Gunstar Super Heroes

"The Easiest Game In The World!"

Games aren't cheap these days, and when you have to pay so much money for every title, it becomes extremely important to choose very wisely in every title you pick up. My reviews are dedicated to helping you along the way wit this process, helping you pick out the garbage that's all over the place. I've played many titles to this day through the glorious process of renting. I'd probably go broke before I even got half way through the titles I've played, and it's sad when you think about it. It's great that renting does exist though, as it does allow you to play titles cheap. Through that, I can bring to you my opinions on some of the hottest games on the market! Now, renting can hurt your experience with a game, and it's not for everyone, but if you can find a good one near you that gives you multiple games in a month for a flat rate, then you're golden. I appreciate any comments that I may receive, and all pictures are from game spot. This review will be written in third person, so enjoy!

Gunstar Super Heroes

Foreword
For all the complaining that the staff at NP has done over the last couple of months, this game didn't receive any better sales than it did before. This either means one of two things: One, no one honestly listens to a word they say; or two, they don't take them seriously because of all the joking that that mag has done over the last couple of months. Either way, NP, in a sense, messed up on advertising a good game, whether we like it or not. Now, most of you know that the reviews that are written by gamers themselves can be either truthful or fan boyish, and for the most part they are the ones to trust, mainly because they aren't paid to make a game look like it's some kind of idol. Now, don't get me wrong, NP isn't a bad mag, they just crack too many jokes and make too many bad games look good for their own better. Gunstar Super Heroes unfortunately didn't receive the sales that it should have, which is really sad considering that it actually does do a lot of things perfectly. The graphics are great, the game play is spot on, and the difficulty is exactly what this world needs to flourish once again. Games like this don't come around every day, and when one does you should really consider picking it up. For all the praising that NP did of this game though, it really doesn't live up to what they said. It does have its problems, just like every other game out there, and you shouldn't buy this game just because NP says that it is good. Listen to this review, and you'll hear a true statement ;).

The original Gunstar Heroes was one of those games that came out and amassed a cult of players. It can now be found on the virtual console, so if you didn't pick it up, download it as it is a classic. Getting back on topic, the game was remembered for having excellent graphics, awesomely designed worlds, challenging game play, and for the heck of it a masterfully designed track of music. All of those things came together to create a marvelous title that did just about everything right. Sega had to be an idiot though and refuse to create another title while they had the public's attention, and they ultimately paid for it. The lack of sales in this title adversely is an affect of not releasing another game to keep the cult that made this game so popular together. They lost the public's eye, and that hurt sales. Let's face it, in all honesty, have you ever really heard or played for that manner Gunstar Heroes? Practically speaking, it would be a safe guess to say no. Because of that, you wouldn't come to expect another title for it, thus not making you want it, correct? Being blunt, they messed with themselves on this, and they are to blame. The meager sales that came from this title originated in two aspects. Either a fan of the first game that actually remembered it bought it, or some kid was smart and decided to pick it up. That kid is one of the luckiest in the world, because he spent his money on something of value! The game is 20 bucks right now so either rent it or buy it; mainly because you should experience it. The game isn't for everyone, that's a fact. This review is to show you just why.

Story
What makes a story in a game can come from two points, either you like it because it affects you in a way, or you hate it because it annoys you. The story in this game does a little bit of both, showing that Treasure still has a long way to go if they want to create true perfection. One of the major things that made the first game so popular was the fact that back then you didn't really need a story to drive a game along, except if you were in the RPG genre. People didn't need an immense story filled with top of the line voice actors if they wanted to get something out to the public in such a way that it would make them happy. They just needed bare bones minimum for a player to expand upon with his or her imagination. You know what? It worked because people could imagine back then, and that adversely helped. People are too caught up in wanting to see personalities these days that they miss out on one of the biggest points that can and should be made.

The story of Gunstar Super Heroes revolves around two kids killing off hundreds of things in an attempt to save the world from an evil mastermind. Not really that deep, considering the time we are in. They definitely could have expanded the story to a level that people would appreciate. They don't seem to realize what time they are in, and that ultimately hurt their sales. If they could have found some way to incorporate a more richly designed story into the mechanics, then people would have been pleased to a greater extent. Now, don't get me wrong, the story is nice; it just needs work in some very important departments if it wants to flourish. Text is generally what you will be seeing when story segments are played out, with the occasional speech. As I said, it's nothing big that would actually make your mouth flap out like that of a Yoshi :P.

Game Play
It's amazing to see just how reliant on graphics this game really is. When you think about it very few, if any, games build core game play around its graphical system. There are two reasons for that, and both hold testament to what this game really is. The first one is simple in concept, nothing that really would blow someone's mind. Relying on how many items the engine can hold is key in this games success. Practically speaking, you can only really put so many things onto a system without encountering the dreadful lag that comes with it, so in that they had to be extremely careful not to overload what they had. By wiring certain points though, and placing extreme importance on detail, they managed to maximize what could possibly be achieved. By maximizing the amount of available items that can be on the screen at once, they managed to alternately expediential the amount of enemies and raw action that could be done in one frame. That's a key point. By placing so many things on the screen at one time, they managed to recapture what made the first game such a raving success. The second thing that many people seem to forget most of the time is how precise the controls had to be if they wanted this system to work. In each frame, in each area, they had to make sure if you pressed a button, your character would move. Now that pretty much seems rudimentary in a lot of circles, but it far from is. By having such a high number of pixilated content on the screen at once, they had to be extremely careful not to induce a lag filled atmosphere through the control. In most games, you can get away with a little bit of time between frames when a player presses a button, it's not big deal. Not in this though unfortunately. Most games don't rely on such a high pixel count to make things work, so lag would be more noticeable in this than it would be in any other game. That's the amazing thing though, they actually managed to get everything down to such a science that it did work almost perfectly. Lag is basically unheard of in this game, which just shows how much expertise went into making this game what it was.

Now one of the things that also made the first game so popular was the fact that it had richly designed worlds. This game has that to, and possibly to an extent a tad bit more of ingenuity. They studied the first game to an extremely sufficient extent, and it allowed them to learn off of what had previously been done. Now, we have the benefit of smooth transitions between worlds, excellently challenging jumps, and much more. It's evident in everything that this game has to offer, and if you don't enjoy it it's probably from your own ego getting shattered by the difficulty. It will be discussed later in the review, but not mincing words it's down right horrendous. Annoying even the most hardened of action gamers, this game was known and still is known for it. Bosses are generally fairly spaced apart, but when you do get to one, you'll most likely die and have to fight it again and again before you win. There's a nice feeling of accomplishment though that goes with the annoying side effects of it, and you to will most likely find that feeling as well. It's amazing to see just how much ingenuity went into every fight though, mainly because in ever stage you fight in you can really see the amount of raw action that is going on every second of play. You basically never feel a moment of boredom in this, and that can either lead to you feeling happy or feeling sad because your fingers are going to be needing extreme rest :D. That is probably one of the biggest problems this game has, the amount of pain your hands will feel when you are done.

In this game you can choose two characters to play as, either Red or Blue. Both really don't bring anything that different to the table, even if they are supposed to. You enter a stage and generally just short everything in sight. Although that may seem boring to some, it's not. You can upgrade your weaponry with special power ups, most of which are placed right in your lap. Levels generally aren't that long, but the game lasts a long time. This stems from the fact that you will be dieing…….a lot. If they could have found a way how to minimize the amount of deaths you had in a particular stage, then it would have probably been more enjoyable.

Graphics
The previous section went heavily into the technical graphical abilities of this game; this section will go more into the physical abilities of this game. You generally go into one of a couple of areas, and fight it out on a platform like structure base. Jumping, shooting, and more are on the general agenda of your mission. Each area was richly designed, from the beams to the shots that come out of both yours and your enemies guns, it's all amazing. The stages themselves are incredible, sporting deeply designed backgrounds that paid gigantic tribute to what this game accomplishes on a daily level. They practically mastered what had to be done with this, all while feeling no shame of missing anything. Nothing was missed, not even a small pixel was off. As was previously stated, most of what would generally be said here was said in the previous paragraph.

Music
The track in this game isn't perfect by any means, and it's kind of a let down from what the previous game did. Not only do they miss some key moments with the track, but they also used a mixed version of some previous things as well. You can see some of the previous games tunes in this game, and they are a treat for those of you who actually remembered. If they ever do a sequel to this game, then they are going to have to work on getting back to a more techno feel. It was still good though, especially at some points in which you were fighting in a level and you were at a very important spot. The tracks in this game generally follow a repeating structure, so nothing big there.

Difficulty
Being perfectly blunt with you all, the difficulty in this game could be compared to that of Barney. That's right, Barney the Teletubby. That's a joke >_> :D. Getting back on track, the difficulty in this game could be more attuned to that of the game Battle Toads, and we all know how hideously hard that game was. Nightmares still occur sometimes of a reviewer getting to that 11th level, then dieing to a stupid impassable point that wasn't stated yet. The game is hard, and it can get annoying. More games need to be like this; as if they are then we would finally be able to get out of cup cake country. Being even blunter, the games that we play today are too easy; you can't get past that. Developers in general need to start paying attention to what the people need.

Family Friendly
There is a good amount of shooting in this game, and it may not be for everyone. The rating it received was kind of easy; it should have probably gotten higher.

Guide or No Guide
None were ever written for this game.

Buy/Rent
Buy it; it's a classic. If you didn't, then pitying you would be putting it lightly.

Finale
This is a great game, and it truly does capture what the original did. It just has some problems that NP failed to mention. If they can get past those problems in the future, and learn from them, they will succeed. They accomplished something special, and picking this game up is just what's needed for everyone.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/12/07