Target Earth (aka Assault Suits Leynos or J?s? Kihei Reinosu/????????) is the first game in the Assault Suit Leynos series.
Target Earth was developed by Nippon Computer Systems Corporation Published in the US through DreamWorks. For only a 2mega game, this title is packed full of great little nuances that take this beyond some standard Mecha Platformer. It may look great but the game has depth as well. So much depth that even the Normal Mode of the game can prove to be quite difficult. (Mind you, there are Hard, Very Hard and Hyper Modes as well!)
As an early Genesis title, this game pushes the limit in the graphics area. Some of the depth of the game comes from how sophisticated the graphics are to how they interact with others in the game and the environment. As you fire your guns, there are times where the projectiles will ricochet off of structures and other enemies. This can be a great help to you if they hit other targets. Not everything dies in the same way either. Depending on the area hit and how much extra damage there is, the explosions are random. Sometimes there are just little explosions. Other times there will be a fiery death and trails of debris. There is always something going on with the story as it unfolds on screen.
The music is more than a delight. The composition of all the tunes hits hard and gets you going. The sound is great as well. Everything just seems right. Gun fire, explosion sounds, selection noises… Nothing seems out of place.
There are some control schemes you can adjust but the standard always seems the best. Free roaming aiming while walking/flying seems to give the most freedom especially with how much fluidity the game can demand out of you. All in all, there are no real glitches or bugs with how the controls were built.
What a great kick off to an amazing series of games. If you live in Japan, this game was re-released on Virtual Console. Unfortunately, everyone in the US will need to find this rare gem at a used shop or get it going on emulation.
As ususal, the US get stuck with horrible boxart versus the Japanese versions.
