I never played Yoshi’s Island for the SNES. The sequel to Super Mario World, one of my favorite games for that platform, was largely forgotten in those transitory years that eventually made me pursue PC gaming exclusively. Games at that time had to compete with the likes of Ultima VIII (which I had convinced myself was being ripped off by Blizzard for Diablo), Command and Conquer, and Dark Forces for my attention. But from what I’ve read, I don’t think I was the only one that was distracted. It seems that the crayon-and-markers art style made some gamers avoid this title, when compared to what was capable with Donkey Kong Country only a year before, despite the critical acclaim that followed. Am I only kidding myself, or was Yoshi’s Island really that overlooked?

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The Gameboy Advance saw three Castlevania adventures in as many years after its release: Circle of the Moon (2001), Harmony of Dissonance (2002), and Aria of Sorrow (2003). Aria of Sorrow was my first experience with the remodeled portable Castlevania series, and still remains the finest (excluding last year’s fantastic Dawn of Sorrow on the DS, of course). At the time of Harmony of Dissonance’s release, the step up in visuals combined with a simpler brand of gameplay made it stand out as a worthy successor to the two-dimensional masterpiece Symphony of the Night. The RPG/Castleroid adventure style it adopted and familiar main character made for an easy comparison; whether it deserved the subsequent praise it received is debatable.

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I’ve decided to share a few words about Gunstar Super Heroes, the recently released follow-up to the Genesis classic, because it has me completely turned around.

My initial skepticism was rightfully deserved, as the wounds of disappointment I sustained while playing Guardian Heroes Advance continue to bleed to this day. That games are still being published for the GBA is a revelation in itself; the fact that an excellent 2D side scrolling shooter has been made available at this point in its lifespan is doubly surprising.

What initially gripped me was the game’s speed. Gunstar Super Heroes runs smooth. Actually, forget that – the game runs as smooth as my fondest memories of Gunstar Heroes. It made me remember the days where we convinced ourselves the term “blast processing” actually possessed technical weight. Compared with my experiences with Guardian Heroes Advance – a game that single-handedly made me question the existence of a special hell for gamers – this was reason enough to embrace the game immediately. But.

Similar to Metal Slug Advance, the game is limited by its number of levels. Someone proficient in the 2D side scrolling shooter arts will likely surpass the game’s extremely diverse levels within an afternoon. Once you complete the first mission, the four following missions are available to be completed in any order, though it does completely obliterate the game’s forgettable storyline. A “final” stage and giant boss battle are encountered at the end of these four missions. Once again Treasure has produced some legitimately challenging bosses, complete with their over-the-top appearances and attacks. In a bid to prolong the game, you’re dumped to the menu screen every time you die, forcing you to continue from the beginning of the level. As usual, pattern recognition becomes the only gameplay strategy.

Disappointing was the lack of cooperative multiplayer, which is how I got most of my enjoyment out of the original Gunstar Heroes. The game lets you begin as either Red or Blue, offering a different selection of starting weapons and moves and a slightly different perspective on the same story, but it’s no replacement.

I was bothered by the need for Treasure to lead off every level with some kind of “vehicle” or “flying” sequence, where you’re on a jet or flying a helicopter over a cityscape replete with skyscrapers. Because each sequence is so different, they require a brief learning period to adapt to the change in controls and environment. Still, when it got down to the actual running and shooting, I was appeased. All the weapon power-ups from the original Gunstar Heroes – including some new ones – are available, and for a few moments it felt like I was playing the same game, familiarity clouding my ability to judge quality. Nevertheless, I remained most impressed with the style of gameplay that was so effortlessly maintained throughout the game.

As the DS continues to gain momentum in the portable gaming market with its many holiday releases, it’s heartening to see that simple affairs like Gunstar Super Heroes are still worth pursuing by developers. While I can understand the need to supply games for the GBA given that Nintendo’s official position on the DS is that it is not the follow-up to the GBA, the release of Advance Wars: Dual Strike, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow and Lunar: Dragon Song has shown that traditional 2D titles can offer something more than a pushbutton experience. That being said, a game like Gunstar Super Heroes would almost certainly fail in any context other than the GBA. As the shift towards graphical prowess permeates the handheld market, it becomes harder to determine who plans to sustain this genre.

I found that essence rare

One of the stranger things about Fire Emblem (GBA) was that your character was outside of the game. Specifically, you were identified as the “tactician”, and instead of fielding each battle with an avatar you would be commanding the characters in your party. It was a bit odd during the cutscenes when the characters started talking to you, because it’s not like you had a choice as to how the story was directed – a feature that may have made the whole tactician aspect a little more valuable. You didn’t even get to pick and choose who got to join the group as the outcome of those scenes was predetermined.

Intelligent Systems has returned this year with another Fire Emblem, entitled The Sacred Stones. Dropping the tactician approach, the game follows the main characters, Prince Ephraim and Princess Eirika, who have been ousted from their homeland by a treacherous neighboring kingdom and must gather an army to take it back. It’s your typical adventure story where a ragtag bunch must come together and fight the forces of evil, and there’s nothing wrong with that. What I don’t like, however, is the lack of any new features. Everything is exactly the same.

You could accuse this of the Golden Sun series as well: after all, The Lost Age was just the same game following the adventures of a different set of characters. Though as an RPG/Adventure, Golden Sun allowed the player to participate in the story as it happened, whereas Fire Emblem is unfortunately limited to telling you the story through cutscenes with talking heads. While the art may be very appealing, the dialogue is as campy as ever and rarely was I surprised about what transpired. This is nothing against the gameplay itself, however, as it remains a highly competent turn based strategy game (and vastly different from the previously mentioned Golden Sun). You’re just looking at the same tilesets, character avatars, and battle animations. Since the battles are the core of the game, they should at least appear fresh and interesting. What would have made this outing of Fire Emblem a little more palatable is the inclusion of a map editor, something that Intelligent Systems put into Advance Wars 2.

The storyline, then, should be the one aspect of this game that makes you want to continue playing. For me, though, it wasn’t. The enormous cast of characters lends itself well to some interesting situations, and a wide spectrum of personalities that eventually make up your army. You may even grow to love certain characters, playing the game to see what happens to them and ensuring they survive. The permanent death of your characters was one of the best features of the Fire Emblem series, because it made you value each character’s contribution to the campaign. Pegasus Knights may be weak, but they are usually the only ones able to rescue another character from immediate danger – an ability that allows you to save your most powerful troops. Despite all this, the big picture is lost amidst the story arcs and flashbacks in some kind of fantasy soap opera, and I began to get agitated waiting for each cutscene to be able to play through the next map.

Fire Emblem is certainly one of the best turn based strategy games I’ve played, coming close to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance in terms of its addictive qualities. However The Sacred Stones feels more like an expansion, not a sequel. This should be great news for fans of its predecessor, but it doesn’t really offer much except more of the same. It makes me wonder why this game was even made, given the DS will be seeing Advance Wars DS this August. Why not just make a version of Fire Emblem for the DS, introducing the use of the touch screen that we’ve heard so much about? I find it hard to accept that Nintendo is trying to extend the life of the GBA when their latest handheld is capable of so much more. The Sacred Stones may have a different ending, but if getting there requires viewing all-too familiar scenery it hardly makes the voyage worth travelling.

I believe I can see the future

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.