Gunstar Super Heroes
Believe the hype! We go hands-on with Treasure's long-awaited, run-and-gun shooter!
Preview by Chris Scantleberry (Email)
October 9th 2005
Taking a page from Contra: Hard Corps, selecting either character offers a slightly distinctive style of gameplay. Not too much mind you, but I can at least tell you that I found using Red to be much easier and enjoyable. I am spoiled by the fact her weapon set offers a Contra-style, rapid-fire Spreader gun which in my opinion, owns Blue's boring laser rifle. She's also a bit smaller too, making it somewhat easier to get out of heated firefights. Oh, who am I kidding? I just enjoy playing with female characters ever since Chun Li hit the gaming scene.
Regardless of your selection, each Hero can choose from four types of weaponry – rapid fire, machine gun, laser, and a super, explosive gun – the latter being a recommended standby when you need some heavy firepower. Activating this weapon is contingent on charging a special power meter located at the top of the screen. When fully charged, tapping twice on the R button will prompt your character to break out the Big Gun to blow away enemies (and even bosses) with just a few shots. Can you say "win" button? Additionally, you'll often experience situations where the need to break out some CQC (close-quarters combat) techniques. In a nod to several classic games, both can unleash moves like slides, triangle jumps aerial kicks, dragon punches (yes, Shoryuken), and a saber attack ala Strider Hiryu. Novelty overload! I can hear fanboys everywhere shouting for joy.
Now, there are a few boo-hoo elements to comment on. Purists will be disappointed to learn that enemies can't be tossed around anymore – an element that not only was mindless fun and satisfying, but added a bit of strategic flair too. Also absent is the ability to combine multiple weapons together, a feature that may cause mixed emotions with a few. Now, I will admit that at first, this really bugged me and it's something that I think shouldn't have been omitted. However, I've been told that Treasure decidedly adopted a more simplified system that would make the combat system less intimidating. The bottom line – they felt it wasn't fair players needed to spend so much effort "leveling up" just to get a specific weapon for a desired effect. Take that as you will folks, but I am not sweating it anymore – besides, I've got that "win button" now. Multiplayer is also gone, which as any fan can testify, is a key element that made Gunstar so darn awesome.
