Customer Reviews

Heavenly Guardian

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

 

 

Despite the scathing reviews against this title, I went with my gut and picked it up, and the result was worthwhile. It's a very fun and relaxing game that totally fills the nostalgia void in my bitter, callused video gamer heart. The graphics speak for themselves. They were, for me, the majority of why the game caught my eye and I find them very appealing. I've noticed many reviews that are unable to get over the graphics, and that is disappointing to hear, but if the graphics speak to you, then likely you'll enjoy playing this. The game is as simple and basic as it appears to be, with Legend of Zelda-style bird's eye setup in which you control the character who fights against hordes of enemies, not too unlike the Gauntlet games. The enemies are all very unique and silly. The sound effects and music will take you right back to the SNES days. The challenge of the gameplay will remind you of those late nights trying tirelessly to match every obstacle in the old Ninja Gaiden games on the NES...it's definitely rocky, but it's all about building memory of the environments, which are both beautiful and expansive. The cool thing about this game is that it's got 16-bit sentiment that takes advantage of the capabilities of the PS2 to give it an extra push, but the technology doesn't intrude too much on the old-school style. And, like the games of old, you can't save your game, which adds to the challenge but was a pretty poor choice in today's era that sees saving as a given. I find it adds to the throwback experience, but there are times when it does frustrate me. That's certainly the title's core issue. If you pass by Heavenly Guardian and it catches your eye and the screenshots on the packaging feel right, then go for it. If you can get a second player to co-op, do...especially for those late nights when you and your roommate need an excuse to stop studying...you will lose all track of time playing this game into the wee hours of the night!
In short, if you think it looks like a lot of fun, then it's more than likely your kind of game. It's fun, it's relaxing, it's got that retro flare and never gets old. A rare gem...I hope there will be another game like this.

I got this game because it looks like one of those old-school 16-bit overhead shooters with cute anime-style designs, like Pocky and Rocky. And it was cheap. Well, they say you get what you pay for and in this case it's very true.

This game has a story, but after a while you kinda won't care. It goes something like this: this hot anime chick who is a snow goddess really likes this boy in the village. The dumb villagers, fearing her awesome powers, won't let her near the boy or the village. So she secretly watches the boy from far. One day, the boy gets really sick and none of the villagers know what's wrong. As a snow goddess, she recognizes that he is cursed so she braves thru 6 (or is it 7?) stages of hell to get the ingredients to remedy the curse.

And brave thru these stages you will. As a overhead shooter, this game really doesn't offer anything we haven't seen from the 16-bit days in terms of play mechanics. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, but with the processing power we have today, you think they could make a graphical extravaganza of a game like this that will totally blow you away. Instead they made a game that is exactly like those found in the 16-bit era. I swear you can port this game over to the SNES and it would run just as well. And this is hard to explain in words, but Heavenly Guardian simply does not have the charm of some of those games back then.

Boss battles are hard too. The last stage is really re-fighting all the bosses again, but now they're all faster and tougher. I cannot beat this one boss on that level, and I throw up my hands in defeat. The game does have unlimited continues, but as far as I can tell, there is no feature to save your progress. That means you get to start all over once you turn the power off. Hooray. Play the old games or fire up the emulator. They are better than this.

Feeling nostalgiac? Heavenly Guardian may seem as if it may quench the need for some brainless, old school shooter action a la Pocky & Rocky if you want to get specific, but the game is so dated that it detracts from the gameplay. Then again, the gameplay doesn't have much going for it in the first place, based on the fact that the game just isn't all that fun. Heavenly Guardian's gameplay mechanics are basically broken to boot, and the co-op gameplay isn't much better. Not to mention that if you manage to play Heavenly Guardian for any substancial amount of time, you'll find that the game as a whole is quite short. All in all, Heavenly Guardian carries a budget price tag for a reason, and no matter how the game may look to you, you are much better off leaving the game on the shelf.