Klonoa Heroes: Densetsu no Star Medal

Klonoa Heroes: Densetsu no Star Medal (クロノアヒーローズ 伝説のスターメダル) is an action role-playing game developed and published by Namco and released in Japan in 2002. It is the first game in the Klonoa series to combine both standard action-gaming elements with role-playing features.

Story
Klonoa Heroes is the second to latest game in the series, set in an alternate universe from the other games. Here, Klonoa lives in his hometown of Breezegale and is setting his sights on becoming a true hero. The game begins with him and his friend, Chipple, trying to pluck a special flower, the Hikari Sakura (literally the Light Sakura or Light Cherry-blossom) from a tree branch. The flower is said to only bloom under special circumstances, and the person who possesses it will be granted good luck.

After getting the Hikari Sakura, Klonoa was informed by Popka, his small, dog-like friend, that several small monsters have taken up residence around his town, and Klonoa rushes to beat them back. Not long after defeating them, Klonoa decides to visit his friend, a priestess-in-training named Lolo, who informs him that more monsters have been sighted on Bell Hill, located just up the path from the shrine she is studying in. After promising he will come back safely, Klonoa makes his way to the top of the hill, only to be surrounded by several small, round creatures called Moos. Just then, he is rescued by a young man on the motorcycle who calls himself Guntz.

After fighting and regaining the flower, Klonoa catches up to give it to Lolo (who he sought to give it to originally) as he wishes her luck on the journey.

Together, Klonoa and Guntz leave to pursue a bounty-hunting career, only to run into a large armadillo named Pango, a bomb expert, who joins them because he wants to cure his son, Boris, from the sleeping sickness. They all learn of a plot being conceived by a madman named Garlen, who has joined forces with some of Klonoa's other villains, Joka and Janga. Together, Klonoa, Guntz, and Pango defeat Janga and put an end to his sinister plans.

Gameplay
Taking a unique twist on the normal gameplay of the Klonoa handheld games, Klonoa Heroes instead relies on the player moving Klonoa, Guntz, or Pango across the screen from a top-down perspective, having them defeat enemies and earn experience points in the form of Dream Shards (small, crystal-like objects) and gold, which is used for currency, along the way. Klonoa once again utilizes his familiar weapon, the Wind Ring, but this time the "wind bullet" he can fire from it can be either blue or red. Guntz's handguns and Pango's bombs work the same way. Characters can acquire different weapons throughout the game. Likewise, each enemy in the game is given a color affinity of either blue or red, and Klonoa (or the other characters) can deal more damage to them by attacking with the same color.

Restorative items can be either found in chests located sporadically throughout each level, or purchased from merchants in town. These items, when used, restore a portion of the character's hit points, as well as provide other small benefits. Characters can also "level up", which allows the player to place points of their choice in different statistics: such as attack power, defense, and agility. You can change the amount of points attributed to each stat at any time (when not in a section of a level).

Klonoa and his friends must travel through eight worlds separated into several small levels called visions. At the end of each world, the characters must take on a boss monster, a much more difficult encounter than usual, in order to advance.

Songs
Theme song:
 * "Sign of Hero" by Kumiko Watanabe (渡辺 久美子), Kanako Kakino (柿埜嘉奈子)

On March 22, 2011, Namco released the full soundtrack for the game called "Klonoa Heroes: Legendary Star Medal Music Collection" which includes the full studio version as well as karaoke version of "Sign of Hero". Previously, fans could only listen to the downscaled GBA synthesized version. The song, as well as the entire soundtrack is now available on iTunes.

Reception
On release, Famitsu magazine scored the game a 31 out of 40.