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Some offers are just too tempting for their own good, and what at first appears to be the most lucrative deal ever often turns sour. The plot behind Sega's Gunstar Heroes follows a similar line to this, yet reads like some kind of bad gag:

There's this bloke called Green who has two friends named Blue and Red. Collectively this trio are nown as the Gunstar Heroes - a mighty intergalactic fighting force that don't take no hassle! One day, Black, a bad guy, hires Orange to bribe Green with the promise of eternal wealth. In return, Green captains a mining expedition in search of four mystic gems that are rumoured to awake 'The Creator'. Unfortunately for Green, Black has quite a reputation for global chaos. Disgruntled by the whole affair, Red and Blue disown Green and take after Black's entourage as all this Creator business is surely a disaster in the making! Get it? I don't.

Experienced shoot-'em-up fans have encountered challenges such as this in the past but never one so stylish. Gunstar Heroes takes one or two players through seven stages of frantic, high-density blasting mayhem.

Gunstar Heroes takes its inspiration from a multitude of scrolling beat-'em-ups/shoot-'em-ups.

Take Red and/or Blue through seven stages of platform/shoot-'em-up action. Shoot or kick everything that moves and collect power-ups.

At Red and Blue's disposal is an array of offensive moves that requires some skill in their deployment:

1. Slide-Kick: The lads dive feet-first at the enemies' legs, causing masses of bone-breaking damage!
2. Jump-Kick: Larger enemies require a more elevated approach to their destruction. A jump-kick causes the same amount of damage as a slide but looks cooler!
3. Punch: The least impressive of all moves but still pretty useful against the likes of Curry and Rice (one of the bosses in Black's base)
4. Hanging: No, Red and Blue don't charge around with a noose at the ready! Their hanging tactics involve dangling from one arm whilst blasting their enemies with the gun in the other.
5. Wall-Spring: Taking evasive action or simply gaining a high vantage point is possible by jumping Red and Blue onto then immediately off walls. Yowzer!

One reason why it is essential to experience Gunstar Heroes first-hand is the appearance of the Seven Force. This seven-stage boss encountered in the Underground Mine scors you senseless! As a taster of what is to come, here's a brief lowdown on this multiple monster, piloted by that scummy traitor, Green.

1. Soldier Force:
   Green swoops into view aboard a floating platform and immediately calls upon the power of the stones to form a two-legend, running machine that attacks by using its arms as boomerangs and an extendable battering ram.
2. Tails Force:
   Tails' somersault assault drains the heroes' energy away like crazy. Fortunately, its Lightning Zap is less of a problem.
3. Tiger Force:
   This incarnation bombards the heroes with a sight-activated laser - once Red or Blue or locked-on they're for it, so it's best to keep them moving! Tiger follows this up with a Trace Zapper which predicts its trajectory with a fine guideline.
4. Eagle:
   A dancing eagle may look ridiculous but don't underestimate its power, especially as the performance ends with a spread-laser attack!
5. Blaster:
   By the time Green's tour de force reaches this stage, he'd much rather just transform into an enormous gun and blow Red and Blue into oblivion. So he does.
6. Urchin:
   Urchins are usually associated with small, insignificant beings. This particular one is very large and as big a threat as anyone can handle at this stage in the game!
7. Crab:
   Finally, Green transmutes the Seven Force into a cavern-crushing crab, blocking the Heroes' way with Crash Mines, rows of Crushers, and Will 'o the Wisps - balls of energy that drain Red and Blues'.

Of course, there's the usual selection of weapons available to the heroes:

Force: A steady line of pulse-laser fire that is straight and to the point.

Lightning: Tears through enemies quicker than Johnny Quick at a Quick Festival. Ahem.

Chaser: Makes life easy by seeking out the enemies itself.

Fire: Toasts enemies at short range and is very powerful. This is all well and good but the fun really starts when two are combined! That's right, the heroes are able to carry two weapons at once and may select between them at will. However, after witnessing the speedy demise of a foe to a Chaser/Lightning combo things are never quite the same again!

So this is where all the videogame go for a holiday, is it?! Gunstar Heroes' fast-moving action is astounding. We thought we'd seen it all on the Megadrive but Sega, once again, ignore only preconceived ideas about their machine's limitations and call upon it to scale and rotate sprites all over the place.

All characters are incredibly lively, there's no danger of finding any idle sprites in this game! Other than the path that Red and Blue tread, pretty much everything else on screen is alive and dangerous! The acrobatics that the central characters display add to the excitement and their determined stances strengthens the player's resolve in helping them win.

Success isn't easy either, and there's no doubt that the completion of this game requires a lot of skill with a pinch of luck. The Seven Force is an absolute nightmare! Just like the kind of roller-coasters that bear warnings for people with nervous dispositions and the like, you'd better prepare yourself for a real white-knuckle ride with Gunstar Heroes because it's that amazing!

Gunstar Heroes is one of the most incredible games I've ever seen on the Megadrive.

The graphics are fantastic, with an amazing depth of detail and a lot of attention paid to the animation. Later levels see remarkable displays of scaling and rotation that put even the Super NES to shame, such is their brilliance. The sound matches the standard of the graphics with a huge variety of crunchy, thrashy tunes holding the atmosphere of the action and really booming, echoing explosions.

And for once, the gameplay matches the high standard of presentation. There's so much variety in Gunstar, every level is completely different, going from a deadly board game to piloting a space fighter. There's loads of cool weapons too, which is just as well because there's zillions of enemies too. The two-player option really rounds everything off, and there's not so much as a hint of slowdown even when the screen is completely packed.

Gunstar Heroes most definitely is Ribena, in fact, it's £5,000 worth of Harry the Lime flavour. Camp outside your local software palace until this is released and buy it immediately.

Presentation 91%
P. The intro sequence grabs the attention and every stage is rounded off spectacularly. An options screen allows players to adjust both difficulty and control.

Graphics 94%
P. Astounding! Seriously, this game ought to come packed with sedatives for all the exciting visuals it produces!

Sound 93%
P. The music makes the Megadrive really groove. Turn it up, boyee! The sound effects come courtesy of Captain Cool too!

Playability 92%
P. Red and Blue's many techniques are exploited to the max! Discovering the many different ways Black's men bite the big one accounts for half the fun!

Lastability 90%
P. The battle against Black's forces is tough and spectacular gameplay keeps you coming back for more even after completion.

Overall 93%
A stunning title both in appearance and the gameplay it offers. Gunstar Heroes sets a new standard for the Megadrive - for action titles at least.