SEGA Forever, the SEGA initiative to bring some of their classic library to mobile devices, has had quite the year. It launched in the early summer in a rather dismal state, faced a swift backlash, and has been trying to crawl its way back up ever since. While largely limited to games from SEGA's 16-bit console thus far, the selection has been eclectic to say the least. I'm not surprised the team wants to close out the calendar year on something of a safe note with the release of Gunstar Heroes [Free], a game that has quietly become one of the most popular classics in SEGA's back catalog. It's one of the more frequent re-releases from that era, and even iOS has played host to a version before.

Assuming you're already familiar with this classic run 'n gun, you're probably just wondering how this particular version is. The SEGA Forever Mega Drive emulator has improved considerably since launch, luckily. Gunstar Heroes uses a lot of unusual tricks and effects, and they come off well enough here that I doubt anyone will be bothered by the minor inaccuracies. The game includes the usual SEGA Forever bells and whistles such as save states, a 15-second gameplay rewind, customizable virtual controls, and MFi controller support. It also allows for local multiplayer via wi-fi, a critical feature for this game. You can play for free if you don't mind seeing the occasional ad, or you can pay a one-time IAP to remove non-SEGA ads and activate a couple of special features. If you alread...