4/5 ★ – DaFlaminGuy's review of Advanced Busterhawk Gleylancer.

Classic shoot-em-ups like this are not a genre I am very familiar with, as I have read about/watched them more often than I've played them, but I was enticed to give Gleylancer a try by the eye-catching cover art which really appealed to me. I'm glad I did try it, as I found the game (or at least the version I played, released for modern consoles back in October) to be a great entry point to the genre, with the inclusion of save states being very welcome in the later stages and allowing inexperienced players to inch through the game without losing progress as they get better. The gameplay feels really good, with the Mover aim system, multiple gun upgrades, a rewind function and variable movement speed giving a superb sense of control that gives you different options of how to tackle a tough section whilst always feeling intuitive and never overwhelming. The Mega Drive graphics still look nice, and I also liked the old-school anime style used for the cutscenes in a pretty solid story for this type of game. The difficulty, while mitigated by using save states, is still present and the difficulty curve feels usually well-measured (though it jumps up quite a bit halfway through). If you're a purist who doesn't want to use saves, you have quite the challenge on your hands, but the game is highly entertaining regardless of which way you choose to play. There is little mention of it in online discussions, so I'd encourage you to try it if this type of game interests you as it seems to be seriously overlooked.