8-Colors Star Guardians + Review

Once again, aliens are attacking the planet Earth, and it’s up to five heroines to fight off this evil and save the day. These girls don’t seem like your typical heroes, especially when you see the silly conversations that they have, but they all can transform into stronger Power Ranger-like forms to use in battle. Each of the characters has a different colour, which you can see when they are talking; their outlines, eyes, and even hair all match, which will carry over when they transform. The eight alien monsters have arrived, each located in a different corner of the city. It’s 8-Colors Star Guardians +, and it's time to fight.

Even though there are five different girls available to choose from, there can only be a team of three that will work together to take down the larger monsters. The other two will battle the minions who keep responding; these smaller enemies will keep appearing until the eight-strong bosses are defeated. The gameplay is reminiscent of a Mega Man title, as you will learn a new ability when you defeat one of the monsters. Some of these enemies can only be defeated by a specific skill, so it will take some trial and error to determine what is most effective.

The game is a turn-based battle game where you select the attack or magic attack you want to do, alternating between a guardian and the enemy. There isn’t much to do here control-wise other than select who to battle and which move to use. The monster will wait to attack until after your move is done, so you don’t have to worry about being hit while trying to make a decision. Each of the members of your team has their own unique amount of HP and SP; if their hit points are high, chances are the skill points are lower to keep it a bit more balanced. As you progress, some of the guardians will learn moves that can bring an ally back to life or replenish the whole team's SP, which is important for fights that require numerous special attacks.

As you may assume, the game is represented by only eight different colours, making the sprite art look quite simple, but the gif-style animations of the heroines attacking and dancing feel quite charming. The music in the game consists of two different songs: one that plays when you are on the map selecting which enemy to fight next and for the sections of dialogue between the characters; and cool battle music that feels like a chiptune version of something that you heard during a fight in the Power Rangers show.

8-Colors Star Guardians + is a re-release of a title that was previously released for free on itch.io. It’s not exactly the same though; it has been expanded, and new content has been added, like additional chapters and the arcade option besides the story mode. The game was created by Andrea Demetrio, who pretty much did everything on their own, from the characters to the writing, bringing in a bit of help for the music. It always impresses me to see when something can create something like this by themselves.

Once you complete chapter one of the story mode, you will unlock the arcade mode. This is a challenging battle that has you trying to defeat the monster within a set number of turns. To be successful, you will quickly need to figure out which attacks do the most damage and can take down the enemy in as few moves as possible. The bosses all have a different type, like ghost, fire, or fighting, and others, like the crab, have an outer shell protecting them that will need to be destroyed by basic attacks before the special moves will do massive damage. No matter which mode you challenge, be prepared to be defeated numerous times!

8-Colors Star Guardians + is a game that isn’t overly long — the first chapter can be completed in an afternoon — but it’s challenging and will take a lot of trial and error to figure out the most effective way to fight each of the alien monsters you are facing. Once you finish the first chapter, besides arcade mode being available, a second chapter will be accessible to challenge. The story takes place a year later, and the enemies are back, but this time instead of taking on eight enemies, there are 13 here. Then, instead of one-on-one battles, the full team of five guardians will fight against pairs of enemies. This definitely adds a whole new level of challenge and extra gameplay!

I’ve had a good time with this title; the writing is charming and silly, but is also able to transition to become serious when it’s appropriate. Even with a simple art style, this game is sure to challenge you!