The Guardian Legend

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The Guardian Legend

North American boxart
Developer(s) Compile
Publisher(s) Brøderbund/Irem
Designer(s) Jemini Hirono (Program and Effect)
Wao Isee (Password)
Pochi Nakamori (Map Maker)
Janus Teramoto (Graphics)
Miyamo Shant (Music)
Moo Niitani (Director)
Platform(s) NES
Release date JP February 5, 1988 (1988-02-05)
NA April 1989
EU February 20, 1992 (1992-02-20)
Genre(s) Action-adventure game/Scrolling shooter
Mode(s) Single player
Media 1-megabit cartridge

The Guardian Legend (Guardic Gaiden in Japan) is a game created by Compile, produced by Irem, and released by Brøderbund in 1988 for the Famicom in Japan, 1989 for the Nintendo Entertainment System in the USA, and 1992 for the NES in Europe. It is the sequel to the MSX game Guardic. The Guardian Legend is known for its music and for its combination of action-adventure and shoot 'em up elements.

The Guardian Legend uses the similar overworld/underworld setup found in The Legend of Zelda as well as the combination of two separate video game genres like in Xexyz. It also features several recurring elements found in other Compile games, such as the usage of palette swaps in enemies and bosses to indicate their strength and difficulty, similar weaponry, and some recurring characters and sound effects. It is also one of the few games on the NES to feature a woman as the main character.

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

In The Guardian Legend, the player takes control of the guardian of Earth, a "highly sophisticated aerobot transformer"[1]. It is the guardian's mission to infiltrate Naju, a planetlike spaceship in which aliens sent hurtling towards the Earth. While inside, the guardian must destroy ten safety devices which guard the planet's self-destruct mechanism in order to activate it and destroy Naju before the hurtling planet reaches Earth. However, Naju is infested with alien lifeforms which the guardian must fight through in order to successfully activate the switches and escape.[2]

The player takes control of the guardian in both humanoid and spaceship form. The player has two types of weapons: a primary rapid-fire weapon with unlimited ammunition, and various powerful secondary weapons that use "power chips" as ammo. Throughout the planet, the player can collect various items to assist him/her on the quest, such as additional power chips, new secondary weapons as well as secondary weapon upgrades, and Landers/Rendars (blue or red round objects with eyes, a recurring character in many Compile games) with can increase the player's maximum life and power chip capacities.[3]

The player starts the game with a full life meter. This meter decreases when the player gets hit by enemies, and when the player's life meter runs out, the Guardian explodes, and the game ends.[4] However, to help the player along, there are many items in the game which can help replenish and extend the player's life meter.

The Guardian Legend also features unlimited continues and an unusually long password feature. This game has one of the longest password systems found on the NES at 32 characters long and utilizing both upper- and lower-case letters as well as all digits.[5]

[edit] The "Labyrinth"

The Labyrinth is the action-adventure portion of The Guardian Legend, in which the player, in humanoid form, explores the surface of Naju.[6] The Labyrinth consists of screen-wide passages and rooms,[7] individually plotted as X-Y coordinates, for which a grid can be viewed on the pause screen.[8]

The player battling in the Labyrinth.
The player battling in the Labyrinth.

Some screens are connected, while others are separated by portals. These portals bear a symbol that reflects the particular area the player is in, and the player can only access many of these portals by possessing the correct key whose symbol matches that particular portal. Some portals lead to rooms which contain various clues and story elements as well as shops and password rooms.[9]

The objective in the Labyrinth is to find the necessary power-ups and to find and infiltrate the "corridors" in order to destroy the ten safety devices of Naju.

[edit] The "Dungeon"

The player battles a boss in the Dungeon.
The player battles a boss in the Dungeon.

The Dungeon is the scrolling shooter portion of The Guardian Legend, in which the player, now in spaceship form, explores the interior of planet Naju. The Dungeon consists of a series of enemy-filled "corridors" which can be found throughout the Labyrinth.[10] While some corridors can be accessed freely, others can only be accessed by performing a particular action in the corridor room. The ten safety devices which need to be destroyed are located in the Dungeon.

The player's objective in the Dungeon is to simply get to the end of the corridor and defeat the boss at the end. Upon completion, the player effectively destroys the corridor, makes it back to the Labyrinth, and collects a power-up and possibly a portal key. [11] Ten of the corridors in the game serve as the safety devices, which must be destroyed before activating the self-destruct sequence and exiting Naju.

[edit] Development

This game was first developed and released in Japan as the sequel to the MSX game Guardic and dubbed as Guardic Gaiden. The director was "Moo" Niitani, better known as the creator of the popular Puyo Puyo series. It also featured much of the same people who helped create the original Guardic as well as Zanac.

Compile released Guardic Gaiden in early 1988 for the Famicom and was later released in North America as The Guardian Legend and ported to the NES in April 1989. The Guardian Legend was released in Europe on February 20, 1992 (1992-02-20). However, due to strict European censorship regulations, the box art was changed from that in the North American version to that showing a picture of the Guardian approaching the space station Naju.

The box cover for the European version of The Guardian Legend, which is considerably more tame than the North American box cover.
The box cover for the European version of The Guardian Legend, which is considerably more tame than the North American box cover.

[edit] Reception

The Guardian Legend has been lauded by some reviewers for its playability and simple controls, which seems to be a common factor in many Compile games. It has also been lauded for its dual-mode format in which other games such as Xexyz and Actraiser have also successfully done.[12] However, The Guardian Legend did not fare as well in sales or publicity, nor is it considered a major hit on the NES, and so it did not get the recognition that it may have deserved. Because of its distinct music and gameplay, The Guardian Legend does have a small cult following among fans of the NES and fans of shoot 'em ups alike.[13]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Although her name is never stated in the English-language version, the original Japanese story describes her as a "System DP" cyborg and gives her name as Miria.
  2. ^ Instruction Manual, pp. 3, 6.
  3. ^ Instruction Manual, pp. 6, 10-13.
  4. ^ Instruction Manual, p. 7.
  5. ^ Instruction Manual, p. 7.
  6. ^ Instruction Manual, p. 10.
  7. ^ Instruction Manual, p. 4.
  8. ^ Instruction Manual, p. 9.
  9. ^ Instruction Manual, p. 7.
  10. ^ Instruction Manual, pp. 7, 10.
  11. ^ Instruction Manual, p. 7.
  12. ^ (Emirzian 1998)
  13. ^ (Cassidy 2003)

[edit] References

[edit] External links