Man, this one's tough. At the same time, a lot of what it does is my shit. The setpieces and boss fights in this one is like if Contra III went into maximum overdrive, just absolutely stopped giving a fuck. "Seven Force" is a legendary boss fight, especially when fought on the Hardest difficulty where you get to see it go through all its phases. The rest of the game holds up pretty well too, but honestly, you really wanna play it just for Seven Force alone.

Still, even on lower difficulties, Gunstar kicked my ass like nothing else. This is a hectic as hell run 'n gun, and one that I don't think I could ever master. But I'll always come back to it for its sheer spectacle. Treasure has only just started making games, but they've already hit a pretty high bar on how to create unconventional bangers. Checking out more of their catalogue is super recommended, as is playing Gunstar Heroes.