Nostalgia: Gunstar Heroes

A Game About Guns, Robots, and Explosions.

    
        Part of why I started this blog was I wanted to write about games that I played all the time when I was younger. Since I can't really give them a fair review based on today's standards I thought I would just talk about how freaking awesome they were. To start off this new segment, I will talk about one of my top five favorite games off all time.
         Gunstar Heroes can be considered one of the best games of the 16-bit era. This game, developed by Treasure for the Sega Genesis back in 1993, was an innovative shoot 'em up that created one of the most hectic and violent experiences on the Genesis. I'm not kidding when I say this. Gunstar Heroes could have probably one the award for most explosions in a game when it was released. Instead of blood spewing out when the enemies are shot they just explode into a large mass of fire. Since this kind of game is notable for sending out hordes of bad guys to kill you all at once, the screen is quickly filled with giant explosions.
        I'll spare the details on the story since it doesn't really matter, but I'll explain the gameplay a little bit. You can play single player or co-op and run through a level shooting and blowing up every bad guy you can see. Players can choose among four different weapons to use: a laser, flamethrower, homing attack, and a machine gun like weapon. The great part about the weapons is that it is possible to combine two weapons to create up to fourteen new weapons like a homing laser or a fireball machine gun. There's also the ability to engage in close quarters combat, and of course when you defeat your enemy with a sliding kick he explodes into a fireball. What other game has that?
        The best part of this game is the epic boss battles. Each boss is comprised of multiple sprites that allows for more fluid and realistic movement. The most memorable boss battle out of all of them is a gigantic robot named Seven Force that transforms into seven different forms, and is fought on rail carts on a track that alternates from horizontal to vertical.
        This game is one of the best games made for the Genesis, and is one of the craziest games ever made. If reading this post has instantly created a desire to play this game but you don't know where you can find it, don't worry. Just like all the other Sega classics, it's been ported to every modern console's online service. It can be found on the Wii's Virtual Console, Playstation Network, and Xbox Live Arcade. Now there is no excuse not to play this game.