🐳 New! Moby v2023.06.02 update

Guardian Heroes

Description official description

Ages ago, the spirits of Earth and Sky waged war on each other. Neither could win, and eventually the Sky Spirits bestowed some humans with their powers, turning them into wizards and allies in the war. The Earth Spirits were banished into darkness; but the Sky Spirits feared the human wizards and cast them underground as well.

Years have passed, and a powerful wizard named Kanon escaped from the gloomy prison and turned the human land into a puppet state trembling before his might. One legendary sword is said to bring an end to Kanon's reign. Four warriors - Han, Randy, Nicole and Ginjirou - retrieved the sword, but knights sent by Kanon are determined to take it away and destroy it at all costs. Aided by the renegade knight Serena, the four heroes must keep the world safe and protect themselves against the onslaught.

Guardian Heroes is a hybrid of a side-scrolling beat-em-up and a role-playing game. The four initial player characters are distinguished by their attributes and abilities: Han is a strong fighter who cannot use magic; Randy is a sorcerer who can cast attack spells but is physically more vulnerable; Ginjirou is a ninja-type, agile character; finally, Nicole has weak attacks but can cast healing spells.

The fighting mechanic is slightly deeper than in most other games of this type, with light and heavy attacks, special moves (executed the same way as usually in fighting games), magical attacks and the ability to block. Defeating enemies yields experience points, with which the player can upgrade the characters between levels, sharing them between various factors such as strength, speed, constitution and magic resistance.

The game has a branching storyline that develops according to the player's selection of stages. There is also a "Karma" system that evaluates the player's actions depending on how he or she treats enemies or innocent people in the game world.

Even in one-player mode there are always two controllable characters on screen - the player commands the other character by changing his "mood" - aggressive, cowardly etc. - of which there are six. On top of this, it is possible to play the game as a more traditional beat-em-up with up to six players (human or AI-controlled); in this mode it is possible to play as any character encountered during the main game mode.

Spellings

  • ガーディアンヒーローズ - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (SEGA Saturn version)

136 People (120 developers, 16 thanks) · View all

Planner
Executive Producer
Executive Director
Screenplay
Character Design
Director
Director of Graphics
Sound Director
Assistant Sound Director
Sound Effects
Editor
Assistant Programmer
Emergency Staff
Creation Director
Action Director
Instructor
  • SW20
Informant
  • Ahill
Destroyer
  • 'Gacha Complex' Go
Counselor
Management
Receptionist
Cast - Ezaki Production
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The Saturn version of Guardian Heroes appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Awards

  • Electronic Gaming Monthly
    • March 1997 (Issue 92) - Side-Scrolling Game of the Year
    • November 1997 (Issue 100) - ranked #66 (Best 100 Games of All Time)

Related Games

Advance Guardian Heroes
Released 2004 on Game Boy Advance
Guardian
Released 1981 on VIC-20
Guardian
Released 1984 on Commodore 64, BBC Micro, Electron
Guardian
Released 1994 on Amiga, Amiga CD32
Guardian
Released 1982 on TRS-80 CoCo
Guardian
Released 1982 on Atari 2600
Guardian
Released 2009 on Xbox 360
Guardian
Released 1982 on Apple II
Guardian
Released 1983 on TI-99/4A

Related Sites +

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 9738

Contribute

Know about this game? Add your expertise to help preserve this entry in video game history!

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by yprbest.

Xbox 360 added by Sciere. Xbox One added by Eufemiano Bullanga.

Additional contributors: Sciere, Alaka, ケヴィン, FatherJack.

Game added July 17th, 2003. Last modified March 29th, 2023.