Les Chevaliers du Zodiaque might be how some of Europe knows the Saint Seiya series best. This anime and manga franchise uses mythology to create its cast of clad warriors that represent their zodiac sign. The game Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Battle follows the story arc of the Golden Palaces closely, where the Bronze knights fight the main 12 golden signs. It’s a shallow fighting experience, but interlaced with a gripping story.

In their quest to save the embodiment of the goddess Athena, protagonist Seiya and his bronze brethren will need to run the gauntlet of 12 palaces. Between each dwelling, the group will have to take on hordes of differing minions and dark counterparts of their allies. The different locations don’t offer much, as they are barren or sterile, but at least the contrasting color palette enhances environments like rocky mountains and marble architectures. There are also a ton of special effects emitting from lighting, characters and their special attacks. The dazzling gleam coming from armors and the stellar emissions from characters makes Sanctuary Battle a spectacle to behold at times. Immense, lavish attacks add to that, as the characters don’t hold back any punches. Some of these can also be captured as huge Big Bang Attacks.

But in particular, it’s the character models and the accompanying genuine audio that capture the series perfectly. By using heavy color shades the computer generated imagery still retains most of the anime style known from the franchise. The hair of the characters are a bit off, but otherwise this subtle presentation does tribute to the series and gives more appeal to the player portraying Saint Seiya through their hands. This gets further enhanced by the narration and original soundtrack. Yet, it’s a shame that the original Japanese audio is tough to follow in between fights; certainly as the subtle interface places the conversations out of sight.

You see, Saint Seiya is ultimately about lustrous, fast-paced action and the game executes this well. Characters have a basic move list consisting of one swift and one heavy attack that can be combined to simple, button mashing combos. In addition, characters can add power from their own Cosmo gauge to enhance attacks or deplete it even more by launching special attacks. By blocking proficiently or by simply triggering it, players can also unlock their 7^th sense that slows down time and gives them an edge on combat. It’s not elaborate, but the action on screen doesn’t give much chance to think anyway. Hordes of enemies swarm characters and bosses attack with furor at tremendous speeds. Through this acceleration, players get treated to the level of skill and power that the game would want to evoke from the honed warriors.

The boss fights are the main attraction, but all stages are separated by a score tally after which players get credited experience and Cosmo points to distribute. This displays a shallow leveling system that allows soldiers to get updated with more attributes, increased attacks or to equip them with a skill. Additionally each dispute gets ranked in the end, offering a slight replay value for those that would want to. The game also allows skipping cutscenes, so players aren’t forced to relive it time and again.

Not all is shining gold in this action romp though. For one, the abridged version of the glorious Saint Seiya story arc might be hard for outsiders to grasp without poking holes in it. Secondly, the button mashing aspect might grow tedious after a while, certainly given that most characters have 1 move that works better than anything else.  Also, the fixed camera positions make some battles a chore, especially when stronger foes attack from behind the screen or get cornered into obscured positions.

But more importantly, the hit detection is strange in several boss battles. Some attacks hit normally, some pass through if not immediate hits and some boss swipes hit from incredibly far away. There is a certain form of consistency in most, but it will still require vigorous adaptation and just doesn’t connect with the rest of the game’s pace. As there isn’t much room for thinking, having to factor in strange diversions from other mechanics creates a confusing split of anticipated reactions. Additionally, getting hit and flopping around can quickly turn to slaughter in these fights, so timing is everything.

Luckily, this means that otherwise Saint Seiya is a healthy challenge despite its superficial approach. The differing difficulty levels also provide an adequate trial for most skill levels. Additionally, Sanctuary Battle offers collector possibilities, such as galleries and music players. But it also adds auxiliary game modes where players can choose a fighter unlocked from the campaign and run through several challenges. These possibilities include a survival mode, singleplayer effort through numerous stages or a tag team option where 1 or2 players can take on fierce opponents. The latter mode is a joy to take on with a friend, certainly if the option to hit each other is allowed. This will require some skill to go through as all the action crammed on the screen can quickly cause hilarious slip ups, resulting in beating each other to dust.

Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Battle is still a superficial action extravaganza best suited for fans of the series. Still, its quick pace and brilliant execution on what it does display could offer some joy to its outside audience, willing that they’re prepared to overlook some issues. Other than that, enjoy the show.

Daav Valentaten, NoobFeed. (@Daavpuke)