A Heroic Return
Written: Nov 03 '05 (Updated May 24 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Insane shooter gameplay tied up with a nostalgic bow
Cons: Deviations from the original may irk veteran fans
The Bottom Line: Gunstar Super Heroes is more than a walk down memory lane for fans of the original cult classic. It's a brilliant white-knuckle cartoon shooter with style to spare.
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| onionhead2001's Full Review: GUNSTAR SUPER HEROES (Nintendo Game Boy Advance) R... |
It was tough growing up with a Sega Genesis. Month after month, you'd read through your magazines to find that the SNES managed to nab "Game of the Month" from EGM yet again. All the Sega ports scored a little lower than the Nintendo counterparts, if they were ported at all.
Dark times... Dark times.
But then, with no warning... a ray of light pierced the darkness! An obscure little gem called Gunstar Heroes nabs "Game of the Month." Even better, it wasn't being released on the SNES!
Gunstar Heroes was tough to find in stores (but has recently been included as part of the Wii's Virtual Console!), even back when it was just released. But almost anybody who owns that original Genesis cartridge keeps it as a centerpiece of their collection. And after a decade, we finally get a sequel. And it's some seriously good stuff...
The Idea:
Gunstar Super Heroes, like its predecessor, is sort of like Contra on cartoon crack. It's a platforming shooter where enemies are tossed about by the screenful, and there's almost never a good time to let go of the trigger. Toss in a little hand-to-hand combat, multiple weapons, and some sweet bosses (including a re-release of the single coolest boss in the history of bosses)... it's hard not to come up with a winner.
The only shortcomimgs come about -- rather unfairly -- when strict comparisons are made with the original. It's difficult to accept, sometimes, that this is a different game. I'm going to review the game on its own merits, but I will include a comparison section at the end for fans of the original wondering what has changed.
Core Gameplay:
It's difficult to really explain what is so special here. At heart, you're a little guy running around with a gun, shooting everything else. But it's so much more than that...
Your character comes equipped with three different weapons, which can be swapped on the fly. You've got your basic shot -- a powerful but narrow stream of destruction. You've got exploding short-range fireballs, which sacrifice distance for spread. And you've got a homing weapon which is even weaker, but makes aiming a whole lot easier. The situations are well-balanced to require use of all three, and most players will find that sticking to only one yields poor results.
Additionally, each weapon maintains a separate charge meter which fills every time that weapon hits a target. Once full, a supercharged blast can be unleashed with all the properties of the normal shot, but amplified magnificently. Not only does this give you some extra juice now and then, but it encourages you to use all three weapons so that you can have 3 supercharged shots on reserve when you need them. Very smart.
When the gunplay gets boring, your character also has a decent arsenal of jumpkicks and slides, and can even whip out a sword for close combat.
Icing:
These features would make for a fun game. But Treasure is known for their clever ways, and is very good at finding new uses for old materials. While the game focuses on platforming, you'll get to try your hand at a few other things along the way (often with not-so-subtle echoes of other classic Sega games). You'll do battle, Space Harrier-style, from the roof of your spaceship. You'll rescue chicks (as in baby birds) in a fun sendup of Flicky. And you'll pilot another craft through a parody of Xevious.
Even the central platforming stages offer some interesting twists. My favorite (as in the original Gunstar Heroes) involves riding at high speed through horizontal and vertical mineshafts while fending off your enemies.
And let's not forget the bosses! The original game was known for its obscenely clever bosses, and many of them return here in some form or another. Seven Force is, by himself, worth the price of admission. This transformer was a masterful bit of spritework back in the nineties, and his newest incarnation is ten times more impressive. Absolutely spectacular.
The lack of two-player is unfortunate, and rather inexplicable. The original game was almost defined by its two-player cooperative play (you could even use your partner as a weapon!), but the sequel does without. And it could stand to be a bit longer, I think. But these are relatively minor quibbles considering the game's many triumphs.
Graphics:
Sprite-based graphics really don't get much better than this. Everything is crisp and clear, with a vivid cartoon look that leaps off the screen. There is liberal use of scaling and rotation, particularly when one of the titanic bosses shows up. The frame rate stays rock-solid despite the carnage. This game will be remembered as one of the finest graphical acheivements on the system.
The Verdict:
Gunstar Super Heroes may be one of the last games of this sort to find general release, and should be snatched up poste haste by anybody that enjoyes a good shooter. It is a spectacular and viscerally exciting game on its own merit, and carries some bonus nostalgia for those lucky enough to have spent time with the original.
I really can't recommend this title enough.
For the Fans:
Optional reading for those so inclined...
This is the Evil Dead 2 of videogames. It's sort of a sequel (clearly stated by the plot), but it's sort of a remake. It can't really decide...
The stages, in theme, are identical to the original. There's the tree stage, with the little exploding huts and tiny natives. There's the aircraft stage, with the final battle against Orange on the wings of a helicopter. It's all here... but it's all different. The layout is different. The enemy mix has been altered. And the bosses have been overhauled so that your old tricks may not be effective anymore.
This is particularly apparent on the mineshaft levels, where the controls have been altered to allow you to hover in the middle (rather than simply riding along the floor or ceiling, as in the original). Seven Force has been completely reworked to account for the new controls, and veteran players may actually be at a disadvantage as they struggle to unlearn old habits!
The weapon system has been drastically altered. I suspect this will draw an angry cry from the fans, but the new system is much better. In the original, there were four different weapons which could be combined with each other to create hybrid guns. There were, in effect 16 different weapons, compared to the 3 offered here.
So why is the new system better? Because the old system was never really necessary. There were only 2 or 3 combinations that ever really provided a distinct benefit, and the rest were ignored. This game streamlines everything, and just gives you what you need.
I'm less happy about the changes made to hand-to-hand combat. In the original, it was possible to grapple enemies and toss them at each other. This is no longer the case. One of my favorite tricks in the original was grabbing bombs from the air, and casting them back at whoever threw it. No more...
The changes add up to a game which successfully keeps the spirit of the original, without simply cloning it. You'll often find youself in a familiar situation, just to realize that you no longer know how to properly deal with it. While disconcerting at first, I'm glad that Treasure didn't just hand me a game that I could sleepwalk through after memorizing every facet of the original. Whether this is viewed as a sequel or a remake, it's executed perfectly.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
onionhead2001
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Location: Charlottesville, VA 22901
Reviews written: 65
Trusted by: 9 members
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