Mega Drive classic Gunstar Heroes hits iPhone

Treasure’s wild old skool shooter Gunstar Heroes has joined the likes of Sonic, Ecco, and Golden Axe, as another fondly remembered Mega Drive game that’s made its way to iPhone.

Gunstar has twins Red and Blue defeating the Emporer’s army, and keeping him from deactivating the mystical gems (it was always with the mystical gems back then, wasn’t it?) and destroying planet Gunstar 9.

You’ve got seven stages to play though, plenty of weapons to wield, and 25 of the developer’s party piece: gigantic boss battles. You can also team up and play cooperatively over Bluetooth.

Like most of Sega’s iOS ports, Gunstar Heroes is a straight, clean, and simple port to Apple’s device, with virtual buttons grafted onto the screen.

But I have my doubts about the game working well without physical buttons. Heroes is ridiculously fast, chaotic, and hard - I can barely get through the stages with a Mega Drive controller, so I’m not sure how I’d fair with unreliable touchscreen controls, and my thumbs obscuring the screen.

But if you’re not put off by virtual buttons, Gunstar Heroes is out now on iPhone and iPod touch, for £1.79 / $2.99 / €2.39.