I caught some scanned screens from Play magazine from the upcoming “Gunstar Super Heroes” for the GBA. This follows the rumours last month that Sega had trademarked the game’s title.

Treasure’s involvement was also confirmed in the article, creating a significant amount of buzz for fans of the original Genesis game. However instead of losing control like so many others after hearing the words Sega, Treasure, and Gunstar in the same sentence, let me be straight with you.

Advance Guardian Heroes sucked. In fact, it was the worst game of 2004. It should also be known that Treasure developed Advance Guardian Heroes. Even though Treasure only assisted in the development of Astro Boy: Omega Factor, it was undoubtedly the better game, and one of my favorites from 2004. Omega Factor shared the same visual and gameplay style as Gunstar Heroes, and in hindsight was probably its true successor. My reluctance to accept Gunstar GBA lies in the sprites and backgrounds that are too reminiscent of Advance Guardian Heroes. I’m afraid to get excited because it would be too easy for Treasure to use the same engine that made Advance Guardian Heroes completely unplayable.

I like that classic titles are being retooled for the GBA: Zero Mission and Metal Slug are just a couple of other recent examples. It lends credence to why the GBA remains such a wonderful outlet for 2D gaming. What I don’t like is the dependence on a brand that seems to give developers and publishers some kind of license to abuse the unconditional love of the fans that made these titles successful in the first place.