Based on a live action television series on Tokyo TV, Garo features the adventures of a shiny-armored action hero who wields the mighty Garo Blade and battles the forces of darkness. The Makai Knights have kept watch over humanity for 500 years. Their adversary is the Maju Horror and its countless minions. To help them with their formidable task, each successive generation uses a golden suit of armor and a sword to sweep away evildoers.

As the Garo story begins, Koga Saejima is the current keeper of the flame and he resides in the family castle. To activate his unearthly power, Saejima rips into time and space to transform into Garo who is active for exactly 99.90 seconds. After that, he reverts back to his puny human form. The PS2 game features 3D punch 'n kick action where Koga runs around in a white jacket and battles henchmen in metropolitan settings. When big danger arises, Koga may call upon the power of Garo to transform into a glittering powerhouse with explosive moves. Game modes include a VS mode for 2-player action and a gallery mode which contains 165 secret selections of television show screen caps and character voice samples.

View the back cover and screenshots on the main NCSX website.

NCS Game Notes
» The intro for the game features energetic live action footage from the television show mixed with slow-motion sequences of the Garo armor.

» After starting a standard game, Koga Saejima stands inside what appears to be an abandoned storage area of some sort. Koga wears a white trench coat and lashes at demonic enemies with a sword. The wall hangings in the first level are interactive and will drop and shatter if you slash them.

CONTROLS
SQUARE / Standard sword attack
X-BUTTON / Strong sword attack
O-BUTTON / Jump; press again to perform a heels over head dash move
L1-TRIGGER / Lock onto an enemy

The O-Button may be pressed continuously to hover and glide across the screen. Bouncing against a wall will also propel Koga into a slow-motion hover where he can attack enemies with multiple downward slash attacks.

» When all of the demons in the storage area are destroyed, the next level takes place in a parking garage where cars may be attacked and destroyed. The steel car storage braces may also be wrecked by striking them. The first boss of the game appears in the garage and she's an iron-clad maiden with a wicked whip/sickle which whacks off large amounts of Koga's life bar when it connects.

» As mentioned earlier, the Gallery Mode contains 165 selections of screen caps from the television series and voice samples. The only way to unlock each one is by buying them with credits that you obtain from playing the game and finishing levels. Many selections only cost 100 credits to open but some cost 1000 credits and others apparently have no price yet as indicated by the question mark over their spaces.

» Garo is a fast paced and routine action game that breaks no new ground but the attention to replicating the creatures and hero of the Garo television series is fan service fodder. NCS considers Garo one of the best tokusatsu series to come along in a while.

This game is also known as Golden Knight Garo.

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