Gunstar Super Heroes

If there's a studio that can wring pure action ecstasy out of a handheld, it's Treasure. And Gunstar Super Heroes from 2005 is the best proof — a barrage of ideas and explosions that pushes the GBA to the very edge of what it can do.

In it Treasure returns to its cult Gunstar Heroes from the Mega Drive era, a classic of the run & gun genre that connoisseurs revere to this day. Super Heroes is neither a direct sequel nor a plain rehash — it's more of a reimagining that takes the spirit of the original and recasts it into a new, snappy and modern-leaning form adapted to the handheld console.

The principle stays brutally straightforward and addictive: you run, jump and shoot with everything you've got. But beneath that simplicity hides an enormous variety of situations — Treasure is famous for not letting you rest for a moment. No sooner do you get used to one style of play than the game throws you into a passage with a different viewing angle, a different pace or a completely new idea.

The absolute highlights are, as always, the bosses. Treasure turns them into little spectacles — giant opponents that change forms, flood the screen with projectiles and force you to read their attacks and find weak spots. Each such encounter is a standalone experience and the main reason players keep coming back to this game.

Visually it's one of the flashier titles on the console. A ton of sprite effects, explosions and detail show just how deep into the hardware Treasure managed to reach. The pace is high from the very first moment and the game never lets up until the end.

Gunstar Super Heroes isn't a long epic — it's a concentrated dose of adrenaline you blast through in one breath and keep coming back to for the joy of pure action and boss fights.

Why play: For concentrated action ecstasy and superb bosses from Treasure — a run & gun that pushes the GBA to the max.