Gunstar Heroes

The Good
Visually things are nothing short of stunning. Tonnes is going on at a time, the characters are well drawn and move fluidly, with some cataclysmic explosion effects, the scrolling and animation are super-smooth in every direction, and the weapons give off impressive rippling effects. It certainly goes beyond what most people thought a Genesis could do.

There's a good range of weapons available, each with their own advantages and disadvantages, making for interesting choices as you try to decide which two to have at a time, and which to use - if you know which sections are coming up, you might know which weapon is especially useful for that, and should thus be saved.

The different bosses are impressive, all with their own individual traits in terms of their movement patterns and any available 'sweet spots'. The ticking damage meters for them work well too.

The four game worlds are noticeably different in terms not only of appearance, but in progression style, structure and feel. Being able to play them in any order is a nice touch. There's a surprise at every turn, including the auto-scrolling sections, the dice game near the end, and the short celebratory sequences after completing each world

The Bad
The power-ups can be quite hard to collect in pressure situations. The use of unlimited continues means that it's a little too easy - the only plus to this is that more people will get to see the brilliance, which just seems to continue throughout.

The Bottom Line
A truly immense game that everyone should play. Once you look beyond the graphics there's still a lot on offer, all put together with attention to detail and true class. It's a shame the Sonic the Hedgehog games are better known - for all their strengths, they can't match the brilliance of this.