#SwoopersTop50SaturnGames
Number 6: Guardian Heroes
Treasure produce what is quite possibly the greatest brawler of all time in an action packed, endlessly playable spectacle that showcases the Saturns 2D prowess.
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A legendary scrolling-beat-em-up, an epic branching story, an RPG-style progression system and a riotous 6-player arena brawler.
Treasure's classic is and has all these things and more.
The art of hitting numerous things until they die is perfected in this wonderful package.

For the uninitiated, the closest comparison is Golden Axe, given the main genre and swords & sorcery setting, but really it is unlike just about anything else in the genre.
The intro is utterly bewitching and beautiful, setting the scene for a grand adventure of your choosing.

You (two players in co-op) choose from an initial 4 characters in Hans ragtag band of mercenaries.
Celebrating the finding of an ancient sword, they are thrust into a battle when a red knight warns that royal knights are coming. The pub set aflame, the adventure begins.

Guardian Heroes deviates from the standard for the genre by adopting gameplay more akin to a fighter. A huge repertoire of special moves can be accessed through Street Fighter like commands.
To facilitate this, the game takes place along lanes. Its a simple set up that works well

as lanes are switched via the shoulder buttons, so it's very intuitive.
At the end of the first stage, you battle an unbeatable robotic soldier, only for the undead Golden Warrior to rise from his grave and lay waste to your metallic foe.

From there the undead warrior joins you as a second (or third) party member. You can command him via the X button, with commands like follow, defend, attack, or go berzerk.
The last option is the most fun, ending with nuclear like explosion, but it is limited.

As you fight through the game and defeat enemies, you'll level up. These boosts your main stats but you'll also be able to spend experience points between levels to focus on key talents. You can improve on something a character is already good at or make them more rounded.

Through the stages the story will advance via dialogue scenes.
More importantly, you get to choose different routes between levels. This is more than just a shuffling of stages, the story is radically different depending on your choices, down to endings and final boss.

There are even secret stages if you fulfil certain requirements, mostly they'll take you to various areas where you can fight increasingly powerful enemies to increase your level.
Its a fun distraction that comes into its own in multiplayer.

Whichever route you take, all roads lead to Kanon, the Royal Wizard.
He serves to deliver exposition at the midway point of the game, after which your five dialogue choices, in combination with your current path, drive vastly different outcomes for the rest of the playthrough.

After you battle the deadly mage (or not depending on your choices) the game kicks into high gear with you saving the world or battling with the beings of heaven and/or hell or even taking on the gods themselves.

The game doesn't let up as larger and more powerful combatants enter the fray.
The are several high powered boss characters that can serve as your final foil, leading to one of the five main endings, and its a tonne of fun finding them all.

But there's more than just the campaign.
Guardian Heroes features an arena mode for up to six players. Grab a multitap and you and five friends will be hooked.
Here you can play as any character that you have defeated in story mode. This creates extra incentive to see everything

so that you can unlock all stages, characters and options via repeated playthroughs.
The action and gameplay is amazing, an arena fighter years before Smash Bros., and in my opinion it is far superior, having lost many hours to it with my friends.

Graphically the game is a marvel.
The hand drawn sprites are lovely, the backgrounds are wonderfully detailed, but what really impresses is the number of sprites on screen, many of them enormous, and with a variety of graphical effects on display such as transparencies.
The game

runs at 60fps despite everything thrown at it, which is incredibly impressive.
Sound design is great as well, with an eclectic mix of epic themes and some jazz fusion like earworms that you'll be humming long after you've played it.

Guardian Heroes has it all, gameplay, co-op, a 6 player arena mode, impressive looks and wonderful sounds.
I feel it truly is the greatest brawler of all time, and while the 360 did see a port, the look, control and translation changes detract from the original classic.

But however you play it, Guardian Heroes is essential gaming.
Whether you play alone or with a friend, or five, you will not be disappointed. It is truly a legendary Saturn title and the high watermark for the brawler genre.

And if you want to read about this game beat out Goldeneye, Mario Kart and others to be the most played multiplayer game between my friends and I, take a look at my retrospective I wrote for @GameTripperUK https://www.gametripper.co.uk/games/saturn/guardian-heroes-saturn/