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Advance Guardian Heroes Review - GBA

Treasure are a company revered by fans for their old school gaming prowess. From Gunstar Heroes to Ikaruga, Treasure have shown time and again that they know gaming like no bodies business. Treasure have delivered another top notch product, though unfortunately it misses that magic Treasure polish that makes their games true classics.

Gameplay

Advance Guardian Heroes is a sequel to an old Sega Saturn game, rather than a port. It's retro beat 'em up action harkens back to a day when men were men and arcades bustled with the activity of testosterone charged young men breaking open barrels and eating the roast turkey dinner goodness inside. AGH plays like Final Fight or Double Dragon, but with an RPG twist. At the end of each of the games six levels, you can build your character up using the crystals dropped by your enemies upon their defeat. This adds a lovely new dimension to an otherwise stale formula, and lets you choose how to play.

You can play as the brawler, a buy who loves nothing more than to get up close and personal, laying fist and foot into the skull of an enemy. Or you could go the role of the cunning sorcerer, who deals out magic death from afar. Or you can choose to play in between as you see fit. It's your call. Playing the game is as simple as mashing the B button for attack, the A button for jump, the R button to counter (if you get the timing right) and the L button to switch magic attacks. Holding R and pressing B will charge you magic attack, which will be released when it's done, leaving you vulnerable in the meantime.

The controls are tight and fully responsive, and the more you add to Mobility skill at the end of level upgrade, the faster you will move and the faster your fists will fly. You have a bevy of moves which you can chain together. B alone gives you a standing combo, forward and B unleashes a power attack, up and B gives you an aerial launcher so you can combo you enemy in the air, away from the belly crawling minions below, and down and B sets off a shockwave which clears the immediate area of enemies. You can string your attacks together however you like, and it's a great deal of fun to do so.

Then there are the magic attacks. From Dragon Ball style beam attacks, to fireballs, moves that freeze enemies in blocks of ice, flying spears and discs that follow enemies, tracking them down and killing them, there are plenty of magic attacks to lay your enemies to waste with. You also have an anger gauge, which builds up as you take damage. Once it's flashing, you can press A and B and start flashing gold, DBZ style. You will still take damage, but the stun damage you take will be minimal at ... (continued next page)