"This isn't a GameBoy game, more an arcade game"

I didn't really know what to expect when I got Aero Star in my GB, I knew it was some kind of spacey shooter, but WHAT KIND OF, no idea? Then I just got playing without reading manual or any tips from friends or something like that. So there were three levels of playing to chose, pretty nice for a game like this. I chose 'easy', just to find out what kind of game it was.
So it began, just a simple space shooter, like there have been made many, but these graphics just... were so bad, I couldn't actually see what I was shooting, it's more a button bashing game, like you see in game halls, that's why the synopsis (the one line intro), where you have a big joystick in your hands and go shooting to all the baddies, that's the idea of this game, I think. When you really love those arcade shooters from the 'old' years, you will like this game, but I don't think there are many GameBoy gamers who have ever liked 'arcade game hall games'. I just think the whole concept of this game isn't quite good.

Graphics 4.3/10
Like I said above here, the graphics are not good, you can see that you are shooting space ships and battle tanks, but what they exactly look like is hard to tell. The buildings and environment around the way you are flying on (not correct sentence, whatever) look very stupid. Almost cartoonish. when you are shooting (in some different ways),it doesn't look nice either. Just some weird BOOM! effects. The tanks you defeat are just gone, they don't even blast away, too hard to draw, I guess.

Gameplay 6.9/10
This is the best part of the whole game. The ship you control goes easy wherever you want it to go. The firing is easy to do also, but the flying high through the air is difficult sometimes, but all things can be learnt. All together the controls are good, but a bit strange sometimes.

Originality 2.8/10
There are already so many games like this (even when this one was released back in 1993 (I think it was then). The arcade halls had already many games like these. On the NES and SNES were also many games like this one. It's just far from original. Flying around and shooting tanks and other space ships. I did expect something more when I started playing this game.

Replayability 4.1/10
You won't find yourself playing this game for many weeks, maybe a couple of days in a year, to leave it alone till the next holiday (the only time I play my Gameboy). But I doubt if you even take it on holiday with you twice.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 06/02/01, Updated 07/16/01