the Guardian Legend

[Graham Mitchell]

First off, let me say that it's nice to see people talking about things they LOVE on here again. That's what caught my interest when I signed up. It seems to be the result of posts like these, where people discuss games that are special to them, and try to evoke responses from everyone else.

So... here goes!

The Guardian Legend. A Compile classic. This is my favorite game that they ever designed. What can I say? The blend of a VERY good shooter and a unique adventure game hasn't been something that was ever really attempted again, at least not in this format. It's also not something I would have expected them to pull off so seemlessly, either.

The game has a great ambience too it--your only communication with the game comes in the form of messages on the computers around the space station, left by it's long-dead inhabitants. Creepy, even for 8-bit.

Fans of this should try Golvellius for the SMS, as well! They won't be sorry!

Well, let's hear it! What do you think about this game?

[Stealthlox]

Guardian Legend ruled.

Very underated little title by Broderbund.

Some crazy shooter levesl with tight controls.

[swlovinist]

what a great game. I have a retro story about this great hybrid game. I was nearing the end of the game, some huge boss with meteors coming down fast...and my mom yells "get off the game or you are grounded for two weeks". I tried to voice to my mother how important it was for me to finish the game(I had been playing the game 8 hours). My mom in a calm voice said that I could stay on, as long as I knew what my consequences were. It was the best 2 week grounding ever!

[Dire 51]

I loved both TGL and Golvellius - and how the Blue Lander (aka Rendar) appears in both, with the same theme music in both as well.

[rbudrick]

I always thought there was a relationship between Zanac and TGL..those little blue dudes are in that too...I can't remember, but I thought there was some hinting of this in the game or in the instructions or something too...

But yeah, I always loved TGL. It was such aunique game and it was a lot of fun. Crazy difficult bosses. I rememeber being frustrated as all hell on that last boss. I always wished for a sequel to this...

-Rob

[jerkov]

I love this game. I haven't played this in a while, and I don't believe that I've ever completed it, but it's one of those games in my "must beat during my lifetime" pile. Don't some of those blue and red guys in Gun-Nac as well? Or am I just imagining things? Eh, either way, Zanac, Gun-Nac, and TGL are all Compile games, so I guess it's to be expected.

This Golvellius game sounds very interesting. Is it another Compile product?

[Emily]

Wow, what a coincidence! My cuz just lent me the game last night. He said it sucked back in the day.After I pklayed through the awsome shooter level to the adventure level I was blown away! What a great cocept for a game!

The Guardian Legend kicks serious ass!! \^_^/

[Graham Mitchell]

I love this game. I haven't played this in a while, and I don't believe that I've ever completed it, but it's one of those games in my "must beat during my lifetime" pile. Don't some of those blue and red guys in Gun-Nac as well? Or am I just imagining things? Eh, either way, Zanac, Gun-Nac, and TGL are all Compile games, so I guess it's to be expected.

This Golvellius game sounds very interesting. Is it another Compile product?

All these games you guys are mentioning are Compile games, hence the Red and Blue Landers showing up in all of them, and they're all great; some of the best from any developer for 8-bit systems.

Golvellius is a game Compile did for the Sega Master System that is on par with the "epic" gameplay of TGL. It bears more similarity to the overhead levels of TGL, and still photos will remind you of Crystalis or the Legend of Zelda. The level-upping system if very unique; you literally buy the ability to carry more gold from blue Landers.

It's also similar to TGL in that all the dungeons are explored in a different perspective. Some of them switch to side-view, some of them auto-scroll vertically.

The mechanics of the game are a little funky; every screen has a "hole" that either goes into a dungeon or a shop or somebody's house. Often you have to do different things to make it appear, like stab rocks or walk in a certain area or kill something specific (just like the corridors in TGL).

Golvellius is definitely a treat; I've never beat it (it gets really hard toward the end), but like jerkov, it's in my "beat sometime in my life" pile. Check it out! You won't be sorry.

[vintagegamecrazy]

Long lived Guardian Legend. It was always one of my favorites, and probably the nes shooter thats aged the best.

[o2william]

TGL is a wonderful game, and quite a technical achievement... you have to admire Compile's attitude toward designing games for the underpowered NES. "Who CARES if there's screen flicker and slowdown! Add more sprites! More bullets!!! More explosions!!! MORE I SAY!!!!!" They really demanded a lot from the system, and from players too, for that matter. Ever play through the game with the TGL password?

Golvellius... that's a game I'd like to try out.

[Graham Mitchell]

Ever play through the game with the TGL password?


I've attempted that many times, and I've never beat it that way...actually, that's one of life's great mysteries for me. If I ever did beat it, maybe I'd lose my will to live or something...

I love the way that mode is set up--it's much like Target Earth in that it actually gives you an incentive to play with finesse and achieve high scores by giving you weapons and powerups in rewards for attaining certain point values. That's an attestment to how great that game is...even the stupid bonus game has a level of depth that goes beyond most of it's peers from that time period.