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Exhuminator wrote:If Guardian Heroes on Saturn is decent single player, I may have to check it out next month. I've not played much of it, as I've not done much Saturn gaming at all really. Never owned the console, and emulation only recently became tolerable for the thing.

Get the XBLA version. It is the same as the Saturn game, but with brushed up graphics, a better aspect ratio, and the conveniences inherent in more modern consoles. Also, it is only a few dollars, making it an incredible value.

If you like beat ‘em up/RPG hybrids, it should be right up your alley. It is basically the king of that sub-genre, and while it’s better with multiple players, it is perfectly fine with just one.

prfsnl_gmr wrote:Get the XBLA version. It is the same as the Saturn game, but with brushed up graphics, a better aspect ratio, and the conveniences inherent in more modern consoles. Also, it is only a few dollars, making it an incredible value.

Hmm, yeah it's only $5. I just might bite on that next month! It'd be a lot easier to co-op on my 360 too. Thanks for the heads up.

Exhuminator wrote:

prfsnl_gmr wrote:Get the XBLA version. It is the same as the Saturn game, but with brushed up graphics, a better aspect ratio, and the conveniences inherent in more modern consoles. Also, it is only a few dollars, making it an incredible value.

Hmm, yeah it's only $5. I just might bite on that next month! It'd be a lot easier to co-op on my 360 too. Thanks for the heads up.

Cool. I don’t want to oversell it, but even though I’d read it was very good, it still far exceeded my expectations. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I think with beat 'em ups there's a delicate balance to strike. They're not one-on-one fighting games, so you want to avoid making them too complex. Otherwise it becomes too heated to pull off any given attack when shit hits the fan and too hard to get into for new players. This is a problem because beat 'em ups don't have the replayability a competitive fighter has. On the other hand, if the game is too simplistic, it gets dull REALLY fast. So you need to have complexity, but that complexity needs to be accessible and intuitive. And enemies and environments also need to be suitably varied.

Guardian Heroes sort of breaks this rule, but it can get away with it because of the wide variations between the characters and the insane number of branching paths and endings. It has a replayability most games in the genre don't have. As wonderful as the D&D brawlers are, they sort of toe the line a little. They are a tad messy for their limited replayability, so they really do require a co-op experience and repeated play. And some classics, like Final Fight, are, in retrospect, just a bit too simple for their own good, and are barely short enough not to overstay their welcome. Streets of Rage always did a better job balancing complexity and length, and it did it without being able to rely (at least initially) on huge character sprites.

As “meh” as I am on the D&D games, Guardian Heroes is a legit both best-game-in-genre and best-game-on-console contender. I agree the XBLA port is the way to go, though. The GBA version, while very much inferior, is a great portable brawler in its own right.

What are standout 80s/90s handheld exclusives in the genre (or at least titles that are significantly different on handhelds than they were in their console/arcade versions)?

dsheinem wrote:As “meh” as I am on the D&D games, Guardian Heroes is a legit both best-game-in-genre and best-game-on-console contender. I agree the XBLA port is the way to go, though. The GBA version, while very much inferior, is a great portable brawler in its own right.

wait, what? You legit think that Guardian Heroes is the best Saturn game period? That's... a bold statement.

dsheinem wrote:What are standout 80s/90s handheld exclusives in the genre (or at least titles that are significantly different on handhelds than they were in their console/arcade versions)?

As much as you all love Streets of Rage, you might be interested to know that Streets of Rage 2 for Game Gear claims these differences on the back of its box:

I’m psyched for a month of beat ‘em ups!

We gotta figure out a system for organizing multiplayer gaming online. I’d love to play four-player Simpsons or Ninja Turtles with the Racketboy crew.

noiseredux wrote:

dsheinem wrote:As “meh” as I am on the D&D games, Guardian Heroes is a legit both best-game-in-genre and best-game-on-console contender. I agree the XBLA port is the way to go, though. The GBA version, while very much inferior, is a great portable brawler in its own right.

wait, what? You legit think that Guardian Heroes is the best Saturn game period? That's... a bold statement.

I'd put it in the top three, alongside Magic Knight Rayearth and Panzer Dragoon Saga.

Most critics rank it pretty highly as well. Just did some quick googling -- this list on IGN (take that as you will) puts it at #3.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/07/29/ ... turn-games
Check out the GameFAQs user reviews:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/saturn/57 ... es/reviews
It was well-received, to say the least!

dsheinem wrote:What are standout 80s/90s handheld exclusives in the genre (or at least titles that are significantly different on handhelds than they were in their console/arcade versions)?

Double Dragon II for the Gameboy is a re-skinned Kunio-kun game (and probably better for it).

I wasn’t at first, but I am now getting really excited for this TR.