Does anyone remember good ole’ Guardian Heroes for the Saturn, also known as the reason to own the console? I spent many hours in front of my Saturn with a friend and that gem. I remember the branching paths that made it worth replaying. I remember the three scrolling levels of 2d fighting that could hold an insane amount of enemies on a single screen. And I remember the ridiculous, screen filling spells available to each of the characters. Sniff, sniff. The memories bring a tear to my eye.
Now it seems that a version of the game is going to make it to the GBA. I can’t remember a time when I’ve been this excited about a GBA game.
At the moment, all I see is a release in Japan but I’m holding out hope. An action game of this caliber has to make the trip overseas.
In a lot of ways, this game solidified Treasure’s spot on the gaming map for me. They were there before – they have a heck of history – but Guardian Heroes took the cake.
A quick look at ebay reveals that I’m not the only one who loved this game, as copies on ebay are going for over $100. They’ll get my copy from me only after ripping it from my dead, bloody hands.
Guardian Heroes is the only reason to own a Saturn? So you mean I should throw out all my other games? Including NiGHTS, Dragon Force, Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Radiant Silvergun…
But yeah, a new Guardian Heroes game will be great. Hopefully they can clean up the balance a little bit this time, though. Don’t need people fighting over who gets to be Randy…
Now I didn’t say it was the only reason. I said it was the reason.
I still cry myself to sleep at night because I traded away Panzer Dragoon Zwei (great game, btw). One day I’ll play the Shining in the Holy Ark I got for it. There were quite a few games worth purchasing the system to play. Your list is missing Daytona (the game that established pop up worlds in racing games and why I bought the system) and Baku Baku (which is a game that could cause a divorce in my family if I ever sold it).
Oh, and I get to be Randy. That didn’t sound right at all.
The company now known as Treasure used to be a dev team at Konami, in the 80’s and early 90’s. They’re the guys that invented Contra and Castlevania. But Konami during that time was like the Capcom of today, and wanted more Contra games, more Castlevania games, formulaic sequel after formulaic sequel. So one day, this dev team decides that they’re sick and tired of grinding out sequels, so they quit en masse, and thus Treasure was born.
And when it was, they swore an oath that they would never make a sequel.
Last week I found out that they were developing Gradius V for Konami, which upset me a bit, but I forgave them because they hadn’t worked on the first four. But this… this just makes me sad.
Eh, oath, schmoath. A sequel after nearly a decade after the original may break the letter, but not the spirit of the oath. Capcom releases a Mega Man sequel EVERY HUNDRED DAYS.
All the incredible Capcom fighters including the arcade perfect Vampire Saviour, Shining Force, and Panzer Dragoon Saga which may be the best RPG ever made…
Gun Griffon is a fantastic game and it clearly inspired Steel Battalion. There’s plenty of others on Saturn. Sega Rally, Virtua Fighter 2, both Virtua Cops… and of course all the 2D fighting. Mmmm…
Looking forward to Guardian Heroes GBA. Guardian Heroes wasn’t THE reason to own a Saturn IMO, but it’s a good one. :)
Also, for those that aren’t aware, the upcoming GBA Astro Boy game was developed by Treasure. It’s pretty fantastic from what I hear from people in Japan. I think Kitsune has talked about it here too.
I’d love to see Gunstar Heroes re-released at some point. When Treasure makes a good game, they make a very, very good game. And sometimes, they make Stretch Panic :(
The GBA’s smaller screen might force the developers to lay off that ferschluggin’ sprite crowding. Almost made the game unplayable.
Will the four-button layout still allow for a playable moveset? Ideally, there would be distinct button for magic, attacking, blocking, and guardian commands. Jumping could be SF2 style (using UP), and running would be done by double-tapping forward. Am I missing anything obvious? I haven’t played the game in years (though I still listen to redbook soundtrack every now and then).
My guess is that it won’t be the smaller screen. It’s more likely to be the relative power of the GBA versus the Saturn. The Saturn was a 2D powerhouse. Just ask anyone who played the Capcom fighters (especially X-men or Vampire Hunter) or even Dragon Force. I don’t think the GBA can keep up.
Based on how well the GBA handled Final Fight One (the X-Men seemed pretty capable, from what little I played), I don’t see how it couldn’t handle a melee brawler with 7 or 8 on-screen sprites, 3-4 levels of parallax, and gobs of high-speed animation cycles.
Will the four-button layout still allow for a playable moveset? Ideally, there would be distinct button for magic, attacking, blocking, and guardian commands. Jumping could be SF2 style (using UP), and running would be done by double-tapping forward. Am I missing anything obvious? I haven’t played the game in years (though I still listen to redbook soundtrack every now and then).
I don’t think there’d be a problem with buttons. You could just get rid of the magic button and have players execute spells via action combos (which were great in the original GH if you could memorize them all). Map the Guardian Commands to select. Left shoulder button to block, B to fast attack, A to heavy attack. Right shoulder button switches planes. L + (A or B) = jump backwards.
And when it was, they swore an oath that they would never make a sequel.
Hey, if it makes you feel any better, think of Guardian Heroes Advance as… a remake. :)
