Not since Turrican II on the Amiga have I been so hooked to a 2D action game. Recommended.
On the surface this is a ordinary 2D smash/shoot-em-up action platform game combined with some classic sideways scroller levels. The graphics are colorful, clear and detailed, although some big foes look a tad chunky since their sprites are mere magnified versions of their smaller selves. The animations are generally really good, but sometimes the GBA’s 16.8 Mhz of raw computing power struggles with all the action on screen.
After toying a bit with the game, one realise that this is in fact no ordinary 2D smash/shoot-em-up action platform game combined with some classic sideways scroller levels. The controls are very tight, the level design is excellent, the bosses are varied, and, maybe most importantly, the game tells a truly intriguing story. Treasure has constructed this loosely based on the original manga-series by Tezuka. Our hero battles both vicious bad guys and innocent robots through a storyline that twists and turns back and forth in both time and space. And when you think you’ve finished the game, they have made a really clever twist on the “play the game over again to see the real ending”…
What the center of the story of the game is I think the godfather of manga himself explaines the best: What I try to appeal through my works is simple. The opinion is just a simple message that follows: “Love all the creatures! Love everything that has life”! I have been trying to express this message in every one of my works. Though it has taken the different forms like “the presentation of nature” “the blessing of life” “the suspicion on too much science oriented civilisation” anti war and so on. -Osama Tezuka (From Astro Boy Online.)
Not since Turrican II on the Amiga have I been so hooked to a 2D action game. Recommended.