Bionicle Heroes (2006). Play online

Summary

In Bionicle Heroes for the Game Boy Advance I navigate the island of Voya Nui as a Toa Inika, hunting down the stolen Mask of Life from the Piraka. The game uses a top‑down view instead of the side‑scroll seen on consoles, letting me move in eight directions and even strafe while shooting.

The heart of the action is the elemental masks – Fire, Air, Stone, Ice, Earth and Water – each granting a primary gun and a secondary attack tied to the A and B buttons. A quick press unleashes a rapid‑fire blast, while B launches a focused beam, mortar or laser depending on the mask, and the secondary weapon’s energy must recharge. Levels are split into six zones plus a final showdown; clearing a zone awards a new mask, and a Free Play mode lets me revisit cleared stages and switch masks at will, swapping weapons whenever I like.

Critics praised the GBA version for its frantic screen full of enemies and explosions, its sharp graphics and soundtrack, and for feeling like a portable Contra. Hidden runes pepper each stage and can be exchanged for cheats or mini‑games, rewarding thorough replay.

Storyline

*Bionicle Heroes* takes place on the fictional island of Voya Nui, though its plot isn’t considered canon in the official Bionicle lore. A lone Matoran arrives on the island and is greeted by Balta, a villager who explains that the six Piraka have seized control and turned the island’s residents into monsters. Balta hands the Matoran a mask, appointing the newcomer as a new Toa tasked with defeating each Piraka and freeing Voya Nui.

The player battles through the six Piraka, eventually confronting a seventh—Vezon—who wields the Mask of Life. After Vezon’s defeat, the Toa regains the mask and peace returns to the island. In the Game Boy Advance version, the original Toa Inika have already been stripped of their masks, so the Matoran‑turned‑Toa must also recover those masks for the Inika before restoring harmony.