Customer Reviews

Guardian Heroes

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One might wonder why a two-dimensional game for a defunct, decade-old system is still getting rave reviews. Simply put, Guardian Heroes' 2D gameplay still exceeds the quality of most present day games where style is a higher priority than substance.

Brought forth by Treasure, the same group responsible for classics like Gunstar Heroes, Silhouette Mirage, and Alien Soldier, Guardian Heroes allows up to four players to wreak havoc on an oppressive empire led by a tyrannical wizard. For the quest mode, players could choose to play as a headstrong knight, a female defensive mage, a young offensive mage, or a lithe ninja. Each character has its own specialties and weaknesses, which players will have to balance out to get far in the game.

Gameplay is similar to that of a 2-D beat-'em-up like Streets of Rage, except on three parallel planes: the middle ground, foreground and background. Players can switch to any of these planes at the push of a button, and movement between these planes is absolutely vital for escapes and sneak attacks. Special attacks and magic spells are executed by a combination of directional pad commands and a specific button a la Street Fighter. Combinations and juggles are easy to pull off, and with four players on the battlefield, things get hectic real quick.

At the end of every stage, the performance of each player is awarded experience points. These points are used to enhance specific traits, like Strength, Vitality, Intelligence, etc. And players are going to want to get as much exp. points as they can because Guardian Heroes is NOT an easy game. Later in the game, regular baddies pack quite a punch and can quickly surround you. In addition, some bosses will not hesitate to unleash multi-plane spells that will absolutely drain your life meter. Button mashing might get a player far in any other beat-'em -up, but players will have to learn how to block effectively and get multi-plane movement down in order to manage what Guardian Heroes throws at them.

In terms of replay value, Guardian Heroes has it in spades. The main quest has multiple paths leading to different enemies and endings involving some drastic changes. Treasure also put in a versus mode where up to six players can rumble as ANY character encountered during quest mode. From wolves to main bosses, they can all be found in the versus mode and each can be leveled up every time they're used. If you can manage to find six Saturn controllers and a Saturn Multi-tap, I highly recommend trying the 6-man rumble at least once.

It's really a shame this game is so hard to find; anyone who enjoys video games should give Guardian Heroes a run-through. If you do track a copy down, consider playing it on an older TV because LCD and plasma TVs have such a high resolution that it makes all the sprites look jaggy and garish.

What the hell were the designers thinking when they created this game?!!! Seriously. This game is so addictively fun, that I still play it. The branching storylines in the game are just hilarious, as are the members from the villains to the heroes. The layers of interaction are great, as you can move from the background to the midground to the background, interacting with different enemies and players. The storylines go from the mundane evil creation to the high-end up-and-up Celestial beings who control the fate of the world, all depending on which path of the braching storyline you choose to take!

The graphics are funny and done in a cartoon-like manner, and despite the amount of action on-screen, the details are great. There is no slowing down or loss of resolution!!! You can see everything as clear as day! the expressions of the characters are hilarious, from when they are scared to when the just walk around. I mean you have everything from the ignorant, but strong muscleman to the whiny lackey to the hamster martial artist! Yes, I said a hamster that uses a martial art. The opening sequence is a short anime video, music video even, and I think this would've been a great cartoon series!

Each chapter of the game does well in utlizing the game's graphics and merging it with the story at hand. From fighting in a burning building to fighting the infernal forces in the underworld, all the backgrounds do a good job of making you feel in the environments, while occasional elements limit your interaction with each layer, from obstacles to burning objects.

Also after playing the game, comes the greatest thing of them all. As you play through the game, you'll encounter a horde of enemies and characters. Each character you encounter becomes a playable character in the versus game, which is separate from the storyline version of the game. In the versus game, it's a straight-up fighting game, capable of supporting up to six simulataneous players!!! As the versus mode continues, you can power-up the characters by playing the regular game, which will give them points to use in the versus game. The versus game will become a game of unbridled chaos once all the characters are powered up to their max by spending all your points to raise everything from hit points to the amount of damage they deal!

It's a shame this title was never brought to Sega Dreamcast or any other systems after the demise of the Sega Saturn. I've thrown parties before with this game as entertainment, and it does not disappoint!

If you haven't seen it in action, just search it on YouTube.

If any game deserves a remake, it's this one.

If you love brawlers, buy a Saturn for this game alone.
I find this game much better than most games for the current consoles!

The first part of the game I played was the usual arcadish mode of the game which I thought was pretty cool. Then later on I realized that the only reason anyone should do that is to get the secret characters for the INCREDIBLE multiplayer mode. With the attachment you can get up to I believe 6-8 players playing at once in a semi 3-d arena. No one should miss this game. It's INCREDIBLE!

Guardian Heroes for the sega Saturn is a long life game that hasn't died out for me... that is until the recent release of Guardian heroes on the Xbox Live arcade. But Since this is about the saturn version, I won't change the subject. I have it 4 stars because there were some balancing issues in the game. Many people think Guardian Heroes is a button smasher game, and it can be. But in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing, its possible for them to be unstoppable.

Story mode is awesome. You can go though the game, get level ups and rank up whatever attributes you want on your character. The story mode is somewhat difficult if you have it on hard mode. The story line was easy to follow if you bothered about reading it. This game has grown and I hope it gets more exposure then what it currently has now. The other reason I only gave this 4 stars is because this is an old version of the game. Comparing the XBLA version, that gets a perfect 10. There are still some balancing issues but much less then the old version. You can find out exactly what kind of level of competition the XBLA version has by visiting [...] Then you can probably find all the pros you want online.

O, I'm sorry, I went and talked about the XBLA version again and not the Saturn version. But you get the picture. For its time, the graphics, effects, gameplay, sound, music, and characters were all good. If you plan to buy this game, make sure you take very good care of it cause I'm sure the original one is hard to come by.

I have been playing this game and beating it repeatedly almost constantly since getting it with my Sega Saturn I realy enjoy trying out new paths through it eespecially after activating the debug mode which is in itself a challenge and if you can pull it off you have earned the right to cheat the graphic style is great and the introductory animation is well done the music is excellent and the gameplay is simple yet covers a variety of moves well it is a must have for fans of 32 bit games

This game is superb. I'll keep it short and sweet. You can choose between 4 characters (initially, 5 eventually) in the story mode. Each of these characters is powerful in his or her own right, showcasing fighting styles ranging from ninjutsu (Ginjiro) to old fashioned street fighting...with a sword (Han). You get to command an undead skeletal warrior with superior fighting abilities and an awesome sword and he is an extremely handy ally when in battle. Eventually, it is possible to encounter another undead skeletal warrior and if you have Han as your character, you will reap his sword and a TON of attributes to go along with it. Very cool.

It is not a free-roaming brawler/hack-n-slasher like Final Fight or Streets of Rage: the boards feature 3 "planes" through which you can cycle to gain an advantage or retreat when the heat gets too much to handle. But this is okay because a free roaming environment would make it difficult to execute some of the special moves that each character possesses. The action on screen is pure PANDEMONIUM. It is absolutely awesome, as sometimes you can't even tell where you are or what the he** is going on but bodies are flying everywhere. The music draws you into the action. The combos are insane and you can certainly juggle your foes with good timing. There's a good dose of humor here, too.

Anyway, I was going to keep it short and sweet but I guess I failed. So what. This game is a must have because it doesn't get much better. And yes, the multiplayer/duel mode allows you to take control of some of the awesome characters you will encounter in the game, each with a robust set of moves! JUST GO GET THE GAME.

The Sega Saturn had unique games & like Die Hard Arcade they took 2 well known franchises & mix the the game play together taking the magic aspect of Golden Axe & put in an insane version of the Streets Of Rage combat system also mix in some RPG elements it's just awesome. Gardian Heroes has some pretty good music great gameplay as well as great 2D graphics. There are flaws there only minor there is lag & if your in the middle of a $*!t load of enemies you will be there b!**h. My favorite characters to play as in this game is Han & the ninja guy other characters are Nicole the healer & Randy the Magican. Story Han finds a sword it awakens a undead warrior the Royal Family wants the sword a woman named Serena wants to kill a wizard named Kannon he killed the original Royal Family You also fight a anti hero Valgur & the undead hero helps you you give him commands on how to attack he's like a 2nd player in a way. The rest of the story is up to you as you make you own choices there's several different endings.

You might be thinking right now im just one of those people that get hooked on dumb games but your thinking wrong look at the average 5 STARS. you know why because this game has over 15 different endings and 45 characters in the versus mode which is 6 players with a multi tap and that isnt even the best part about it. the 2 player story mode was the most fun ive had in a game ever. on the second level you get a computer controlled character that actually helps you and your not even mad when he kills all the bad guys hes just THAT COOL!!!!!!!