Mystic Heroes

"Mystic Heroes is a Decent Multiplayer Game that Deserves a Rental"

Mystic Heroes is a decent hack and slash game that lets you duke it out with 4 playable characters at the beginning and 4 unlockable ones. For this review, I'll break it down into major categories to be more organized.

Graphics-7
The graphics in MH is standard fare with nothing spectacular or amazing. It does have enough decent graphics to get a 7. The character models are pretty good compared to other games. The clothes fit the feudal Japan quite well. The sorcery and magic settings work well with mixed enemy designs. In single player, the fog doesn't get in the way much but still is there, but the multiplayer has too much fog that puts the American Revolution to shame. Also, the magic effects help the game's overall look and adds that flare. Some look particular good while others look bland. The structure of the levels are impressive to a point. Some are plain and flat while others can go to floors upon floors. Overall, it's a mixed bag.

Control-9
The controls are simple and easy to learn. Jumping is B, attacking is A, L changes the view, R guards and the C-stick moves the camera. For magic, Y is a direct spell and a target spell and X is a sword spell and a jump spell. You can use Y to make the opponent flinch and X as a direct attack. You'll have to master these to finish off tougher opponents or with tons of guys. Everything is perfect except for the magic controls and the camera. Sometimes you want to use one of the magic and you get the other. The lack of zooming-in hurts when you need it. Those are the only things that brought down MHs control.

Sound-7
Another average rating. The music and sound effects work like a charm, but with every good thing comes a bad one. The voice-acting is lame and the repetitious calls for help from your comrades gets old quickly. Besides that, the greatly done sound effects and wonderful fantasy-rally music.

Gameplay-7
The major category. Everything else doesn't matter compared to this. The hack and slash basics are well done with a great battle system. It's less of a button masher compared to Dynasty Warriors. The story feels more tangible than anything else. The game's difficulty can be explained in two words: frickin hard. It reminds me of Dynasty Warriors, actually. The first level is easy and everything else is impossibly hard. My friend and I were stuck on the third level. The only reason why it's hard is because there are so many enemies and so little health. The bosses take a while to kill because you need some strategy to it. The first boss is very easy, but later on you have to face multiples of him at once. And that's not the actual boss for that level. A key way to kill them is by using magic. Good thing that the magic is in good supply, since you can refill it at anytime by holding R and Y or X. Besides this, Koei put in a multiplayer mode that the Japanese don't have. That usually never happens, but Koei's good to us. The gameplay is very good that can relate to newbies and classic gamers alike. About it's replay value, you'll have to read the last category.

Replay Value-6
This is where it hurts. Not only is this game old quick, but there is no reason why to do it again. Sure there's multiplayer and survival mode, but it can only go for so long. This can be easily summed up as an SNES hack and slash, not long but can be frustrating. There are runes to collect and power-ups, but to help this they'd need more characters [besides the 8] and branching stories depending on how you play. That's what could help, not in the game, just to clear it up. This is easily the weakest of all categories since you can beat multiplayer in an hour and single player a little bit more than that. Simply put, this game needs to be longer.

Final Evaluation7
This is a decent title to pick up and play with your friends. You could easily beat this game in one sitting if you chose. It's pale compared to Dynasty Warriors. If your an eager GameCuber waiting for a good hack and slash game, give it a try. You might like it.

Recommendation: Rental

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/13/02, Updated 10/13/02