Gunstar Super Heroes

"Only a hero can save us"

Actually, two of them.

Years after Golden Silver, or the God of Ruin, was destroyed by the Gunstar Heroes, the Empire is bent on reviving him with the use of a mysterious artifact. Set in the far-future, the Gunstar Super Heroes' mission is to foil the Empire's evil plans at whatever the cost. You can choose to play as either Blue or Red, soldier elites of this military group. Each has his own primary weapon, which is the only core difference between the two. As you are quickly brought into the game, it becomes glaringly obvious that this extremely fast-paced 2D shooter forces you to keep up with it or be left far behind.

The enemies, marked by highly-sophisticated machines and robots, come and go furiously, blasting away with their built-in weapons. Both Red and Blue possess enormous hand-to-hand combat ability, allowing you to execute a good range of combos that would just about hit anything. As such, beating up those that come your way is incredibly fun as you punch and kick through an entire slew of robots. Given three weapons to wield adds to the excitement as you have the liberty to switch among them at any point of the game. This ranges from laser beams to a flame thrower-like gun. Although this is sufficient, I wish the game could have included additional weapons that you can pick up along the way and use, ala Metal Slug.

Something that sets Gunstar Super Heroes apart from its shooter counterparts would be that its game play is not limited to side-scrolling. Early on in the game you get to experience a very watered-down flight simulator, with you hunting down enemies on your tail in an aircraft. This breaks the monotony of typical 2D shooters which throw similar-looking levels at you one after another. Circumstances are also created as they present themselves, a possible reason behind the game's fast pace. Events literally unfold right after the previous ones and new enemies are introduced with the snap of a finger. Adrenaline rushes are hence not uncommon, and the flow of the game is never obstructed.

Bearing in mind that the developers are trying to keep the essence of the original Sega Genesis version as much as possible, I still feel that the graphics are poor and do not maximize the graphical potential of the Game Boy Advance. Everything looks pixelated and poorly-drawn, which set me wondering whether it was a direct port from the 1993 original. This is especially evident when you try to fire mass amount of ammo and experience some sort of slow-down and the effects get incredibly fuzzy. As much as deviating from the original is concerned, I am sure at least enhancing the graphics would not have harmed the spirit of the game much and no doubt would have improved the gaming experience.

Too add on to the visual agony, the audio sounds very "16-bit", again reminding me of the original game in a bad way. The most common (and sometimes only) sound effects I hear are explosions and shooting. I can hardly recall hearing any of the main characters speak. This is probably due to the intensity of the action on-screen, and any background music would have caused some kind of audio chaos. While this is true to a certain extent, some variation of sound to the ears would be much more welcomed. It would also have formed a distraction of sorts from the fact that the graphics look like they have been picked up from a game made a decade ago.

Do not get me wrong, however. I enjoyed playing this game thoroughly. If not for the below-average graphics and audio, I would have no qualms giving this game a perfect score. The only form of salvation comes from the game play, which is immensely fun and refreshing. If only more effort had been put in into the technical areas, Gunstar Super Heroes would definitely have turned into a super gaming gem.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/08/05