Buy Guardian Heroes HD, Get Guardian Heroes 2

Little known fact: the upcoming HD remake of Guardian Heroes began it's life as Guardian Heroes 2, that is until Sega said "Hold that!" 

"The project started as Guardian Heroes 2, but the publisher - that's SEGA - said in order to create a sequel, they wanted us to revitalize the IP. So instead of starting on the sequel we made a remake," Treasure's Hiroto Matsuura told Eurogamer. 

Fair enough. Even though Guardian Heroes was perhaps one of the best beat 'em ups of the presentfuturepast, and undoubtedly atop the Saturn's catalog of highly underrated gems, it's an old IP. Test the water before diving in, play it safe to gauge the interest of OGs and new jacks alike. Color this OG broke, because I'll be throwing my greenery at anything that has the Guardian Heroes branding on it. 

But wait! Teasing the sequel already? Matsuura you bad, bad man! "The original core game mechanics is a 2D, layer-based game and that's what we like about it. We may create characters and backgrounds in 3D, but the core mechanics will be the same."

Bring it on! Guardian Heroes is set for October 12, weighing in at 800 imaginary Xbux. Buy it so we can all have a sequel, for Zur's sake! 

OMG! Guardian Heroes HD to Release for XBLA

Header image by Modus

I'm not a religious man by any means, but I think that may change. About once a month, I remember the incredible Sega Saturn - and acceptable Game Boy Advance - game, Guardian Heroes. I remember how it may have been the greatest beat 'em up I played as a youth, with awesome art, frantic action, a killer soundtrack, and 40-plus characters to mix it up with. Good old days. Whenever I fondly recall Guardian Heroes, I pray for a new take on the series, and for the past few years my prayers have gone unanswered. Until today!

I could not be any happier to write this. My fingers are harmoniously humming Valgar's snappy theme as they slide across my keyboard in glee. Guardian Heroes is getting the full HD treatment for Xbox LIVE Arcade. Re-mastered graphics, local and online co-op, 12-player online arena battle mode, and even completely new play modes like time attack and arranged mode. This is the second best day of my life. The best day will be Guardian Heroes' release date, sometime this summer.

In case you have never heard of or played this opus, here's a little backstory. Guardian Heroes is a 2D, side-scrolling beat 'em up with RPG elements (see: character progression) developed by Treasure, released in 1996 on the vastly underrated Sega Saturn. The ability to choose branching paths allowed Guardian Heroes multiple endings and a new way to play each time you tackled the engaging story mode. I can't event describe how much of a masterpiece this title is. Just know that your childhood suffered greatly if you never gave this game a spin, but all will be righted this summer. Excitement!