Sega has been slowly releasing classic Genesis titles onto Xbox Live Marketplace, but perhaps no title was more anticipated than the hard-to-find but much beloved Gunstar Heroes. Developed by Treasure, Gunstar Heroes is widely beloved by old-school gamers for its sheer difficulty and fun game play. Thankfully, the version Xbox 360 owners can download has all of what made Gunstar Heroes so great, and a little bit more.
The graphics have gotten a slight "smoothing," as Microsoft calls it. Or, in other words, they've made the game's sprites a bit more polished. It's slightly noticeable, but for the most part, you won't even see it because you'll be too busy trying to blast enemies away on the screen. For a game that's 16 years old, it's aged very, very well, as the vibrant scrolling backgrounds and colorful enemies, mixed in with a ton of explosions, make for quite the visual experience.
But what Gunstar Heroes is mostly known for is its frantic, fast-paced game play. Treasure is well-known for its shoot 'em up titles, and many of the elements that you'll find in games like Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga appear in Gunstar Heroes. Levels are filled with enemies coming at you from all sides, forcing you to stay on your feet as you collect power-ups and try to stay alive. Even on the easiest difficulty setting, it's not uncommon to be swamped by a sea of bad guys firing at you, which is, of course, part of the game's charm. Throw in some hulking bosses at the end of each level, including one boss that transforms into seven different robotic forms, and you'll find that Treasure's title is still as tough in 2009 as it was back in 1993.
While it might be easy to think the game's controls won't hold up well on the transition from Genesis to Xbox 360, I'd have to say the Xbox 360 controller, with its dual analog sticks, actually makes for better controls than the old Genesis controller. It's faster, more responsive and just overall easier to use. Of course, it's still possible to use the D-pad on the 360 controller, but with the analog sticks letting you move in eight directions much easier, why would you except for nostalgia? When playing through a game where the action moves at the speed of light, and where one false move can doom you, having the analog stick in place of the clunky D-pad is a very welcome change.
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