Apparently, I have done something right this year. Some gaming deity out in the ether took to heart my love for portable gaming, Sega and especially Treasure. The end result is Astro Boy for the GBA, a 2D romp through a classic anime world brought to you from the development duo of Hitmaker and Treasure. What more could a gamer want?

I'm not going to pretend that I knew much about Astro Boy before plunging into his colorful world on the GBA. I'm not going to insult long time fans of the series by doing five minutes of research and dropping a bunch of names. I can tell you that Astro Boy is apparently a kick ass robot capable of doling out quite a large number of violent acts against a motley crew of baddies and even some confused good guys as well.

The Treasure 'feel' is all over this cart. From the rock solid and often frantic gameplay to even some familiar music to long term Treasure fans, Astro Boy is a stand out showcase title for the GBA. Sega couldn't have possibly picked a better partner for this title as the 2D action shooter practically belongs to Treasure. I applaud everyone involved because this title is easily in the running for my portable game of the year.

The look of Astro Boy is bright and colorful. The character is often considered the Japanese version of Mickey Mouse. The pallet was not spared for this GBA cart as the developers employ all sorts of color for every aspect of the game from the many characters to the lush backdrops you see throughout the game. The enemies you face are reasonably diverse and you tend to face multiple versions of some of the standard bad guys in the form of scaled up sprites. While this can look pixelated even on the diminutive GBA screen, the technique also allows for you to take on a ton of screen filling baddies at once for some hectic action.

The sounds in the game are also rich and varied. The music is well done and fits the fast paced and futuristic nature of the title while throwing in some old classic Treasure tunes from games past. Sound effects are also numerous due to the number of varied attacks you have at your disposal.

As with most Treasure games, the gameplay is where it all comes together. I was really looking forward to Astro Boy since it seemed to be in the same vein as arguably my favorite game of all time, Gunstar Heroes. The action is fast and furious as you guide the little hero robot, Astro Boy around the various levels. Being a powerful robot, Astro Boy has access to all sorts of offence. Not only does he have a bunch of close combat punches and kicks at his disposal, but he also has multiple projectile attacks. Astro Boy has a powerful finger laser, and screen filling machine gun spread shot which is good for clearing out some space.

What action game would be complete without some screen clearing super moves? Astro Boy has a few of those as well. You can let loose a giant laser and even perform a super dash attack where Astro Boy hurls himself through any enemy unfortunate enough to cross his path. Astro Boy can also use his jet boots to boost through danger and reach hidden areas. The boost move allows you a moment of invulnerability which comes in quite handy as the action is generally insane in this little cart.

Throughout the levels, you encounter different characters which not only help to keep the story moving along, but also help to fill up Astro Boy's 'soul.' Each person he meets, gives him a point to level up one of his abilities. You can level up his punching power, his laser, his boost (which gives you multiple boosts), his laser, his guns, and even his sensors which allow him to detect hidden areas and people. All of these will be needed to power up to face the later levels.

Now I'm usually not a fan of artificial gameplay inflation, but Astro Boy is a game that did it right. The story actually involves you going through most of the levels once before you get thrown back in time to try and stop the fate of the world. I actually enjoyed the story. It changes on the second time through and new paths open up which allow you to eventually power yourself up completely. You can also jump around from stage to stage at will which is needed to fully uncover certain characters in your soul. Sure, there is a little bit of backtracking involved, but there are a ton of games who abuse the practice far worse. The enjoyable, high action gameplay makes the level replays very easy to swallow.

Along with great story and gameplay, Astro Boy features a great auto save that allows you to continue your game at any stage without having to manually manage your saves. There is nothing like a great save feature in a portable game that makes the pick up and play nature that much more enjoyable.

Astro Boy is an excellent action game for the GBA and it's very much in the same category as Gunstar Heroes. It's not as great as Gunstar is, but it's easily one of the most fun times I've had with the GBA so far this year and easily in the running for portable game of the year. From the graphics to gameplay, Astro Boy is a complete package.