The mad Colonel Red has discovered four crystals that imprison a deadly being known as GoldenSilver, and plans on unleashing it onto the population of the planet! He must be stopped! Enter… the Gunstar Heroes, Red and Blue!

The distant planet of Gunstar 9 has enjoyed a peaceful and prosperous history, so the last thing the inhabitants expected was an alien attack. And now it has happened. With the military rendered useless by the attackers, the planet is in need of some Gunstar Heroes to save the planets and prevent the total annihilation of Gunstar 9. This is where you come in, as one of two brothers, you must destroy the evil that has infiltrated your planet before it's too late. You've got a 360-degree firing radius, and you're going to need it to handle the hordes of enemies that will bombard you with all kinds of weapons and traps.

Unleash some mad blasting action onto the Colonel's army and don't let him bring GoldenSilver to life!! The fate of Gunstar-9 is in your hands!

At the start you have the choice to pick a weapon type, either Fire, Chaser, Lightning, or Standard. Each one supplies a different attack and as you progress through the levels, you'll find more. If you combine them, you'll get a new attack or getting another one of the same enhances you attack. Like Double-Fire makes an enormous flame-thrower. Fire and Chaser makes you fire attacks follow enemies. It's really fun, and there are about 14 different combinations.

First, let mesay this, Gunstar Heroes is hard, VERY hard. Mainly the bosses provide such a steep challenge you'll play over and over again (and a lack of a save system hurts, despite the fact that there are 7 levels). The only thing that bugs me about GH is the level design. It's basicaly you running through a straight direction. But the levels are creative, ranging from a level that plays like a board-game to a space shooter. It's very compelling.

Gunstar Heroes features:

• Gunstar 9 is under attack
• It's up to you to save your home planet
• 360-degree firing radius
• Side-scrolling action
• One or two players

You choose between Gunstars Red and Blue. Five weapons are at your disposal: force, lightning, chaser (like hunter), and fire. Two weapons can be carried simultaneously and can combined to form an even more powerful attack. While Red can run and fire at the same time, Blue must stop to shoot. This makes a huge difference in game play because certain bosses are easier to kill depending on which player you choose (and there are a lot of bosses!). In tight situations, both brothers also have distinctive close attacks. Red can perform a powerful body slam, while Blue can do both flying and drop kicks. You can also toss foes away from you and this even works on bosses!

Gunstar Heroes is a frantically paced, thoroughly entertaining game. Running, jumping, and shooting are the obvious attractions here, but players can also kick, body slam, and slide-tackle the near-constant onslaught of enemies (which include some wildly original bosses). There are just four different standard weapons (force, lightning, chaser, and fire), but any two weapons can be combined to form a high-powered attack. (For example: force plus fire equals exploding fireball.) Frenetic sounds, humor, and rich, style graphics add to the explosive gaming experience, as do mine cart and spaceship stages.

Treasure's Gunstar Heroes is a lot of things. Is an insanely fun shooter. It's the best shooter ever of 2D (and maybe even 3D!), and it is one of the best games ever made. It's a classic.