Have you ever wanted to play an old-school, RPG beat-em-up with a deep story and branching storyline? How about one of Treasure’s classic Sega Saturn games? Well, soon enough you’ll get a chance to do both, as Guardian Heroes is being re-released on Xbox Live Arcade later this year.

Guardian Heroes is considered by some to be one of the best games released for the short-lived Saturn, with its deep story and branching dialogue options that change the story and levels you will see in each playthrough. You’ll choose one of several heroes, and go through the levels fighting enemies and earning experience points. There are both melee characters and magic ones, and at the end of each level, you can choose different stats to level up, ranging from your melee or magic power to your HP.

You’ll also have an AI partner for most of the game who will actually come in pretty handy. Even though you can’t directly control him, you can determine how aggressive or passive you want him to be. Included will be both online and local co-op, and a 12 player online multiplayer arena mode.

Treasure is giving Guardian Heroes HD graphics for this release and they seem to work pretty well in action, though they don’t look very good in screenshots. If you don’t care for the HD revamp though, the option to use the classic graphics is included.

It doesn’t seem like they are messing at all with the formula in this remake, so whether you missed out on this title or enjoyed it fully back in the day, get ready to check it out when it drops in late summer or early fall on Xbox Live Arcade.