The Final Word game review

Guardian Heroes -- Sega/Treasure

Treasure brings its latest adventure, Guardian Heroes. An enchanted sword has fallen into the hands of a band of young heroes giving them command of a golden undead warrior. Featuring one or two-player story mode and up to six-player battle mode for hours of excitement for the Sega Saturn.

Jester
This game rules! Take one part SFII, one part Final Fight, throw in some RPG trappings, great hand drawn graphics and a multiple path storyline, and bake until done. While nothing here is truly original, the overall concept is well executed and well thought out. The multi-path storyline guarantees replay value and the six-player battle mode is an excellent diversion from the game. the only flaw is that in a heavy battle scene you're guaranteed to loose track of your character. A must have for Saturn owners.

R.I.P.
What do you think of a pseudo 2-D fighter that has variable story paths and the capability of supporting up to six players in battle mode? I call it one of the best damn games I’ve played this year, and a good reason to have a Saturn. Guardian Heroes, when played with more than one player, has the feel of those classic multi-player Duo games that are I'm so fond of (ie: Dungeon Explorer 2, etc...), bundled with the combat of your classic 2-D fighter (ie: Street Fighter, TMNT IV, etc...), along with great anime. Not to forget, it also has an amusing story to go along with it. The graphics are exceptional, although my one problem with the title revolves around this very subject. It’s when more than a few characters become involved in combat... When this happens, it’s pretty much impossible to tell who’s doing what, where, when, and everything boils down to mindless bashing. Now when you think about it, group hand-to-hand combat is very much just that, so I suppose it makes sence. None-the-less, it does lead to confusion. Music is good throughout the game, as are the sound effects. Hats off to Treasure on another job well done.

------ 44.5/50 -------		--Jester--	--R.I.P.--
Graphics		5.0	4.5
Sound		3.5	4.0
Gameplay/Control		4.5	4.0
Longevity/Playability		4.5	5.0
Overall		4.5	5.0
Total		22.0	22.5

(07/96)