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Soukyugurentai is originally an arcade hit in 1996, developed by Raizing, the maker of Bloody Roar. When first looking at this game, gamers may compare it to such games as Layer Section or even Raystorm. Well, all these games have one common point which they all used a familiar lock-on system, but Soukyugurentai is quite different in many other ways.
The game starts off with a somewhat long FMV intro which it reminds me of watching an anime series called Neon Genesis Evagelion. It is a mixture of video compositing and computer graphics. Between each stage, it also shows some short FMV clips too. As I recalled, these FMV clips are not presented in both arcade and Saturn version too, so this really makes the Playstation to be quite special.
To put it simply, this game is a traditional vertical shooter with a mixture of 2D and 3D pre-rendered sprites. Although it is nothing like Raystorm which is using 3D polygons, the 2D sprite animation is visually stunning with a lot of eye-popping special effects. Most special effects are quite impressive; however, I am quite disappointed with the special bomb explosion, it looks too pixelized in my opinion.
Gameplay-wise, the game offers four different planes for you to choose. The yellow plane is a new one not found in the arcade and Saturn versions; in other words, it is exlusive for the Playstation version. Each plane builds with different speed and power levels, depending on what you prefer (speed vs. fire power). Besides the normal firing weapons and super bombs, each ship offers different types of lock-on "webs" for missiles and lasers. Like Layer Section and Raystorm, lock-on system is very similar which you can track down the surrounding enemies, then shoot them down automatically. One major improvement than Raystorm is that each plane equips with two different types of lock-on lasers. This really adds the depth of gameplay and shooting strategy. The game offers six different levels. While each level is quite short, it is actually fun to play it again even after you finished the game. Especially when you play with your friend simulateously, it's such a blast.
The music features different types of tracks from techno rock to new age. Plus it has a large number of sound effects that rarely seen in the other shooters. The game is filled with Japanese text and speeches, but as a shooting game, the commands are easy to figure out whether you know the language or not. However, you may not able understand the story since it talks in Japanese.
The control is pretty responsive, but certain planes are quite slow in my opinion, like the new yellow plane. It can be a tough situation when dodging tons of bullets on the screen. One obvious problem for this game is the slow-down. When there are many enemies on the screen simulateously, the game often slows down. And I feel this problem is more obvious than the Saturn version. Although this problem doesn't happen too often, more or less, it distracts my interest when seeing my plane moving in half speed from time to time.
Bottom line: Soukyugurentai plays great with many eye-candy effects, but my only gripe is still the slow down problem. While it is not a major problem, but when it happens, it certainly slows down the pace of the game. Almost forgot to mention, it is compatible with the Dual Shock Analog Controller, so if you like vibration for a shoot-em-up game, Soukyugurentai is a good choice.
Overall score = 7.5 Frankly, I like this game better than Layer Section, but I feel Raystorm is still a superior game.