SplashChick wrote:That's true, but for a game that many people STILL hail as "OMG BEST GAME EVERRRRR", shouldn't it be able to hold up to titles that it inspired? I mean, yes, it may have implemented all of these ideas first, but that doesn't mean that they were done well or applied to their best potential. I think the games I listed prove that by utilizing them so much more effectively. I guess what I'm saying is that it may have had the idea first, but we don't herald the Virtual Boy as the crown jewel of gaming because it put 3D on a portable(if you can call it that) 15 years before the now successful 3DS.
While I make it no secret that GH is quite possibly my favorite video game ever, I can find plenty of faults. I think its biggest flaw is that most people probably aren't going to like it the first few times they play it. Hell, I didn't
get it until 10th or so time playing. Something clicked and I couldn't get enough of it. The ridiculous pixelated graphics made sense, I threw away my "what is right" mentality and started abusing the ever loving shit out of the juggle system. With time, you can easily spot your character in the mayhem and the crowd issue goes away.
Guardian Heroes goes against a lot of beat em' up trends. It is not easy to pick up, there aren't any power ups or potions and there is no roast under the barrel. You are encouraged to abuse your magic... and when the mana runs out, the game demands you beat the snot out of anyone and everyone to get it back. The more stylish you are, the more combos you pull, the more mana you receive. Streets of Rage Remake comes very close to allowing you to use and abuse your specials, but I would argue that it still doesn't quite reach that balance and finesse that this 15 year old Saturn game has.
When it comes to the RPG style leveling system, again GH's downfall is the time requirement. It takes a lot of dedication on the player's part to realize the depth it offers. Randy and Genjuro get absolutely blazing fast if you upgrade their agility. Upgrading physical attacks may be pointless if you take a chance and upgrade your luck, as it may reward you with devastating physical and magical attacks. Upgrade the mental ability of your character and the size and power of your spells could make DBZ characters feel inadequate. But the issue here is time and multiple play-throughs. You don't get to keep anything when you start a new game either and that can be off putting to some.
And we haven't even talked about the battle royal mode yet. This game pre-dates Smash Brothers by about a year... and it still stomps even the most recent offerings in that series, IMO. Everyone should be so lucky to experience an all out Guardian Heroes 6 player, everyone for them self, brawl to the death.
I also have a soft spot for all of the "WTF Japan?" moments the game has:
"That fuckin' guy has a Kung Fu rabbit for a pet... that catches on fire and chases people."
"It's a medieval theme and now we're fighting robots."
"The golden skeleton guy just took my guy's sword and... Wait, he's going to follow us and beat people down for us? He just nuked the screen? What the hell is going on here?"
"Dude, I've been juggling this dead body for like the last 3 mins and I'm gaining experience points for it."
"Disobey the Sky Spirits."
"Old woman VS screen filling dragon thing."
It's this game's seeming randomness that is the very definition of Japanese games of the mid 90s. The story, while nothing award worthy, is a blatant rip-off of hilariously over the top anime such as "The Slayers" that were once so popular, but we will likely never see again.
