Gunstar Heroes

Gunstar Heroes is a run and gun co-op video game released in 1993 by Sega and the first game produced by Treasure. It was released on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis system, with dedicated ports to the Sega Game Gear(Japan only) and Nintendo 3DS.

Gunstar Heroes is one of three games included with Gunstar Heroes: Treasure Box Collection, a compilation of Treasure-produced Mega Drive games for the PlayStation 2 alongside Dynamite Headdy and Alien Soldier.

The game was included on the Mega Drive Mini and in the blue Game Gear Micro and has been included in the Sega Genesis Classics on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.

Gameplay
Gunstar Heroes is a side scrolling run and gun game in the style of Contra. The player takes on the role of either Gunstar Red or Gunstar Blue, each with their own unique gameplay styles, and uses a variety of unique ammo to shoot their way through an army of opponents and take on end game bosses.

Gunstar Red is able to run and shoot at the same time with his stance 'Free Shot' allowing for fast paced gameplay.

Gunstar Blue cannot run and shoot at the same time but can aim in all eight directions with his stance 'Fixed Shot' allowing for more accurate shooting.

The ammo available to each of the Gunstar twins is as follows:


 * Force: Full auto shot and powerful.
 * Chaser: This shot homes in on the enemies on screen allowing for less accurate shooting to be effective.
 * Lightning: A straight shot that can penetrate through multiple enemies and objects
 * Flame: A flamethrower shot that is short range but the most powerful of the ammo.

There are two ammo slots which the player can use to combine to create a new distinct style. Combining Lightning and Chaser will allow you to shoot a homing laser beam attack, whilst combining two Force shots will allow for a stronger full auto shot with an even faster rate of fire.

Unlike most games of it's kind, Gunstar Heroes uses a numerical value to indicate health rather than simple hit points. Players start with 100 health points, but can increase it up to 220 with health pick ups.

Storyline
The storyline slightly differs depending on version, although the Japanese version is considered the canon for the Gameboy Advance sequel.

Japanese:
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.

Western:
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.

Reception
The game did considerably better than Treasure and SEGA had hoped, with most critics scoring it very highly, praising it's fast and furious action playstyle, detailed graphics and for pushing the action genre forward.

Trivia

 * Gunstar Heroes was originally named Lunatic Gunstar due to it's frantic speed and pace, but Sega of America felt the word 'Lunatic' had negative connotations and requested a change.
 * It was also nearly called Blade Gunner in homage to Blade Runner but was rejected for copyright reasons.