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Gunstar Heroes(JP) is a Shoot'em up platformer video game originally released on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. The game was later re-released for the Wii Virtual Console and the 3DS eshop; both versions were developed by M2.
Gameplay[]
Gunstar Heroes is a run and gun game played from a side-scrolling perspective similar to Contra. The game can be played in single-player, or cooperativelywith a partner. The players take on the role of Gunstar Red and Gunstar Blue as they battle with an evil empire for control over a set of powerful gems. The game features seven stages, of which the first four can be tackled in any order. The stage formats vary; while some feature a typical left-to-right format, others have the player riding in a mine cart along walls, fighting enemies on a helicopter, or playing a board game. Completing a level grants the player an extension to their maximum health.
When starting a game, the player can choose either a free or fixed firing stance; the fixed stance immobilizes the character when shooting, while the free stance has the player move in the direction they are firing. The player also has a choice of starting weapon. There are four shot types in the game: a homing shot, lightning blaster, flamethrower, and machine gun. Each weapon has its strengths and weaknesses, and can be swapped with others from item drops in each stage. The weapons can be combined with each other to produce unique shot types. For example, the homing shot can be combined with the machine gun to add a homing effect to the latter, or two lightning shots can be combined to create a more powerful lightning gun. In addition to firing their weapon, the player characters can pull off a series of acrobatic maneuvers including jumping, sliding, and grabbing and throwing enemies.
Plot[]
The storyline differed between both the original Japanese version and the Western version of the game.
Western Story: The Gunstar Dynasty has been the protector of the planet Gunstar 9 (G-9) for generations. In his youth, Professor White Gunstar defeated Golden Silver, a destructive android that traveled millions of miles to suck G-9 dry of all its resources. Professor White was able to extract the four famous Mystical Gems, the robot's power source, and imprisoned it on one of G-9's moons.
Years later, a new menace rises. Colonel Red, a vicious dictator, found out that the Gunstars knew the location of the Mystical Gems. One day, Colonel Red kidnapped the Gunstar twins' older brother, Green, and used a mind control device to make Green obey his orders.
With Green's help, Colonel Red amassed all four Mystical Gems, has turned Gunstar 9's peaceful worker droids into deadly menaces, and is now preparing to leave for Gunstar 9's moon to reactivate Golden Silver.
Japanese Story: (This is considered the proper storyline, which sets up the sequel, Gunstar Super Heroes)
The world was nearing its end. An evil organization created the ultimate weapon, Golden Silver, the God of Ruin, to destroy countless cities on Earth from the moon. The Gunstars (Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow) seeing the Earth turn into a living hell before them and fueled by righteous anger, confronted the powerful Golden Silver. After a lengthy and arduous battle, they defeated the evil God of Ruin. To make sure he is never resurrected, they sealed his body on the moon and took the four gems that powered him, and sealed them away in separate areas on Earth. The exhausted Gunstars, having been pushed to their limits, prayed for a new civilization to arrive, and they began their long cryogenic sleep. All that is, except for one...
Time passed, and a new civilization was built on Earth. A legend was spread across the land; "Revive the God that sleeps on the moon, and he will guide the most righteous people to Utopia."
General Grey, the commander of the dictatorship calling themselves the "Empire", believed in this legend and attempted to carry it out. So, he sent people to the moon in a battleship called the "Ark", in order to mine for the gems that would call forth the God. It was then that the leader of the underground mining excursion, Dr. Brown, uncovered some capsules, in which the Gunstars were having their stasis.
Once they awakened, they learned of the Empire's plan to revive Golden Silver. Their companion, Green, whom they had remembered being with them until the very end, had lost his previous memories and was now assisting the Empire in the revival of the God of Ruin.
"We won't let such a tragedy happen again! We'll get back the gems and put a stop to the revival of Golden Silver!"
Once Dr. Brown heard the Gunstars' words, he decided to betray the Empire and promised to help the Gunstars in their battle.
Reception[]
Gunstar Heroes was awarded Best Action Game of 1993 by Electronic Gaming Monthly. 3D Gunstar Heroes received "generally favorable" reviews on Metacritic holding a metascore of 89/100 based on 13 critic reviews.[1]
Legacy[]
Sega released a sequel, Gunstar Super Heroes for the Game Boy Advance. It has a few changes, such as having a fixed weapon selection (instead of allowing players to pick their favorite combination) and the addition of overpowered attacks controlled by the trigger.
References[]
- ↑ Metascore for 3D Gunstar HeroesMetacritic, Retrieved April 20, 2020
External links[]
- Gunstar Heroes at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Gunstar Heroes at GameFAQs
- Gunstar Heroes at MobyGames
- Gunstar Heroes at Nintendo's Virtual Console page (North America)
- Gunstar Heroes at Sega's Virtual Console page (Japan)
- Gunstar Heroes at Virtual Console Reviews
- 3D Gunstar Heroes at Nintendo.com (North America)
| Treasure video games | |
|---|---|
| Published by Nintendo | Mischief Makers • Wario World Sin & Punishment • Sin & Punishment: Star Successor |
| Published by Sega | Dynamite Headdy • Alien Soldier • Light Crusader Gunstar Heroes • Gunstar Super Heroes |
| License games | Astro Boy: Omega Factor • Bleach: The Blade of Fate • Bleach: Dark Souls • Bleach: Versus Crusade • Dragon Drive • Hajime no Ippo Tiny Toon Adventures • Gaist Crusher • Gaist Crusher God |
| Non-License Games | Bangai-O • Bangai-O Spirits • Radiant Silvergun • Ikaruga • Advance Guardian Heroes |
| Related | Axelay • Konami • Nintendo • Sega • Enix |
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