If you grew up with Astro Boy or just love classic anime vibes, this GBA gem nails that retro robot-hero feel. You start off blasting through floating platforms with Astro’s arm cannon, and the controls are surprisingly smooth for a handheld game—no clunky jumps or awkward aiming. The sprites have that chunky, colorful charm, and some of the boss fights actually make you think instead of just button-mashing.

What caught me off guard was the story bits between levels—they’re fully voiced (in Japanese, obviously) with these little comic-style cutscenes. Not something you’d expect from a GBA title. The Atom Heart mystery starts simple but gets weird in the best way, like an old-school anime episode where the villain isn’t who you’d guess. My only gripe? Some of the platforming gets repetitive if you’re not into that, but the jet boots upgrade halfway through fixes that.

It’s one of those games that feels like it was made by fans, for fans—right down to the corny-but-endearing dialogue. If you’ve got a soft spot for Astro or just want a solid action-platformer with personality, this one’s worth dusting off the GBA for.