Around the same time Gunstar Heroes was released, Sega liked to mention that their own “Soinc the Hedgehog” would be impossible on the rival SNES. Sega stated “only the Genesis was fast enough” with it’s so called “blast processing” to keep up with Sonic. That may have been true, but if Sega really wanted to prove their machine had “some” distinct advantages over their rival the Super NES, they should have looked no further than Gunstar Heroes.

While impressive, forget Sonic and his speeding around loops – the Genesis got to flex some real muscle with Gunstar Heroes. The constant explosions and enemies being tossed around the screen. The incredible sprite scaling and rotation. It’s gigantic bosses and their battles. All with virtually no slowdown make the game even more impressive. I actually think the action in GH would’ve melted an SNES and I love the SNES but there’s that much happening on-screen here.

All the frantic action can be enjoyed with a buddy as well, making GH one of the most enjoyable two player games of the 16-bit era. The game has you playing as Gunstars Red and Blue, twin brothers who protect Planet Gunstar from the evil Emperor Gray.Check the video tab up top for more on the game’s story.        
                                

With “fixed”, firing will “fix” you in position for more stable control scheme. I happen to prefer “free”, as I think it adds something to the overall madness of the game. Having your choice of control style is a very accommodating feature that would’ve helped any 2D run & gunner.

Now on to the fantastic weapons, you’ll have your choice of four; Force (like a rapid fire machine gun), Fire, Homing or Laser. The cool thing about the weapons are the ability to combine them into four completely different styles during a single play-through by picking up their respected power-ups. You’ll want to see what all the different combinations will do.

You’re also given some nice combat moves. Throw your enemies in any direction into anything to inflict massive damage. You can even toss them in mid-air. In addition to throws, your gunstar can belly flop or jump-kick and slide. All these moves give the game a “complete” feeling in terms of its control. There wasn’t a game in the genre with this much style.

The way you’ll lose life in GH is also unique for the genre. Unlike say…Contra where if you get hit by one of the ninety bullets on-screen your dead, your given a life bar starting at one-hundred and gradually lose damage. It may sound week but this style makes a shooter more fun in my opinion.

The only bad point I can think of about GH would be the game’s length with only four stages. In the games defense, the stages are all very different and challenging and it’ll take a GH rookie numerous hours to get boss battles right. A GH veteran on the other hand could finish it in maybe a half hour, but its such a fun time it won’t matter. The games length just means another chance for you to play through it again for another awesome experience.