Guardian Heroes XBLA remake finally has a trailer

I want to start this news piece with an apology. About two weeks ago a remake was announced for one of the best games Sega ever published, and in the hectic pace of the workday, it didn%26rsquo;t get covered. That changes now! Guardian Heroes is finally getting a much deserved rerelease. It%26rsquo;s going to be an XBLA-exclusive and is planned for some time in 2011 (Summer of Arcade perhaps?). Now that there%26rsquo;s some real footage of the game, at long last I can officially share with you the good news of this cult title%26rsquo;s return.

Guardian Heroes originally came out on Saturn in 1996 and was developed by Treasure, a company known for amazing, if niche games. The fantasy-themed brawler had RPG elements back when that was a new idea, plus a shockingly deep story with multiple, and very different endings. It was all supported byterrific, anime-inspired character designs and combat mechanics so fine-tuned it supported its awesome multiplayer brawls in a separate mode where you could play as basically any enemy or hero from the game. If you enjoyed Castle Crashers, Guardian Heroes is basically the older brother that it learned all its tricks from.

And it looks like Sega isn%26rsquo;t dicking around with this rerelease. According to Sega of Japan, not only will it have online co-op, a must for the campaign, that versus mode mentioned above will support up to 12 players online. Players will also have a choice between the classic Saturn visuals and enhanced graphics made for the remake. Here%26rsquo;s a few of comparison screens from Sega:

Above: New graphics

Above: Old graphics

Above: New

Above: Old

Again, according to Sega of Japan Guardian Heroes is going to be 800 points, a more than fair price, while its release date is either Summer/Fall 2011 release depending on what branch of Sega you%26rsquo;re talking to. Hopefully after E3 there will have a real date and maybe even some hands-on time with it.

May 18, 2011