Our first Classic Game That Never Was this week is Mystic Guardian, a Gauntlet clone released on the SNES that tried to add a bit of story to the hack n’ slash RPG.
The basic premise was that the unnamed fantasy world had its own spirit that protected it (the titular Mystic Guardian) and that a dragon lord had imprisoned it. The Guardian would only be freed by collecting six elemental crystals (the four Western elements of earth, fire, wind, and water plus light and darkness) scattered throughout the world.
Players could choose between a sword wielding warrior, a dual dagger wielding bladedancer, a bow wielding ranger, and a staff wielding mage. Each character had their own strengths and weaknesses, meaning you had to play through each of the stages 4 times to get everything. Of the four, the bladedancer and the mage were the most powerful (physically and magically, respectively) and the most popular.
Unlike Gauntlet, Mystic Guardian did not have constantly respawning enemies. The only time enemies would respawn was if you took too long to clear the stage, and they would oftentimes be harder then before (but not so hard you could not defeat them at your current level.
Despite its vast world and many stages teaming with secrets and treasure, the critics panned Mystic Guardian for being a little too similar to Gauntlet for its own good. It still managed to sell well, and spawned a successful TV series that ran for seven seasons (210 episodes) The series was relatively faithful to the game, but what surprised the fans the most was the giving of names to the characters–the warrior was named Senion (the calm and laid back leader), the bladedancer was named Aisenna (whose hot headed personality made her a fan favorite), the ranger was named Fanyir (the spiritual member of the group), and the mage’s name was Petra (the intelligent member of the team)
The game and series retain a loyal following, so a mint copy typically sells for $50-70. The show has been released on VHS (but tapes are hard to find), and plans are in the works to release the series on DVD
