Sega Saturn") and a "tate" mode that preserves the original vertical aspect ratio of the arcade version ("Arcade"). While playing in the pillar-boxed mode, the player can toggle the on-screen display by pressing (to compensate for the reduced viewable area). Some scaling and scrolling background effects can be only seen in tate mode. There is an associated Pad Mode setting that switches the directional controls for a conventional horizontal screen orientation ("Sega Saturn") or for a vertical screen orientation ("Arcade"), so that the tate mode can be played with or without rotating the monitor by 90°. There are six difficulty levels (Normal, Hard 1, Hard 2, Hard 3, Hard 4, and Very Hard).

Items

	Power-Up
	Increases the power the primary weapon by 1 unit. The shot level increases by a level (up to a maximum of 6) whenever 3 units are collected.
	Super Power-Up
	Increases the power the primary weapon by 3 units. The shot level increases by a level (up to a maximum of 6) whenever 3 units are collected.
	Laser
	Increases the number of targets that can be locked-on by the laser launcher and the damage done by the lasers. In single-player games, the laser launcher can initially lock-on to 5 targets but can be upgraded up to 8. In two-player games, each player's laser launcher can initially lock-on to 3 targets but can be upgraded up to 4.

Rounds

	Red Power to Pierce Through (Enemy's Space)
	The Gravity of Blue Side (Enemy's Satellite to Its Mother Star)
	The Phantasm of Silver (High Sky Sphere / Floating Land)
	The Fissure of Consciousness (Plateau)
	Toward the Darkness (Underground Metropolis)
	The End of Deep Layer (Gorge Area)
	Releasing Infinitely (The Core of the Enemy's Mother Star)

History

Sequels and re-releases

A Layer Section II was later released for Saturn; this is a port of the sequel to RayForce, RayStorm. The use of PlayStation-esque hardware also compelled a port to that platform, under the original RayStorm name.

In 2022, the Saturn version of the game received a re-release by City Connection called Layer Section & Galactic Attack S-Tribute for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam.

Versions

Compared to the arcade release, the music has been slightly altered and the graphics have been recolored at bit, probably to make the game more suitable for the displays used for home consoles. Bonus lives are given at 500,000 and 1,000,000 points rather than 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 points.

The name was changed from RayForce to Layer Section for the home versions because of trademark issues. It was changed again to Galactic Attack for its Western releases by the publisher, Acclaim.

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English	Galactic Attack	Galactic Attack
English (US)	Galactic Attack	Galactic Attack
Japanese	レイヤーセクション	Layer Section

Comparisons

Main article: Galactic Attack/Comparisons.

Production credits

• Producer: Yukio Abe
• Director: Yukio Abe, Tatsuo Nakamura
• Game Design: Tatsuo Nakamura, Yukio Abe, Tomohisa Yamashita
• Software: Tatsuo Nakamura, Shinji Soyano, Hikaru Taniguchi, Masao Kashino, Isao Ooyama
• Character Graphics: Hideyuki Kato, Tomohisa Yamashita, Takayuki Isobe, Shinjirou Sugitani, Hiroyo Kujirai, Yasuhiro Noguchi
• Screen Graphics: Hideyuki Kato, V.A.P, Peacock
• Music & Sound Effects: Tamayo (Zuntata)
• Sound Effects: Mu-Nakanishi (Zuntata)
• Sound Direction: Tono (Zuntata)
• Design Works: Kyoko Umezu
• Hardware: Katsumi Kaneoka
• Special Thanks: Yoshihisa Nagata, Yuji Iwasaki, Toshiaki Matsumoto, Takatsuna Senba, Takamasa Hori, VG Tokyo Lab., VG Osaka Lab., And, All Kumagaya Staff

Saturn's Staff

• Producer: Takeo Shirasaka
• Program: T.Kuribayashi (Ving), H.Iso (Ving), S.Morikawa (Ving)
• Sound Director: Tamayo (Zuntata), Mu-Nakanishi (Zuntata)
• Title Logo Design: Toshiki Sakai, J.Takemoto (Ving)
• Special Thanks: Yosio Imamura, Norio Ichinohe, Masaki Yagi, Youichirou Kugimiya, Kiyoshi Watanabe, VG Kumagaya All Staff

Taito®

©Taito Corporation 1995

All Rights Reserved

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Galactic Attack/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

JP flyer

Print advert in Tips & Tricks (US) #11: "Volume III, Issue 1: January 1996" (199x-xx-xx)
also published in:

• Fusion (US) #0106: "Volume 1, Number 6: January 1996" (199x-xx-xx)

Print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #170: "January 1996" (1995-12-10)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score CD Consoles (FR) 40 CD Consoles (FR) 20 Consoles + (FR) 95 Computer & Video Games (UK) NTSC-J 86 Edge (UK) NTSC-J 70 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 80 Fun Generation (DE) 70 GameFan (US) NTSC-J 87 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 80 Hobby Consolas (ES) 79 MAN!AC (DE) NTSC-J 71 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 71 Maximum (UK) 50 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 72 Mean Machines Sega (UK) NTSC-J 60 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 75 Player One (FR) 91 Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J 81 Saturn+ (UK) PAL 72 Sega Magazin (DE) PAL 84 Sega Power (UK) NTSC-J 79 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC 77 Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) PAL 79 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 87 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 91 Última Generación (ES) 78 Video Games (DE) NTSC-J 62

	74
Based on 27 reviews

Galactic Attack

Saturn, JP
Cover
Spinecard Disc Manual

Saturn, JP (Satakore)
Cover
Manual

Saturn, US
Cover
Disc Manual

Saturn, EU
Cover
Disc

Saturn, PT
Cover
Disc

Technical information

Main article: Galactic Attack/Technical information.