Short And Sweet Review: Guardian Heroes

I've always wanted to play this 1996 classic ever since it was released on XBLA, since I was four years old when the game was originally out.  This crazy high-fantasy set against frantic, colorful combat. In a world beset by demons, angels, mechs, and gods, this is a perfect game for me.


Presentation/Story:
The game has two different options for viewing the game, "remix" and "original".  With the graphics set to "original," the pixilated characters and settings are pretty much the same for those who played the game when it first came out.  The "remix" graphics don't do Guardian Heroes any favors either,  rather than colorful pixels, the remix adds a pencil-like sketch style to the shading that pulses and flows with great animations.  The movements with the characters are a lot smoother, it's an odd artistic choice that makes the game look as though it was redrawn in pencil.  The game's animations run smoothly on today's current gen systems.  It never really slows down even when the screen is packed with enemies.  Dialogue and story are pretty cheesy at times but never detracts from the game.

Core Gameplay:
Guardian Heroes' combat is similar to your basic beat em' up with cool combos.  A novice like me always felt powerful because every button pounds down enemies like nothing.   Level after level the screen is filled with enemies, so there's never a dip in the action.  The game never makes you feel like a pansy even if you're new to the game.  Your screen is split into three lanes that characters jump back and forth between while side-scrolling. By using depth in this manner, there's never a problem in who you're going to hit.  I had that problem with that overrated Scott Pilgrim game.  


Guardian Heroes uses a choose-your-own-adventure-style of progression and morality. Most levels end with a choice, your decision sets the course of the remaining story based on how it changes your karma.  You have limited continues which I hate, but your old school players will obviously welcome this feature.  The online options for Guardian Heroes are pretty cool, players can tag-team the story mode in co-op, both online and off. It's a smooth experience for both, I rarely had any lag while playing on the 360.  There are versus battles in the game, which offers up to 12 player battles,  I didn't get a lot of time with this mode but from what I played, I was impressed.  

Final Thoughts: 
Guardian Heroes is a great addition to the XBLA slate.  The graphics are OK, the remix option doesn't add a whole lot new to the visuals, but they are just fine.  For any basic beat em' up fan like myself, its a definite purchase.

Final Score= 8/10