Lost Games: Gunstar Heroes (Megadrive)

System: Megadrive
Publisher: Treasure
Year: 1993

Whenever Megadrive fans gather together and start to talk shop it won't take long before somebody suggests that Gunstar Heroes was the console's finest moment. These sort of discussions usually lead to shouting matches, but in this case you'll probably get a round of thoughtful looks and nods. What sort of game can drag a concensus from bunch of argumentative retro gamers?

Gunstar Heroes is a run and gun platformer in the finest tradition of the Megadrive - bright, loud and colourful and not so long that you get bored before you run out of variety. What sets it apart is Treasure's knack for creating innovative weapons, brilliant characters and imaginative bosses, all tied together with absolutely pixel perfect controls.

Before you dive into the game you're met by a friendly professor type character who presents you with a few weapon options - you can choose between two firing modes (standing still in order to fire, or run & gun) and four weapons, each with a different characteristic. You'll start with your choice, but will be given an empty weapon slot that comes into play later. You can then choose which of the first four levels out of seven to play, and head off to try out your new toys.

The first thing that strikes you when you enter your first level of choice is that the game moves at a storming pace yet remains perfectly smooth and slick - Treasure definitely knew how to wring the best out of Sega's baby. You'll initially be assaulted from all sides, which is the quickest way to discover just how good the controls are - not only can you fire in eight directions, double jump, swing from platforms and climb up and down between levels, but with the right timing you can grab enemies, fling them around, boot them away in mid air and even carry out two very powerful sliding attacks. The scheme only uses two of the Megadrive joypad's three buttons, relying on the d-pad positioning, the location of your character and the proximity of enemies to decide on the right action. You may take a few lumps until you get into the swing of things, but that's not a great crisis as your energy is represented as a number from 0-100 and there are topups to be collected.

That second weapon slot comes into play fairly quickly, and in this lies one of the game's most interesting innovations. If you pick up the same type of weapon twice, you get an improved version of it, but if you collect a different type then both combine to form a new one - collecting the blue laser with the ability to pass through enemies and then the swirling green shot results in a laser that flashes around the screen in a right angled snaking motion Experimenting with these combinations will reveal some very powerful weapons that are well suited to taking on different bosses.

You'll need all the help you can get too as Gunstar Heroes is never content to fall into the trap of throwing the same attack patterns at you for the duration of the game. You'll progress from straightforward horizontal scrolling levels, through a fast multidirectional ride on a minecart like floating platform, and eventually even end up in space. On one memorable level you're trapped in a board game and have to roll a dice to progress towards to final boss whilst taking on his minions along the way. This is every bit as bizarre as it sounds, especially when you're attacked by a flying snake, a knee high soldier and a curry monster in that order, but adds a very entertaining and unexpected slant to an already varied title.

Gunstar Heroes is a real gem that plays just as well now as it did back in 1993, and as it's now been released on the Wii's virtual console, Xbox Live and PSN you have plenty of options for giving it a go. Just as well really, as finding the original Megadrive cartridge will prove something of an expensive challenge..

If you're into platform shooters then this is definitely a title that you should check out. It's one of the few retro tites that genuinely stands the test of time and is just as likely to pick up new fans as is it to rekindle old memories.