completely passed by me - mostly because no one in the entire county where I grew up had

a bleeding Saturn - that was a spiritual predecessor to Code of Princess on the 3DS. And by “Spiritual

Predecessor,” I mean “Almost exactly the same game.” And yinz’all called me out

on it. And for good reason - Guardian Heroes really informs one’s understanding of the

later game. But, in the immortal words of Cheech Marin in Ghostbusters 2, “Better

late than never.”

As in Code of Princess, the game’s about side-scrolling, slash-’em-up action, taking

place on three separate planes between which you can can jump freely. Playing as one of

the Guardian Heroes attempting to take down a corrupt kingdom and its puppet dictator,

you’ve got a variety of attacks available to you by different button combinations...

y’know, just pause this video, open the Code of Princess review in another tab, and

watch that. Seriously, I figured there’d be at least some difference between the two

games... and there is. Code of Princess looks better. That’s about it. The mechanics,

down to how combos work, are almost identical, though Guardian Heroes seems to lay a bit

heavy on the dizzying effects. That said, a game that’s similar-if-not-identical to

Code of Princess is still, by all accounts, a really good game. Especially this remastered

version for XBLA, which allows up to four players locally or online.

But where Guardian Heroes stands alone is its willingness to offer a solo player a helping

hand. Clad in armor. And full of bones. See, that legendary sword from the opening vignette

isn’t just some MacGuffin with a blade, it actually makes its former owner RISE FROM

HIS GRAVE to give you a hand. Which, when you get right down to it, is one of the greatest

innovations in the genre, and one that its successor didn’t maintain. What did carry

forward, though, was the deathmatch-style Versus Mode, where up to four players can

take pretty much any character or enemy into battle just for kicks. And punches. And magic,

which ends up using the right stick as a button. There’s also a secondary command for line

jumping hidden beneath the left stick, which - given the often-frantic nature of the action

in this game - can lead to unexpected or unwanted shifts, kinda like how in Persona 4 Arena

the same button press defaulted to the “Throw” command. Aside from that, though, the controls

feel responsive, even if some characters just have to pose for the camera after particular

combos. But they deserve to pose. They snookered ol’ TJ, after all, with their stealthily

being on the Saturn as opposed to a console people actually owned. And you, dear viewers,

get to watch me eat crow. Now stop pointing and laughing and pass the tabasco.