GUNSTAR HEROES
SEGA (TREASURE)
GENESIS
ACTION/SHOOTER

REVIEW BY MANDI PAUGH

Take a commander in a red suit that laughs a lot and throws his men out train windows.  Add an endless army of mechanical soldiers, an odd mix of henchmen, two heroes with rapid-fire guns, a professor, a mine cart, a spaceship, and--of course--a kidnapped lady in distress--and stir well.  Out pops Gunstar Heroes.

This is a very fast-paced side-scrolling shooter where enemies will continue to pour at you if you stand still.  At times it deviates from its usual genre to include variations such as a mine cart, a space shooter level, and even a board game (now that was interesting).

You start the game with 100 health which gives you some breathing room when it comes to taking hits.  You can also increase this total by picking up hearts.  Another nice feature is that falling down pits is not fatal; you merely lose a bit of health and pop back out.  Obviously, surviving the
terrain is not as much of an issue as surviving the onslaught of enemies. There are two control schemes to choose from, and four basic weapons.  An interesting feature is you can mix and match weapons to create various combinations.  The characters have a huge selection of moves, including climbing, dropping through ledges, body slamming, ducking, sliding, and even throwing.  Nicely all guns are automatically rapid-fire which saves on your thumbs (no one could conceivably tap the button that quickly anyway). The bosses are nearly all wacky, but most have at least enough of a strategic pattern that the game isn't reduced to button-mashing.  The sheer silliness also makes the game that much more entertaining.  In fact one of the best parts is near the end where the bad guys are watching on a monitor screen as you pummel their defenses.  One by one they leave the room to challenge you until you finally work your way into the room itself.  Not only clever and entertaining, this also gives you a hint as to who will be the next boss.

In the eye-candy department, the game includes plenty of pseudo-3D effects such as the psychedelic rotating core room.  The animations are not extensive but sufficient, although you're usually spending too much time fighting to pay much attention.  Music and sound is decent. While overall the game controls well enough, it should be noted that you cannot change the angle of your jumps once you leave the ground.  This is more realistic but also makes the game somewhat more difficult in cases where, for example, you meant to jump slightly diagonal and ended up going straight up instead.

Despite this problem, Gunstar Heroes is fun, creative, and never dull.