As in the previous games, our heroes are called upon to capture a malicious demon who “did many nasty things,” according to a prologue. Setting out to stem this tide of nastiness, the cute little shrine priestess Pocky and the cute little raccoon goblin Rocky are joined by Becky, an even cuter and littler version of Pocky. The three each have projectile and close-range attacks that are initially uniform in effect, though their power-ups differ from Rocky's homing fire to Becky's “exploding” talismans to Pocky's multidirectional shots.

Unlike the SNES games, Pocky and Rocky with Becky doesn't allow the characters to dash, a drawback that could be pinned on the GameBoy Advance's limited buttons if it wasn't for the fact that both of the system's shoulder keys are used to activate a screen-clearing bomb. And said explosion creates the same burst of lasers (?) from the sky for every character. What happened to Rocky's special assault from Pocky and Rocky 2, in which he would turn himself into a giant Tanuki statue --in other words, a huge stone raccoon with oversized testicles?

That last description may not be the most palatable example of the charming touches that made Pocky and Rocky stand out so many years ago, but it must be said that With Becky is lacking any of these details. The game's seven stages are surprisingly nondescript, consisting of stone-laid temple grounds, gardens, snow-covered fields, cemeteries, and a mountain pass. Perhaps they wouldn't be so easily forgotten if they lasted longer, but each can be cleared in a few minutes. The SNES Pocky and Rocky games featured lengthy, often grueling levels that included raft rides, haunted houses, hidden characters, and multiple paths. With Becky barely seems to have enough ideas for one stage.

Even when the game changes its scenery, the selection of enemies remains much the same. The same trios of smiling ghosts hound players in almost every level, and the few unique enemies aren't particularly striking in their designs. Only the bosses are distinct enough to show off the Pocky and Rocky tradition of borrowing figures from Japanese mythology, and they're not around long enough to make impressions. While it's fun to face off against Crow Tengu demons, Yuki-Onna (translated as “Snow Woman”), and other legendary creatures, none of them stay in a player's memory like great shooter bosses should.

The straightforward levels and repetitive foes of With Becky most resemble those of the original Kiki Kaikai arcade game. As in the coin-op, each stage of the GameBoy Advance title asks only that you collect a key and defeat a boss to move on, and while the seventeen-year-old arcade shooter made this a difficult affair with its one-hit kills and lack of bombs, things are a shade more forgiving on the Game Boy Advance. The characters can absorb one attack before dying, and a password system nixes the need to make it through the game's brief playtime in one go.

While With Becky lasts only an hour or so, it manages to appease skilled players with an “Expert Difficulty” level accessible by a code. The game's appearance is every bit as bland in this mode, but the enemies and bosses prove a little more tenacious. It's advised that players try the harder setting out first, since waltzing through the regular game will only reduce its challenging revision to a tiresome return trip. All the same, making With Becky tougher doesn't really make it better, and there's little difference in the endings of the two modes.

I normally don't bring a game's price into a review, but it must be mentioned that Pocky and Rocky with Becky retails for less than half the cost of a standard GBA title. For that money, some may find it a decent diversion or a nice addition to a Pocky and Rocky collection. Strangers to the series, however, are better off saving that ten or fifteen bucks for one of the SNES games. It's fair when taken on its own merits, but this GameBoy Advance revival never has the spirit or the gameplay to live up to its name. Not even with Becky.