More recent additions to the market such as the popular Raiden series have proved that this pretty basic formula is still capable of providing gamers with thrills that trendy fighting games can't match. It's a good thing that old school companies like Taito are still around to satisfy shooter fans' thirst for high-octane excitement.

Galactic Attack is probably one of the Saturn's most overlooked games in its entire library. Then again, it was pretty much ignored when it was released in the arcades under the much better name, Ray Force.

Begging a direct comparison to Seibu's Raiden Project on the Playstation, Galactic Attack delivers the same intense action with no slowdown to hamper its classic gameplay.

Please keep in mind, this game is directed toward die-hard shooter fans, the meek need not apply.

It's so refreshing to see such beautiful sprite-based graphics in a 32-bit world where texture-mapped polygons are the norm. The backgrounds in Galactic Attack are filled with fantastic outer space scenery, as opposed to Raiden's pretty dull terrestrial landscapes. Don't stare too long at the game's pretty visuals though, or you'll find yourself blasted to bits by the hordes of enemy spacecraft who have you in their sights. The mother ships at the end of the levels are absolutely menacing, and possess the power to blow your tiny fighter to smithereens.

The tremendous explosions in Galactic Attack are on par with the great destruction found in Raiden 2, and are complimented by crystal clear sound that will shake your living room. In short, stuff blows up real good. Too bad that the music is so bland. A pumped-up techno soundtrack would have fit in nicely here, but the existing music doesn't really detract from the game either.

Galactic Attack manages to steal the show in the gameplay department, something in which the Raiden series was a little lacking. Instead of bombing enemies on the ground below with earth-shattering "ka-booms," Galactic Attack's X-LAY fighter can "lock-on" to them with homing lasers, which are just as effective and force the player to rely more on navigating the ship through the chaos rather than dropping a bomb to save his or her ass.

Weapon power-ups are more than adequate. The ship's main laser can be augmented to fierce proportions, but they don't spoil the player by handing out missiles and the like. Again, the emphasis is put on a combination of maneuvering the ship and shooting the bad guys, a nice sense of balance that the Raiden series simply can't match.