The Sega Saturn was a mighty fine system, but there just weren’t enough reasons to own one. It had a few exclusive titles that turned heads in its time, such as NIGHTs: Into Dreams and Virtua Fighter 2. However, it couldn’t hold its own against the juggernaut Playstation, and eventually tanked.
Because of those reasons, Guardian Heroes was destined to lie in obscurity. You may have seen it at your local game store years ago, with its terrible box art and total lack of advertising. It didn’t seem appealing at all, and it slipped under your radar. If this person is you, or if you’re one of many who know jack squat about this game, I’m about to let you in on the gem you missed.
Guardian Heroes. Get ready to blow the dust off your Saturn.
Story
The story revolves around a legendary sword, said to have saved to world back in ancient times. The Guardian Heroes acquire this weapon, and are pursued by the kingdom’s Royal Knights, spearheaded by the King’s advisor, Kanon, a powerful sorcerer. Unbeknownst to the King and his followers, Kanon plans to destroy the sword and take over the world soon after. The Heroes must protect to sword and uncover the truth, and the path they take determines the outcome and safety of the world.
And that’s where you come in.
The story mode in GH just a portion of what makes this game so great. The decisions you make throughout the story directly affect the enemies and bosses you face and the final ending, granted you make it that far. There are numerous endings to work you way to, some answer the questions encasing the story, and others fly on tangents and leave those questions unanswered. It’s worth playing through numerous times just to see where your choices take you, though, sometimes you may find yourself on a previously explored path, and once you’re there, it’s tough to redirect yourself because you may not get another chance to do so.
This is just the first of many reasons that make Guardian Heroes as great as it is, and we haven’t even gotten to the meat of the game yet.
Gameplay
Guardian Heroes is a one or two player side-scrolling adventure, something like Final Fight, just ten times better. Freedom of movement is confined to three planes on the battlefield, meaning your character and all enemies move between a foreground, a middleground, and a background. Five playable story-mode characters (one of which is unlockable), each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and fighting abilities are at your fingertips as you battle stage after stage against hordes or knights, machines, sorcerers, and other enemies.
The fighting is composed of many different principles of gaming. The overall play is a “beat’em up” style reminiscent of Final Fight, blended with the “leveling up” element that is a staple in most RPGs. The combination of these two facets is just the top layer; this system mainly relies on a multi-hit juggling combo system, giving the player the ability to send multiple enemies flying at once. Then, on top of all of that, add the directional pad controls used in fighting games for pulling off various types of physical attacks and sorcery. The RPG touch comes in as you move on through the story, gaining attribute points (AP) and adding to your character’s vital statistics, making faster, stronger, smarter, etc.
Under a normal difficulty setting, the AI isn’t as 32-bit dumb as one would expect. Many of these enemies will defend and evade your attacks, so you have to be on your toes. The basic soldier is one of the more simpleminded enemies (using two different attacks at the most) but once you get to the bigger boys and the bosses, get ready to throw down. Sometimes, you’ll find it nearly impossible to get a hit in edgewise, but it’ll be up to you to gauge your attacks and catch him or her off guard. It’s called strategizing, kids.
Controlling your character and keeping up the pace of the action is one thing. Controlling a visibly ticked off zombie warrior at the same time is another ball of wax. At some point in the story, you’ll have an “undead warrior” fighting alongside your character, and you will be able to control his actions. Order him to protect you, stay behind you, calm down, or just plain wig out, wiping out any and everything in sight. But, your control must suit your needs of the situation, because if you don’t, he’ll take a mind of his own, getting in your way, or hurting you by mistake.
You get a taste of everything in the gameplay of Guardian Heroes, and it will definitely keep you coming back for more, if it’s to crack the story open a little more, or just to see how long you can juggle a knight before he hits the ground. Either way, you’re in for an old school treat.
Sound, Graphics, and Animation
The graphics of GH are cell-shaded, 32-bit vintage textures, so the blockiness is there, but it’s more noticeable in close-up camera shots in the flares and explosions of magic attacks. But, with the game’s speed and reasonably slick animation, the graphics aren’t a major concern. The royal knights, which make up a good portion of the enemies you face, are nothing more than palette-swaps, the same enemy wearing different colors and representing different brigades of the Kingdom. They aren’t all you go up against; there are many different types of foes, somewhere around forty-five in total, counting bosses, and they all came with their own special types of punishment. You may notice a repetition in body styles among the enemies as well, but they all posses their own skills and attributes, so that’s easily overlooked. Also, they usually come at you in packs, so the last thing you’ll be worried about is the cosmetics.
The sounds are excellent. The weapons clashing, magic, and wails of pain add to a great gaming experience. Take that element and throw in a masterfully orchestrated soundtrack which fits the moods of each battle and setting, and you have yourself an earful of gaming goodness.
The animation stays pretty smooth for the majority of the game, but the more the screen fills up with enemies and overblown magic spells, it more goes into slow motion, and the effect will last until the majority of the clutter clears away. But other than that, character motions flow at a decent framerate, keeping the action quick, and in most cases, adding to the precision of your attacks.
It wouldn’t be fair at all to compare the presentation to what we have today. Even with the common graphical flaws of 32-bit gaming, Guardian Heroes still holds it own as an unsung classic.
Replay Value
Replay value? With the nonlinear story mode, multiple outcomes and endings, and over forty unlockable characters for versus mode, Guardian Heroes is loaded. In most cases, the gameplay and combo system is enough to keep a gamer coming back for more, and every time you run through the story, you unlock defeated enemies. Versus mode is decent, but it’s not enough to pull your attention away from the story mode. If you just so happen to have the 6-player multiplayer adapter, you and five other buddies can choose any of the unlocked characters and mix it up in a free-for-all battle for bragging rights.
In Conclusion…
No doubt about it, Guardian Heroes is one the classic must-have games for the Saturn. Solid gameplay and the “choose-your-own-path” story lines make this game one of the greatest beat’em-ups ever, so if you see a price tag on it for sixty bucks or more, it’s no fluke. If you have a Saturn, get going to eBay and hunt this title down. If you don’t have one, now you have two reasons to go to eBay. However you do it, give Guardian Heroes a shot.
