Layla

[Discoalucard]

www.hardcoregaming101.net/layla/

A Famicom action game based on the Dirty Pair (but not really, but also better than the actual Dirty Pair FDS game, even though it still has a lot of quirks of early FC titles.)

[Griever]

Layla is pretty interesting, but also hardcore game, according to GameCenter CX episode #79.

[320x240]

The anime girls where better looking in the 80's, probably because they where drawn by people who had actually seen (or been) one.

[Discoalucard]

Dec 4, 2017 14:14:44 GMT -5 320x240 said:

The anime girls where better looking in the 80's, probably because they where drawn by people who had actually seen (or been) one.

Watch Otaku no Video and that might put an end to that thought!

But yeah, I'll always prefer the 80s manga/anime style than almost anything afterward. I've been getting into the Dirty Pair series lately (both the TV series and the movies), and while their stories aren't always great, the 80s vibe (art and music) really keep it together.

[🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀]

Cool to see this game on here. It looked pretty interesting from that Game Center CX episode.

[Preki]

Hey guys, reviev's author here!



First I'd like to thank (again) Kurt for publishing the article and doing some tweaks to the draft.



As a kid I played a lot on a famiclone called "Pegasus" (FC clones are interesting topic on their own), so 8-bit gaming is very close to my heart. I'm also a long time reader of HG101 and this is how I've discovered many interesting games from the past to play I wasn't aware of in my younger days, along with various game-related analisys and trivia. I thought I'd find everything I want about old or obscure games here. In Febuary this year the soundtrack of The Iris Missions hack has shown up on my Youtube frontpage. Well... lots of catchy tunes, a girl with a gun in a NES/FC game - that's gotta be nice one. While not all that great, even frustrating at times, the original game seemed interesting to me, and naturally I've searched HG101 for a reviev, to no avail. So why not pitch a topic and start scribbling?

Speaking of the game itself, I still didn't beat original Layla legitimately (savestates are cheating!), and going through The Iris Missions took me a lot of time (passwords FTW!). So yeah, it is a hardcore game due to numerous design flaws I've described in detail in the article itself. And GameCenter CX should not be taken seriously, it's your usual Japanese show after all. I watched Arino play Contra and it's nearly impossible to be that bad at this NES classic, his gameplay was so bad it hurts my eyes. Youtube user CornshaqGaming has beaten Layla without collecting most guns and power-ups while dodging enemies in later stages. It's crazy considering how lethal enemies are in this game, see it for yourself: www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2-Mamj_Sn4 Still not as challenging as Sunsoft's Wing of Madoola from the same year. I tried that, also because of having an action girl as main character, and couldn't get past second area.

As of the anime girls aesthetics, I concur. There's to much overly cute "moe" characters nowadays, I can barely watch anything released after 2000. And Dirty Pair - thanks to Layla I gotta check this one out, and I don't expect it to have great story, obviously, but lots of action and stuff blowing up.

[ReyVGM]

These sentences read a little rough in my opinion:

"Collecting said disks is sadly mandatory, if you miss as much as one of them, you have to replay the level. Otherwise, the final boss will be impervious to your attacks."

Specially the word "otherwise". It feels out of place. I think this reads a bit better:

"Sadly, collecting said disks is mandatory, if you miss as much as one of them, you have to replay the level; and the final boss will be impervious to your attacks."

This is the worst part of the game, since you only gain pointless score.

"This is the worst part of the game, since score gaining has no purpose."

Being a game loosely based off anime series featuring space gals with guns

There's an "an" missing there between "off" and "anime".

and you’re going to do so often you will have habit of crouching before jumping in other games of the genre.

"You are going to do it so often"

the player is treated to a high-pitched theme song, cavern theme contains sounds

the player is treated to a high-pitched theme song, the cavern theme contains sounds

[Preki]

Well, this might happen when you're not a native language user, and it has happened to me. Any remarks concerning my writing are welcome so I won't make these mistakes again in future articles. I wasn't really good at grammar, still it's far cry from "all your base" level, although I know there's plenty of room for improvement.

[Woody Alien]

Dec 6, 2017 9:24:32 GMT -5 Preki said:

Well, this might happen when you're not a native language user, and it has happened to me. Any remarks concerning my writing are welcome so I won't make these mistakes again in future articles. I wasn't really good at grammar, still it's far cry from "all your base" level, although I know there's plenty of room for improvement.

I don't see any major problems (even if I'm not a native speaker myself), there's just a few articles missing, just like in this sentence:

At first glance, Layla looks and plays like (a) typical platformer of the era. The player has to control (the) eponymous heroine through eight asteroids, with every one of them being divided into a cavern and a fortress.

I don't have much to say about the game itself, so, about the anime ladies:

I'll always prefer the 80s manga/anime style than almost anything afterward. I've been getting into the Dirty Pair series lately (both the TV series and the movies), and while their stories aren't always great, the 80s vibe (art and music) really keep it together.

As of the anime girls aesthetics, I concur. There's to much overly cute "moe" characters nowadays, I can barely watch anything released after 2000. And Dirty Pair - thanks to Layla I gotta check this one out, and I don't expect it to have great story, obviously, but lots of action and stuff blowing up.

I actually have no problem with most styles used from the 1980s to the 2010s, and the relative abundance of "moe" characters right now does not faze me too much (when in doubt I'll always blame K-On! and Lucky Star for that). It helps that there are shows like the recent Made in Abyss, which might look cutesy but it's anything but.
Honestly the only anime style I disagree with is the garish one from the mid-late 1990s, you know, the ones with the super-pointy hair, chins and cheekbones, huge voluminous hair with gigantic highlights and rubbery skin... How could anyone find stuff like this attractive?

[Discoalucard]

Dec 6, 2017 11:38:27 GMT -5 Woody Alien said:

As of the anime girls aesthetics, I concur. There's to much overly cute "moe" characters nowadays, I can barely watch anything released after 2000. And Dirty Pair - thanks to Layla I gotta check this one out, and I don't expect it to have great story, obviously, but lots of action and stuff blowing up.

I actually have no problem with most styles used from the 1980s to the 2010s, and the relative abundance of "moe" characters right now does not faze me too much (when in doubt I'll always blame K-On! and Lucky Star for that). It helps that there are shows like the recent Made in Abyss, which might look cutesy but it's anything but.
Honestly the only anime style I disagree with is the garish one from the mid-late 1990s, you know, the ones with the super-pointy hair, chins and cheekbones, huge voluminous hair with gigantic highlights and rubbery skin... How could anyone find stuff like this attractive?

Saber Marionette was crap, and I was never a fan of the guy who did the art for the Toshinden and Fatal Fury anime (Obari, was his name?) but I like the type from Galaxy Fraulein Yuna and Sapphire.

[JoeQ]

Dec 6, 2017 11:38:27 GMT -5 Woody Alien said:

Honestly the only anime style I disagree with is the garish one from the mid-late 1990s, you know, the ones with the super-pointy hair, chins and cheekbones, huge voluminous hair with gigantic highlights and rubbery skin... How could anyone find stuff like this attractive?

MY EYES! MY BEAUTIFUL EYES!!!

Yeah, Saber Marionette J is shit.

[kingmike]

Am I the only one who can not even speak the (rather uncommon) title given name without thinking of Eric Clapton?

[backgroundnoise]

kingmike : I think you mean Derek and the Dominos [sic].

[Preki]

Dec 9, 2017 11:49:14 GMT -5 kingmike said:

Am I the only one who can not even speak the (rather uncommon) title given name without thinking of Eric Clapton?

And why is that? I only know that there's a cheat related to the name of Eric Clapton, which gives you access to the entire inventory in Mission 4 of The Iris Missions hack. I wonder if anyone of you figured it out without looking into the readme file I didn't, unfortunately, how lame of me.

Funny how this thread turned into mostly ranting about anime girl aesthetics and my grammar slip-ups, rather than discussing the game itself lol . And speaking of that: long before joining the board I've come across "Layla Famicom CIB" thread, in which the OP stated to have scans of the game's manual but he didn't want to share them. Dunno why, but this could be useful for review's sake.

[gtramp]

Dec 10, 2017 6:42:36 GMT -5 Preki said:

Dec 9, 2017 11:49:14 GMT -5 kingmike said:

Am I the only one who can not even speak the (rather uncommon) title given name without thinking of Eric Clapton?

And why is that?

youtu.be/Q_L-0Ryhmic?t=53s