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Specs Release Dates Codes Now Available Reviews Snapshots

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K i l l e r

Guardian Heroes - Sega

Lowdown:

The hype about this game in r.g.v.sega has been fairly overwhelming, to put it mildly. While I do think the game is the best of its kind to date, there's some room for improvement. To make a long story short, don't expect to pick up this game and have the controls instantly wired--you're gonna need to learn how to do moves before you master this one. But you'll have fun along the way, and that's what's important.

Upon your first few plays of the game, your first words will be something like, "man, there's too much stuff going on here!" This game moves a seriously high number of sprites at any given time, so the screen is almost always full of bodies flyin' around. To me, graphics aren't exceptional, but they get the job done quite well. Also present are some pixelly transparencies, but you'll be too busy to worry about that. Passable, but nothing special (except for the sheer number of sprites moving around). Trademark Treasure humor is present throughout the game (i.e., strange behaviors on the part of some characters). Excellent FMV cartoon-quality intro. Scaling effects are also excellent. As good as or even better than that used in the Neo games I've seen. Finally got around to using Nicole--she's unique, to say the least. Try just hitting weak attack and nothing else when she's at an early level--girlie punch! And when she's dashing (tap forward twice), she sometimes has a tendency to fall over! (ROTFLMAO.)

I am so glad SoA didn't mess with the samples in this game (or did they?) There's a bunch of fruity Japanese-sounding samples, and to have them replaced by lame-o teenage battle cries would be a sin. The game's music upholds the upbeat tempo of the game, and is fairly well composed. I haven't seen all the levels yet, but AFAIK, there's no voice acting to speak of in this game, except the samples if you count those. Decent stuff, although the hitting sounds are somewhat weak, IMO.

Here's where this game gets major points. During your first few plays, the game will seem overwhelming, to say the least. But once you get the hang of using the multi-planar system and the juggling system, you're on your way. Controls feel somewhat awkward at first, but later become second nature. The different storylines depending on which character(s) you are and which plot branches you choose is pretty cool too. But one thing that detracts from the overall game is SoA's less-than-acceptable translation of the game. I haven't played the Japanese game to make a comparison, but it seems SoA hasn't quite figured out how to use contractions consistently, or how to use the spell-checker on their word program. Maybe I'm over-reacting, so someone be sure to slap some sense into me if this is the way the original game was. Six-player battle royal kicks ass, BTW, even if I do only have two controllers (CPU can control all the characters you and your friends don't.) Thankfully, it will be a LONG while before I master this game. You can customize the six-player battle into "teams" of any possible combination. This adds a whole new dimension to the game, reminds me of a pro-wrestling battle royal.

Hoo boy, the box art for GH is pretty awful. The logo looks cool and all, but the lame-o typical SoA characters have got to go. Also, this game features a handy guide to all the characters and their moves as well as the rest of the game options ON THE DISC. Words cannot express how long I've wanted something like this instead of having to flip through a black and white manual to find some obscure move. The game takes up about 20 units of memory (don't know the exact number since I always go through my PAR to move and memory.)

Graphics: 8.75

• + Lots of stuff moving aroung.
• + Very little, if any slowdown.
• - The graphics seem somewhat dated although.

• + They haven't been changed from the Japanese version.
• - Some sounds are a little weak.

• + 6-player mode rules!
• + Lots of fun

• + Many levels, great multiplayer, need I say more?
• + Hey its only 40$