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Platform: Gameboy
Advance
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Gunstar Super Heroes
Gunstar Heroes. Taken as such, they are merely two words - one means "a person/persons noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose"; the other...well, isn't really a word. But to the hearts of longtime Sega fans, it's something special - one of the finest games the Genesis had to offer, overflowing with incredible graphics, imaginative boss designs, and a truly stunning amount of explosions. It had been rumored for awhile that Treasure, that hallowed development team behind this and other legends such as Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga, would be working on a sequel to Gunstar. This whet our appetites, but Treasure tried the sequel thing before with Advance Guardian Heroes. The result was a decent game, but it was marred by slowdown and wasn't the successor fans of the Saturn classic were looking for. There isn't anything to fear, however - Gunstar Super Heroes was at E3, and it's every bit as blissful as one could imagine.
Gunstar Super Heroes isn't quite a sequel, really. It's more of a re-imagining. Several of the situations should ring familiar for avid players of its predecessors, although the level designs themselves have been somewhat altered and the graphics have been given good kick in the pants. Between familiar segments are whole new areas, some with some of the most graphically impressive effects on the Gameboy Advance. The huge, multi-segmented bosses are back, in addition to all kinds of crazy situations - one has you on top of a spinning |
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spaceship being pursued, totally defying gravity as you spin to dodge missiles and shoot down helicopters. And it all runs smoothly. The old GBA needs some eye candy to stand against the PSP, and while it's still 2D, it looks gorgeous.
Some of the gameplay mechanics have changed a little bit since the original - it seems that you can no longer throw enemies, although you do have a short range melee attacks, and have other moves like uppercuts and jump kicks. The weaponry system has been paired down a little from the original as well. Instead of combining disparate weapon |
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types, each of the selectable characters - there are two - have three different weapons they can choose between at any time. That roster may seem a little thin - the Genesis game had a total of sixteen, compared to six here - but many of the weapons in the original were somewhat useless anyway. These changes may seem like a step backwards, but they really don't affect play negatively. The demo still let you choose levels in any order, and it's safe the say the final version will probably be the same.
If the name wasn't enough to make fanboys happy, the game as a whole is aimed squarely to please Sega fanboys, with references to After Burner, Golden Axe and Thunder Force throughout. There were a lot of interesting games at E3, but Gunstar Super Heroes is the kind of old-school action game that should revitalize interest in the somewhat-lagging GBA library. The wait until its Fall release seems all too painful.
Kurt Kalata (June 3, 2005)
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