Assault Suit Leynos

Editor's Notes

Digital PS4 version reviewed.

Introduction

The name 'Assault Suit Leynos' might not sound familiar to North American gamers, but it's actually a remake of the 1990 Sega Genesis title 'Target Earth.' The action shooter was applauded at the time for great music, a complex battle system and for having an actual storyline. Now over 25 years later, developer Dracue Software has remade the classic title for PlayStation 4.

The Game Itself: Our Reviewer's Take

After a brief introduction, 'Assault Suit Leynos' threw me right into the cockpit of a giant mech with next to no explanation on how to play. This baptism by fire immediately set the tone of my overall experience with the remake, and it's that the game hasn't been modernized all that well. My first few attempts at the game ended in less than 30 seconds as I commanded my mech suit forward and right into gunfire from enemy troops. This wasn't a great first impression, but it certainly reminded me of when I used to rent games as a kid and didn't have a manual to figure them out.

After the first few deaths I realized that I had to be more measured in my attack and advance slowly through the level. I constantly had to put up my shield in order to deflect attacks as my life bar could go from full to empty in a matter of seconds. The challenge here is unforgiving, as they game sends wave after wave of enemies after the player even when playing the easy mode. If nothing else, I appreciated learning the minutia of combat as I can't remember the last game that had me stuck on an opening level for a better part of an hour.

One of the reasons why it took me so long to get acquainted with how 'Assault Suit Leynos' plays (besides the lack of a good tutorial) was due to how dated the core design feels. Instead of using the left stick to move and the right stick to aim like the majority of shooters, both are done solely with the left analog stick. Pressing up and down on the stick adjusts the angle at which the mech fires, and it took a while for me to improve at quickly shooting down aerial units. There's a definite learning curve here, but it still feels like the control scheme would've been better off being retooled.

The shooter is largely faithful to the 1990 classic in its level design, and that's thankfully a good thing. Each of the game's eight stages play distinctly different from each other. Sometimes I had to safely escort shuttles on land, while other levels had me flying through space defending a giant spaceship until it could safely enter the atmosphere. The variety in design really stood out, and having a meaningfully different level to play kept me motivated even after my death count hit double digits.

The variety also carries over to the combat, as there are a ton of different equippable weapons. I unlocked more weapons the better I played (which almost seems backwards considering I needed the more powerful weaponry when I was performing badly), and this was yet another area where the game could've done a better job at explaining its mechanics. When selecting a loadout before a mission, there's no great indication of how a weapon will react or what it does. This led me to multiple wasted runs where I was just trying to figure out exactly could my equipped weapons do. I eventually figured out which gun was a rocket launcher and which acted like a machine gun, but a little bit of explanatory text would've gone a long way.

While I certainly appreciate how Dracue Software tried to stay true to the original design, it's ultimately a 25+ year old game and it shows. As someone who only had a passing familiarity with 'Target Earth,' it quickly became clear that this would only really please those that played a ton of the game back in 1990. The design is unforgiving, rough around the edges, and just not all that enjoyable in 2016. 

That said, the moments where I battled against both the controls and enemy mechas and came out victorious felt great. When I did so well on the game's second level that seven trophies popped, I knew that I had earned every one of them. These successes were rare during my playthrough, but I do have to admit they felt great.

For better or for worse, there are few games that come out in 2016 that are as difficult as 'Assault Suit Leynos.' While some of this is due to cumbersome implementation, it's also a difference of philosophy. It's a trial by fire that I didn't always enjoy, but it certainly reminded me how much gaming has changed since 1990 and mostly for the better.