Developer - Treasure   Catalogue No. - G-4103

Type - Platform Action

Treasure really showed what the Mega Drive was capable of far better than anyone else with this fast passed platform/shooter/action game.  Strangely enough, Gunstar Heroes is the second only Treasure game that I really like.  Pretty odd really because the other is also on the Mega Drive.

The game has you taking the role of one of the little heroes shown on the cover.  You have the ability to throw your enemies as well as shoot them.  It's no walk in the park either.  Some of the later bosses can be a right pain in the back side if you don't have the homing laser.  Luckily you do have the ability to perform a few combination moves.  Being a Treasure game however, the weapon system HAS to be a bit strange since Treasure have no idea what "Straight Forward" means.  Anyway, you can collect up to two power ups at one time that can be chosen between when ever you feel like.  It's also possible to choose both weapons together to make a new combination weapon.  It's all a little confusing at first but you'll soon get in to it.

Graphics on the whole are very impressive.  Sprites are pretty small yet detailed.  Some of the backgrounds are very impressive while others range from OK to pretty good.  One feature that does stand out are the graphical effects.  We've got rotation, polygons (actually sprites that look like polygons), and allsorts of raster effects.  The game is also very colourful.  Add all these features together and you'll have yourself one very beautiful game.  Unfortunately the audio is pretty poor.  Treasure haven't really done much here.  The BGM are weak and the voice sample are also pretty bad.  More worse than your usual Mega Drive "I've swallowed a razor blade" style speech.  Still, you can live with the not so hot audio thanks to the gameplay being so good.

Not one of the cheapest Mega Drive games released in Japan nor one of the most expensive, so I'm sure you'll be able to get yourself a copy.