Mystic Heroes

"Dynasty Warriors, SD-style"

As a big Dynasty Warriors fan, I was very eager for this title from Koei. It didn't deliver the same massive slaughter the Dynasty series is famed for, but is still an excellent title worth your time if you're a fan of the old Streets of Rage and others.

Graphics

For a Gamecube game, this isn't the prettiest title, but it's a good deal better than the old Dynasty Warriors 3 (the jury's still out on 4). There's some FMV that probably could've been done with in-game models, since they're so well-done. The spell effects are pretty impressive, which is good, since you'll be seeing a lot of them. The bosses in particular are massive and very pretty, though they're so big, most of them won't fit in your screen.

Sound

Ehh...this one's kind of mixed. On the one hand, the music is a good mix of beats to keep you occupied while you hack and slash your way through the game, but the voices... Let's just say they're hit-and-miss. One of the lady warriors in particular sounds like she took one too many steroids before hitting the studio. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if she were voiced by one of the guys...

Gameplay

Okay, if you never liked the old Final Fight and Streets of Rage, you might want to stop reading now. This is a beat-em-up in the purest sense of the word. Though not on the epic scale of Dynasty Warriors 3 and 4, there's gobs and gobs of enemies to hack your way through. One major plus is the types of enemies. Where the Dynasty series had extremely similar-looking enemies, Mystic Heroes has soldiers, bears, boars, zombies, sorcerers (who raise said zombies) and some truly massive boss monsters.

Let's put those bosses to scale, shall we? On the Dynasty side, we have Lu Bu (who everyone should respect and fear). On the Heroes side, we have a big freaking dragon. I mean so big, he won't all fit in your TV. And that's just one of them. There's also a Roc (big freaking bird) a sorceress that is, for lack of a better term, one cheap-ass witch, and many more.

As for the game itself, you have four warriors, each with different stats. As you might expect, there's one balanced hero, one pure warrior, one pure mage, and this one guy who's strong and magical, but slow as a rock. Magic is a big factor in this game, as you're given runes to equip that will endow you with some impressive abilities. You have four basic abilities, the power of which is determined by your level with that ability, from 1-4. You have a straight shot which changes depending on the element, a homing shot that lets you target a certain number of enemies, a sword spell (which pretty much just wraps your weapon in a particular element to make it stronger) and finally, a jump spell. That last one lets you throw down a...let's say 'bomb' of magic that will clear out crowds quite well depending on the element and level.

This game is also part RPG, which comes into play with your stats. Hidden around levels are giant pots, and in these pots hide runes, powerups, and stat boosters, which carry over from level to level. Also, the number of times you use a particular magical ability (shot, spread, sword, jump) will raise your experience with that ability, and level it up. See, some runes come with higher-level spells that can't be used till you up your ability level. These higher-level spells are, as you might expect, very powerful and quite fun to use.

Now for the fighting. One thing I particularly liked was this game includes a Zelda-esque spin slash that is hugely welcomed by one who has been surrounded by dozens of enemies in Dynasty Warriors and Mystic Heroes. Not only that, there are certain moves that can be performed with analog stick motions. Add to that a potentially endless combo system. Oh yeah, Dynasty Warriors 3 came close, but Mystic Heroes means business. You can literally juggle an enemy for hundreds of hits, which, to be honest, doesn't seem to do anything other than give you a sense of accomplishment.

Oh, one thing I have to mention is your allies. You'd better keep an eye on them, because while they're tough to kill early on, later levels will have you running to their side. On the subject of levels, not all of them are mere slash fests. One involves a jumping puzzle (another departure from Dynasty, jumping actually does something), one is a veritable gauntlet of enemies as you go it alone, and one involves a search for a switch in order to open a door into the biggest ambush this side of Custer's Last Stand. All in all, there's a little something for everyone, but I have to say, even if you're not a beat-em-up junky, give this one a shot.

Replay Value

Four characters times three difficulty levels times a damn lot of stages equals a lot of single-player fun if you're a fan of beat-em-up's. Add to that dozens of runes, six of which require some honest skill to unlock, and you'll have to invest a lot of hours to get the most out of this title. Multiplayer's not a big draw, but it's there, and it's functional. Sometimes that's all that's required.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/06/03, Updated 07/06/03