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The world of Simonchu is a world of peace. Animals roam through the land living in harmony with nature. Unfortunately, peace is a fragile thing and a nameless villain decides that things are too comfortable for his own taste on this land. With a horde of creatures and monsters, this evil being invades the land to terrorize all the creatures that live there. But there is one who will stand against the evil. One hero will rise to face the challenge and that hero is a hamster called Simonchu! Simonchu will travel the land, face the evil creatures, and free the land of the evil that has destroyed its peace. The rules are simple, jump over the evil creatures to defeat them and advance through the different areas of the land in order to face the ultimate evil. Simonchu is a clever platformer game for the GBA that is very entertaining despite having simple gameplay. The graphics are very coloful and there is plenty of challenge for the player to face. Whether it is the spikes that are all over the land or the many evil creatures that invade it, Simonchu will have his...paws full. Enemies can only be killed if you make Simonchu jump on them but you must be careful since touching them the wrong way makes you lose health. A line of hearts at the top left of the screen tells you how much health you have left. Run out of hearts, and that life is lost. Besides its beautiful graphics, the game has a great tune that plays throughout and which is particularly lively. I will admit that I was pleasantly surprised by Simonchu and found it be an excellent original homebrew for the GBA.

The Loonies are invading! You have been ordered to deploy your starfighter in order to protect the seven space stations from their attacks. Your starfighter comes equipped with a plasma weapon and with missiles and it has advanced sensors to create a Sector Map. Using all of these properly will help you complete your mission. The Loony fleet is comprised of six different types of ships, each with its own set of weapons and characteristics. The Large Saucers and the Small Saucers are equipped with anti-plasma weapons. Hunters fire photon torpedoes, Electric Saucers fire bolts of electricity at close range, Blasters fire antiproton pulses, and Bombers fire antimatter bombs. All of these enemy ships have their own kind of signal on the Sector Map with Large Saucers appearing as blue blips, Small Saucers as red, Hunters as green, Electric Saucers as magenta, Blasters as cyan, and Bombers as yellow. Once you’re reviewed the sector map, you warp into a sector full of enemy ships and you engage them until they are all destroyed. Be mindful of sectors with space stations (which appear as icons on the sector map) as flying into these sectors gives you a chance to dock with the station and replenish your supplies (fuel, shields, and missiles). Also watch for the presence of Loonies in those sectors as they will attack and destroy the space stations unless you take action. If all seven space stations are destroyed, the game is over. Space Loonies is a fun space shooter for the GBA. It has large sprites with colorful graphics and crazy action. Docking on the space stations is challenging as the game emulates the physics of space. A catchy tune and good sounds, complete the package for this excellent space shooter.

Welcome to the world of Sushi, a street cat whose goal in life is to roam atop buildings as he collects coins and faces dangers. Sushi The Cat is a nifty homebrew platformer for the GBA that, though short, is very well done and is quite entertaining. Sushi has to travel between buildings by jumping through rooftops, girders, and other structures in his search for coins and hearts. Unfortunately a gang of birds doesn’t like the fact that Sushi is doing this and they try to stop him on his tracks. As Sushi crosses the buildings he must either avoid the birds or jump over them to make them fall to the ground. If Sushi manages to survive, he then gets the face the boss of the bird gang who is none other than a huge rat with a big ball of cheese! Beat the rat and the game ends. Be careful, though, as this rat is one nasty dude. Sushi The Cat is a fun game. It offers beautiful graphics as well as good sound effects and music. There’s a hidden trick in the game that lets you transform Sushi into one of the birds so you can play the game as Sushi the Bird instead of Sushi the Cat. Though the game only has one level, it is large enough to explore and the trick is finding the way to actually collect all the coins in the level. This is not as simple as you think as you have to figure out where you can jump from to get to each and every nook and cranny with coins! I really wish this game had more levels!

You are the TimeWalker, a mystical being who has been trapped in a world full of monsters and creatures that want nothing more than to put an end to your existence. You are ready for their challenge, however, and you will do whatever it takes in order to survive. Armed with a sword and your mystic fire you attack the creatures as they try to destroy you. Dragons, giant scorpions, and firebirds are not powerful enough to resist your attacks but their strength comes in their numbers! They also trick you into believing things are over as they appear right on top of you again as you advance through the dungeon they inhabit. Time Walker is, unfortunately, a game with little substance. Though the character sprites are large and colorful, their animation is lousy and the sound effects are so few and far between that they can be considered to be non-existent. There’s a health tracker to give you a sense of how long you can go before you are dead but with the gameplay being so repetitive, it is hardly a necessity. I’m also not sure this idea of the monsters appearing right on top of you as you get to the right side of the screen works well and it feels more like a bug than a feature. As much as I like fantasy-based games, I must say this one leaves much to be desired.

I’m cheating here as I’m really including three games together here. I’ve done that because the games are very close to each other and, as a series, they are a superb vertical space shooter collection for the GBA. This series includes Uranus, Uranus Zero, and Uranus 2. While there are some differences between the variations, the overall game is the same. You shoot anything that moves! Depending on the version, you’ll have anywhere from six to eight stages to play through and you may have characters to choose from to play. The Zero version even includes several modes of play (Boss, Story, Challenge, and Fun) to choose from. Your ship is equipped with lasers but these weapons can be upgraded with power ups that appear as you destroy enemies. The upgraded weapons are quite fun to get as they add nicely to your firepower when handling enemies. The graphics of all three versions of Uranus are fantastic. Sprites are large and rendered in multiple colors. The screen quickly fills up with all sorts of enemies and you find yourself moving around not only trying to destroy enemy ships but also trying to grab the power ups that appear on the screen to better your chances of clearing an enemy wave. Game sounds are also fantastic. The music that plays in the background is very upbeat and harkens of an arcade game. In fact, this game feels like something that would do well on an arcade machine. The Uranus series is not an easy set of games but they are quite addicting and they will have you coming back for more.