Jet Lancer

Jet Lancer is a 2D dogfighter. You pilot a hypermobile fighter jet that retains inertia after turning, allowing for flashy maneuvers such as facing and firing in a different direction than you are flying. The game is stage-based, and depending on the stage, you mostly fight similar enemy jets and ground-based threats, but sometimes also larger bosses with unique designs. You have a basic attack and two special attacks which you can swap between 5 variants, and then 18 modules that you mix and match for other passive bonuses. Each stage also gives you a score and grade based on your speed, combo counter, etc.

The gameplay isn't bad, but I immediately recognized the 2014 game Luftrausers in this. The gameplay and a lot of the general visuals are almost a one-to-one copy. Sadly for Jet Lancer, aside from the boss fights, which I didn't enjoy more than the regular levels, and the level-based gameplay in general, which I definitely didn't enjoy more than the continuous, rogue-like gameplay of Luftrausers, there isn't a lot different here. It's been a while, but I remember enjoying the handling of the plane better in Luftrausers, and the different weapon and engine combinations were definitely more imaginative and fun there. I think the only thing going for Jet Lancer is that it has somewhat more content, but that doesn't really matter to me when that content is inferior.

Overall, I feel Jet Lancer is too much of a copy without even being a better copy of what it was inspired by. I see little reason to play it over Luftrausers, unless you just want a different game for more content that is kind of similar. Personally, the gameplay is a bit too basic in either case for me to really recommend either, but at least I enjoyed Luftrausers enough to complete it. It was a fun enough arcade-like experience. So if you feel you want to try something like that, first play Luftrausers, and if you finish that and want more, feel free to give Jet Lancer a try.