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''Guardians of the 'Hood'' is a 1992 side-scrolling
beat 'em up The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, ...
developed and released by
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for arcades. The game features
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sprites, similar to ''
Pit-Fighter ''Pit-Fighter'' is a 1990 arcade fighting game by Atari Games which uses digitized live actors. It was Atari's first fighting game. The Japanese arcade release was published by Konami. Home versions were published by Tengen. The graphical ani ...
'', and sprite scaling effects that gives a feeling of depth. It was originally sold in both dedicated
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and conversion kits.


Gameplay

''Guardians of the 'Hood'' can be played by up to three players
simultaneously Simultaneity may refer to: * Relativity of simultaneity, a concept in special relativity. * Simultaneity (music), more than one complete musical texture occurring at the same time, rather than in succession * Simultaneity, a concept in Endogene ...
. Before the game begins, the player chooses between the four main characters or "guardians": Conner, Chief, Javier, and Tanya. Each has their own fighting style and attributes. Health meters are displayed for both player and enemy characters. The player must advance through four areas (slums, subway, Chinatown and amusement park) to defeat gangs and the main
boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...
. The game features a weapon system, where a player can collect a variety of objects along the way and throw or use them on the enemies. There is also a power move called "Magic", similar to those seen in the ''
Street Fighter , commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...
'' series, where the player throws a projectile at the enemy. ''Hood'' consists of nine stages or "waves". After completing the first one, the player returns to the gym to have a head-to-head match against a fellow guardian member. Winning two of three rounds grants the player a choice of freely proceeding to the next area or repeating the practice in the gym. From Wave 2 until Wave 7, each gang's territory is divided into three parts. The first two are belt-scroll beat 'em up sections, the latter being gang's headquarters, where at the end the player fight against their leader. Once the boss (and the gang) is defeated, he will be recruited to the guardians team as a selectable character (3 in total: Jay-Jay of The Dreads, Boris of The Shavers, and Kwan of The Dragons). During the third part, the player once again have to practice at the gym. The last two stages are located in the abandoned boardwalk headquarters, followed by a fight against Mr. Big (who is actually a female).


Plot

The game is set in a fictional town in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
named Center City, in April 1993. Three gangs: The Dreads, The Shavers, and The Dragons, led by Mr. Big, took over the neighborhood. A group of local gymgoers called "guardians" fight their way into the gangs territories in order to save the hood, regain control of the city, and discover the identity of Mr. Big.


Reception

''RePlay'' reported ''Guardians of the 'Hood'' to be the twelfth most-popular arcade game at the time. ''
Hardcore Gaming 101 ''Hardcore Gaming 101'' is an online video game magazine founded by Kurt Kalata. Kalata established the site after graduating college, when he noticed the overabundance of game strategy guides, and felt that someone should create more books about ...
'' Kurt Kalata editor-in-chief noted that it improves on ''
Pit-Fighter ''Pit-Fighter'' is a 1990 arcade fighting game by Atari Games which uses digitized live actors. It was Atari's first fighting game. The Japanese arcade release was published by Konami. Home versions were published by Tengen. The graphical ani ...
''s formula, but manages "to be terrible in almost every way."


References


External links


''Guardians of the 'Hood''
on ''Arcade History'' * * {{Atari Games 1992 video games Arcade video games Arcade-only video games Atari arcade games Cooperative video games Head-to-head arcade video games Martial arts video games Obscenity controversies in video games Organized crime video games Side-scrolling beat 'em ups Video games featuring female protagonists Video games scored by Brad Fuller Video games set in 1993 Video games set in amusement parks Video games set in the future Video games set in the United States Video games with 2.5D graphics Video games with digitized sprites Multiplayer and single-player video games