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I missed this game back when it was released mainly because I moved to PC gaming. I've recently in the last 6 months started collecting for the Genesis & finally got this and Strider complete, for a good price on Ebay. This is easily one of the best run and gun games I've played, with awesome boss battles, a good variety in the level design and some creative use of the weapons. Dice Palace was easily one of my favorite levels in the game, as well as the final stretch when all of the bosses are watching on the big screen jumping into the fight one at a time. I just finished single player and will try coop later this weekend. Overall the game was a bit short but seems to have a good amount of replay ability, with the variety of level design and weapon combos. I wish I had played this back when it was released but better late than never. For anyone wanting to give it a shot it's available on PSN, Virtual Console and IOS. Just wanted to share my enthusiasm for an awesome game, on to Strider.

 

[Arion]

One of my favorite games from my childhood.

Treasure really shined with their debut game.

 

[SnowTeeth]

To me this is one of the greatest games of all time. I had so much fun playing co-op in this game and the memories will stay with me forever.

It has fun and exciting run and gun gameplay and the graphics and music are some of the best the 16-bit generation ever produced. Treasure created some magic when they made this game.


Gunstar Heroes OST

 

[Thoraxes]

Norio Hanzawa is a god.

The music alone made the game for me!

 

[Blade25]

I always thought the main boss of the game looked like M.Bison / Dictator from the Street Fighter series. Aside from that I remember never being able to beat this dang game

 

[Parallax]

When i first played this, i did it randomly at a friends house. A few hours later, and his cousins and i were hooked. Very few games have gotten me addicted like that, but damn was it worth it.

 

[Tomat]

Fantastic game with a great OST. Alien Soldier has a pretty damn good OST as well.

Fun game to watch people speedrun as well, if only to see runs be completely destroyed by the dice room.

 

[vilmer_]

One of the best games of the era, without a doubt. I still remember the music fondly.

 

[joeblow]

To this day I've hoped that more developers would take the cue from this awesome game in how to increase difficulty to a game during repeated play-throughs without simply adding enemy health. The mine cart level boss Seven Force only uses all of his shape-shifting powers on the toughest difficulty. That blew my mind back in the day.

 

[Yokai]

Amazing game.

If you don't own a genesis and haven't played this game before I'd suggest you pick this game up on steam.

 

[Schrödinger's cat]

What a fantastic game. And an amazing debut for Treasure!

Agree with all the posts above. Thumping music made this all the more memorable.

Plus difficulty levels that gave extra CONTENT, not just stat changes. Such as more boss phases on the mine-cart level.

sogood.gif

 

[Zaku]

Very, very few games can be described as "literal perfection of the genre".

This is one of them.

If you like 2D run and guns but dislike Gunstar Heroes, you don't actually like 2D run and guns. This isn't an opinion. It's fact.

 

[mrmickfran]

Seven Force was the best part of the game.

 

[Piston Hyundai]

Very, very few games can be described as "literal perfection of the genre".

This is one of them.

If you like 2D run and guns but dislike Gunstar Heroes, you don't actually like 2D run and guns. This isn't an opinion. It's fact.

What if I prefer another game?

I'll give you 2 guesses on which one.

 

[Pikelet]

This is my favourite 16 bit game. Just phenomenal music, amazing co-op, plenty of depth to the movement and shooting. Experimenting with different gun combinations was awesome. The melee combat was surprisingly effective and satisfying with the dive/kick moves, not to mention wall jumping.

Also there were just so many bosses, and all of them so unique. Seven Force is unforgettable, but there's also a heap of awesome minibosses in the dice level (which was an absolutely amazing premise for a level, by the way).

It's just all so good, still worth playing.

 

[ElTopo]

One of the greatest Run 'N Gun games of all time. Up there with Contra and Metal Slug.

 

[SnowTeeth]

It is surprising how this game isn't as loved as I thought it would be here on GAF. Half a page of replies before the thread disappeared is kinda disappointing, but I know that a lot of people prefer other run'n'gun games to this one so it's no real surprise. To me this game is in the top 5 of all 4th-gen games and is an almost perfect package. Apart from this I can't find any other interviews/introspectives with Treasure about the making of this game. Shame as I'd love to know more about the making of it. It's an incredible first showing by Treasure and an amazing achievement.

 

[Foshy]

This game is seriously amazing. Played it the first time on Wii VC and absolutely loved it.

Spoiler

lightning + chaser is op as fuck though

 

[@MUWANdo]

It is surprising how this game isn't as loved as I thought it would be here on GAF. Half a page of replies before the thread disappeared is kinda disappointing, but I know that a lot of people prefer other run'n'gun games to this one so it's no real surprise. To me this game is in the top 5 of all 4th-gen games and is an almost perfect package. Apart from this I can't find any other interviews/introspectives with Treasure about the making of this game. Shame as I'd love to know more about the making of it. It's an incredible first showing by Treasure and an amazing achievement.

I daresay the lack of replies is due to the fact that everything that could possibly be said about this game has already been said a million times. It's fantastic, but we knew that twenty years ago.

Anyway, you might appreciate this interview concerning the making of Gunstar:

http://www.gamengai.com/cmnt_inf.php?id=1424&type=translation&p=1

There's also an interview with a Sega of America producer who says Gunstar almost never came out in America due to the fact that large sprites were in vogue and Gunstar didn't have 'em:

http://www.sega-16.com/2013/10/interview-mac-senour/

 

[SnowTeeth]

I daresay the lack of replies is due to the fact that everything that could possibly be said about this game has already been said a million times. It's fantastic, but we knew that twenty years ago.

Anyway, you might appreciate this interview concerning the making of Gunstar:

http://www.gamengai.com/cmnt_inf.php?id=1424&type=translation&p=1

There's also an interview with a Sega of America producer who says Gunstar almost never came out in America due to the fact that large sprites were in vogue and Gunstar didn't have 'em:

http://www.sega-16.com/2013/10/interview-mac-senour/

Must of missed most of those threads but I figured that might be the case.

I heard that the game almost missed out on release in the states before but I didn't know it was because of the size of the sprites. Did they see most of the bosses!? Wow, haha.

Thanks for the gamengai interview! Exactly what I've been looking for. Cheers.

 

[Seven Force]

oh hey i hear this is a pretty cool game

I absolutely love the framing of this level. Especially when you get to the end, and Green is waiting there to kick your ass with his bare hands.

 

[Tizoc]

How's the Steam ver. of this game?

FYI you can get an M2 port by getting the Treasure Collection off of JP PSN.

 

[liquidtmd]

Imagine a ground up PS4 remake fighting something on the scale of Seven Force in 3D

 

[Seven Force]

FYI you can get an M2 port by getting the Treasure Collection off of JP PSN.

Yep. The Game Gear version is also an unlockable in the same collection.

 

[@MUWANdo]

Sega Ages Treasure Box is a nice package but I'm not a fan of PS2 Classics, the emulation isn't quite smooth enough for hardcore action games.

 

[Zeth]

How's the Steam ver. of this game?

FYI you can get an M2 port by getting the Treasure Collection off of JP PSN.

I'm curious about this version as well. If it's playable I'd love to have it in my collection.

 

[Neff]

Norio Hanzawa is a god.

The music alone made the game for me!

His arcade stuff was fantastic, especially The Simpsons, but he let rip with GH. In fact most of Treasure did. The game drips with enthusiasm, dedication, and the obvious thrill of creative freedom which led them to leave Konami in the first place.

 

[NewGame]

The intro title screen in Gunstar Heroes is one of the most impactful memories of the game I have.

If you liked Gunstar Heroes I highly highly super mega ultra impossibly fantastic ridiculous recommend Mischief Makers on N64.

 

[frogger]

Did you know this game is 1mb in size?

 

[Zalman]

I played both this and its GBA sequel fairly recently. Loved them both, but I think the sequel is better. What's the general consensus on that?

 

[sixteen-bit]

Gunstar Heroes sure has some good graphics...

 

[ViewtifulJC]

I played both this and its GBA sequel fairly recently. Loved them both, but I think the sequel is better. What's the general consensus on that?

sixteen-bit thinks this, I believe. He's part of the Tain/Jeremy Parish Treasure hater brigade last I checked

 

[liquidtmd]

Did you know this game is 1mb in size?

If you can look beyond the graphics, it still offers a more intense action experience than some modern games running on media storage 40,000 odd times larger.

Crazy.

 

[SnowTeeth]

I played both this and its GBA sequel fairly recently. Loved them both, but I think the sequel is better. What's the general consensus on that?

I've only played some of the emulated GBA version which isn't the optimum way to play, being a game tailored for the handheld and all. I liked what I played but I immediately missed the throwing capability which I thought was intrinsic to the originals charm.

Did you know this game is 1mb in size?

mindblown.gif

Incredible.

 

[ZealousD]

Greatest run-and-gun of all time, and probably the best game on the Genesis.

I say this as somebody who has some pretty hardcore nostalgia for the Genesis and yet never actually played the game until it was released on the VC. It was basically the best game for the Wii at launch.

 

[Fisty]

Ive always wondered if there are more weapon choices than Laser+Homing....

I guess the world may never know (at least im not willing to find out. Love this game... the dice-throwing board game was my favorite part, always kept you guessing

 

[Dereck]

Recently saw people on here saying this game was overrated, whoever that was, come on out and explain.

 

[liquidtmd]

Ive always wondered if there are more weapon choices than Laser+Homing....

I guess the world may never know (at least im not willing to find out. Love this game... the dice-throwing board game was my favorite part, always kept you guessing

This intrigues me. I always, ALWAYS played with the Double Fire symbol icon thingy weapon choice

Recently saw people on here saying this game was overrated, whoever that was, come on out and explain.

Its GAF. You could get a full on 1080p / 60fps 3D PS4 remake of this directed by Miyamoto, Kojima and Kamiya, covered in chocolate and presented by skimpy clad models selling for £20 - you'd still get some quarters saying "Meeeehhhh" / "I'll bite when it goes on sale" / "It dropped two frames during Seven Force, TWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

 

[SonyToo!™]

I have the Steam version, it's like using an emulator like GENS with save states, it's OK I guess