Assault Suit Leynos 2 Saturn Tribute

I never had a Sega Saturn growing up. That was mostly because I was a Nintendo kid—the only Sega system I owned was the Game Gear. Even though a couple of neighborhood friends had the Genesis, no one I knew had a Saturn. It wasn’t until sometime after college that I finally played a Saturn for longer than an in-store demo, and even later when I played a mech-based game for the first time. I’ve never played any of the Assault Suit games, including their U.S. versions on the Genesis and Super NES, and this is the first time Assault Suit Leynos 2 has officially hit the U.S. So let’s check it out and see what I’ve been missing.

The story unfolds across several missions, where you pilot customizable mechs outfitted with different parts and weapons obtained between missions. While you can’t customize your loadout for the first mission, it serves as a good introduction to the controls and mechanics—which is helpful, since they can feel a bit awkward at first. The Sega Saturn controller had six face buttons and two bumpers, whereas modern controllers typically have four face buttons, two bumpers, and two triggers. Thankfully, you can customize your controls, assigning functions and weapon slots to almost any button. Once you get a handle on which weapons and functions are mapped to which buttons, everything starts to feel more natural. Pressing the minus button on the Switch controller brings up a menu, where selecting Playing Guide opens the game’s manual, covering everything you need to know about the mechanics.

Over the course of Assault Suit Leynos 2’s missions, you’ll take down enemy mechs and aircraft, escort a tanker convoy before it’s destroyed, and occasionally face off against massive boss mechs. You won’t be alone—AI allies are there to help, though “helping” is a generous term. They offer support fire, but don’t count on them to carry you. Beyond your arsenal, you can dash for a few seconds (until it overheats), use a shield to block incoming fire (with limited energy), and switch between manual and auto-aiming. Auto-aim can make it easier to take down enemies, but it can also become a hindrance—especially when you’re locked onto a boss and being swarmed by smaller foes. You can toggle auto-aim off with a button press, but in the heat of battle, I’m usually too focused on dashing, shielding, and firing to think about switching modes.

As the title includes “Saturn Tribute,” it definitely feels like a Sega Saturn game. Assault Suit Leynos 2 looks and sounds great, and it plays well for the most part. That said, I did come across a couple of small annoyances. First, the camera zooms in and out depending on the weapon you're using. This can be frustrating, as it makes it harder to see what’s around—or more importantly, ahead—of you. There’s a camera setting that lets you choose whether to keep the camera centered on your mech or show more of what’s in front, but this doesn’t affect the zoom tied to specific weapons.

Another thing to note: Assault Suit Leynos 2 can be quite challenging, especially if you’re unfamiliar with this type of game. Every weapon has limited ammo, and if you run out, you may have to restart the mission. You do get a couple of backup weapons to switch to, so you’d have to really burn through all your ammo recklessly to get stuck. As long as you conserve your shots, you should be fine. The real challenge comes from the sheer volume of enemies constantly trying to take you down. This isn’t a game where you can stand in one spot and spray bullets—you’ll need to keep moving to survive.

If things get too tough, there are a couple of features that can help. Like many retro game ports, this version includes a rewind option that lets you backtrack a minute or two to fix mistakes, like wasting all your ammo. In the minus button menu, there’s also an Extra Options section where you can toggle special assists—like reducing booster energy consumption, boosting shield defense, and increasing your mech’s body armor. I’m not ashamed to say I turned all three on and used the rewind function a few times to get through some tough spots.

Assault Suit Leynos 2: Saturn Tribute started off as a frustrating experience for me, as someone with little to no background in mech shooters. But after replaying the first couple of missions a few times, I began to really enjoy it. The amount of customization between missions gives you tons of flexibility in choosing weapons, parts, and stats to suit your playstyle, and the extra options make the game more approachable for newcomers. Don’t get me wrong—it’s still a tough game—but it’s nice that this version offers tools to help you get better. If you're looking for a solid challenge and don’t mind a somewhat steep learning curve, Assault Suit Leynos 2: Saturn Tribute will definitely deliver. Just be aware—it might be a bit much for players new to the genre.