Guardian Force - Saturn Tribute

I participated in the development of this game as a programmer of the original version (Sega Saturn and ST-V).
However, the Steam version of the game does not credit me or the people I worked with at the time.
I strongly condemn and denounce this act as it shows too little respect for the creators of this game.

This was a hidden gem on Saturn/Arcade. I have always been a fan of the art direction, the color scheme is beautiful.

Like other CITY CONNECTION releases using this engine this is a passable port with decent functionality and easy achievements, I had to remap the rotation controls to the left/right bumpers to make it comfortable on Steam Deck.

To comment on a review posted here by another user who was a developer on the original game, the full credits from the original game are actually included here. Just as in the Saturn release, you must finish the game to see these original credits. The credits accessible from the main menu only acknowledge those involved in producing this re-release.

Guardian Force is a port of the Saturn version on a new engine so it can run in modern systems. It also comes with a plethora of improvements, including a rewind option (extremely useful to try bullet patterns), free play and quick save/load. Really, it runs pretty well but it suffers a few issues the affect other STG ports, especially the input lag that makes dodging the heavy ordnance quite cumbersome, especially since the tank hitbox seems a bit uneven. There is also a slow mode you can trigger with the shift key but I've yet to find its purpose other than to cheat through some bullet patterns. Also, the control scheme by default is weird as hell and I recommend changing it to something that may suit your style better.

In my case, rotating the turret was all piled together between a button and a trigger in the Xbox Controller. By mapping left rotation and right rotation to the triggers and shot to A or B you can least get a partially more modern control setup but that's just me. Thankfully you can remap controls in the game's contextual menu. (There is an in game option menu but that one let's you control credits and lives as well as the difficulty.)

Anyway, presentation and music wise this game's awesome. The story is not much clearer than "enemy empire wants to conquer all" but you seem to be descending into the underground and it really reminded me of the insane Mahou Daisakusen premise. Either way, bosses are all presented in text with names that are mostly metal as f*ck (The Unforgiven, Maverick, Gold Rush, etc.) and the soundtrack is also extremely good. I wish they would put a soundtrack DLC in FLAC/mp3. I mean, sure, it's not Radiant Silvergun or Soukyuugurentai (also, I hope this one gets ported too!) presentation-wise but it's high up there.

The mechanics require you to pick up different items that change what the turrets shoot (from a yo-yo type of weapon to missiles, machine guns and lasers) and be mindful of powering them up with the crystals you pick up along. Dying will power the weapons down and you'll lose the side arms (usually missiles) but you can usually recover faster unlike, say, Gradius or some older STGs where you might as well initiate restart syndrome. A lot of big enemies and mid bosses are timed so you are encouraged to make short work of them, bomb and aim at weak spots to get those juicy score bonuses. By the last missions you'll be assaulted from all directions by heaps of bullets so you'll need to put the 8-axis rotation turret to good use while you take refuge as the auto-scrolling stage strolls along. Easier said than done, even though the game hands you over 10 credits with 3 lives each by default!

All in all, I love seeing obscure Saturn games brought back to life in the style of M2 ports so I really hope more are brought over. Of course, the price is probably a bit steeper as is the case with most STGs so either consider it on a sale or get it if you have a buddy to play the 2-player mode, which is really enjoyable.

Recommended!