Games by Compile--secret sequels and prequels to each other?

[rbudrick]

There's a trend with Compile games I've noticed since I was young that I'm hoping someone with better knowledge can clear up. When I was younger I thought that The Guardian Legend and Zanac were somehow related. Those little spherical ball dudes dudes are in the games, and the shooter scenes are sometimes very similar. I haven't played either game in a while, but I remember there were other details in the games that made me think GL was a sequel of some sort to Zanac...Maybe just a spiritual sequel.

Then we have Golvellius (and I hear it has sequels...Golvellius II and Part 1, 2, and 3 of the Adventures of Randar, according to this site:

http://www.rpgclassics.com/shrines/s...lius/MSX.shtml

The blue dudes are back and the overhead scenes in The Guardian Legend always reminded me of Golvellius.

Maybe some of you can add some games to this list, but more importantly, tell me if these games are related.

-Rob

[blue lander]

Guardian Legend is actually Guardic Gaiden, which is a pseudo sequel to Compile's MSX game Guardic. They all definitely share a bunch of common features. Evolution wise, I'm not sure if Guardic is a prequel or a contemporary of Zanac, which of course eventually became the Aleste series. Guardic, Guardic Gaiden, and Govellius all feature Randar, the little blue guy known as Blue Lander in Guardian Legend, who eventually got three of his own RPGs on the MSX II.

[rbudrick]

Wow, straight from the Landar's mouth! Thanks, Blue!

Are there any other games/series Landar appeared in?

I'd love to see a new Guardian Legend game...

-Rob

[idrougge]

I think Randar appeared in most games before he was succeeded by Carbunkle. As has been mentioned in the SG-1000 thread, he first appeared in the window-cleaning game Swing, as well as in Gulkave.
He appears in Powerstrike 2 on the Master System, and in GG Aleste on guess what system.

Here are some appearances from Diskstation #0:




Let's make this a Randar-spotting thread!

[CRV]

The ladies love the Randar...

[blue lander]

Right, he's sort of the precursor to Carbunkle as their mascot. Most of the early Diskstation boxes I've got have Randar on the front, most of the later ones have Carbunkle.

I think Randar was also in Gun*Nac, wasn't he?

[klausien]

I think Randar was also in Gun*Nac, wasn't he?

Took the words right out of my mouth. Indeed he was.

God I miss the glory of classic Compile.

[blue lander]

Compile also had a "board game" style game for the MSX that Randar featured prominently in as I recall.

I'm not sure of the exact dates, but doesn't the adopting of Carbunkle over Randar coincide with the downfall of the company? One minute Randar's their mascot and they're making the best shmups in the history of mankind, the next minute Carbunkle's the mascot and they're just cranking out Puyo Puyo games.

Can anybody think of any appearances by Randar in the Aleste games? I don't recall seeing him in Aleste 1 or 2 or Gaiden.

[idrougge]

Can anybody think of any appearances by Randar in the Aleste games? I don't recall seeing him in Aleste 1 or 2 or Gaiden.

He's in GG Aleste. I can't recall if I saw him in Powerstrike, but I don't see any place for him either.
Edit: I just played through GG Aleste to confirm my memories, and couldn't find him. Was it just my imagination? I remember seeing him in the bonus stages...

I recall seeing him in Dragon Quiz, but can't verify that.

[adaml]

This could be a shot in the dark, but if someone wants to check out the Famicom game Super Star Force, I seem to recall thinking it could have been a prequel to The Guardian Legend. It was probably the gameplay that made me think that. Don't recall seeing any Blue Landars in it while I played.

[CRV]

This could be a shot in the dark, but if someone wants to check out the Famicom game Super Star Force, I seem to recall thinking it could have been a prequel to The Guardian Legend. It was probably the gameplay that made me think that. Don't recall seeing any Blue Landars in it while I played.

I'm pretty sure SSF wasn't by Compile. As was said before, the prequel was Guardic for the MSX1.

[rbudrick]

This could be a shot in the dark, but if someone wants to check out the Famicom game Super Star Force, I seem to recall thinking it could have been a prequel to The Guardian Legend. It was probably the gameplay that made me think that. Don't recall seeing any Blue Landars in it while I played.

Yes, the Star Force series was by Tehkan, iirc. Somewhat amusing story...I remember when Game Genie for NES was illegal in America and I wanted one more than ANYTHING. Keep in mind, mainstream cheat devices did not exist, and this was a dream come true for gamers. I begged my mom to get me one for Xmas via Canada. I remember she paid (w/ shipping) $117. When the package arrived a few days before Xmas, I was too exited, so I opened what was basically my Mom's mail, though it was a present for me and she already told me she got it for me (I was there when she ordered it on the phone). She was pretty pissed at me for that, since I wasn't supposed to have until Xmas, and it was her mail!

Anyway, I had Star Force for years and pretty much figured it was impossible. With Slo-Mo (NES Advantage), I was able to make to to the 16th level (out of 24). I called Nintendo to see if they knew any cheat codes or if I could talk to someone who's actually beaten it. I called about 3 different GPCs and each of them went and sought out someone who had. On each call there was a long holding period and each of them (on each of the three calls I made over a period of time) asked every counsellor around and the managers and 2 out of the 3 said only 1 guy there had ever beat it and he didn't work there any more.

So I fire up my Game Genie w/ SF and set the unlimited lives code. I beat the game and the shitty ending was only a screen that said "Congratulations! Coming Soon Super Star Force," or something like that. The funny thing is, SSF never came out outside Japan, and the Japanese version doesn't have an ending at all! It just goes from level Omega to level Infinity, which repeats forever (the US version does this AFTER the ending).

I always wanted to beat Super SF, but never really understood it (you have to read Japanese in some parts, iirc). I own a complete copy, so maybe I should do that sometime. Also, it seems to be just as hard as the original, but maybe I just don't know how to play it.

Ok, back to the thread. Who's this Carbunkle mascot? And does anyone know why Landar/Randar/Lander has that name? WTF is he supposed to be?


-Rob

[CRV]

Who's this Carbunkle mascot?

Carbunkle's that little yellow/brown thing from Puyo Puyo.

[idrougge]

Ok, back to the thread. Who's this Carbunkle mascot? And does anyone know why Landar/Randar/Lander has that name? WTF is he supposed to be?

The one above the blue puyo:


I think Randar is supposed to be the gaming world's most unimaginative mascot.

[adaml]

Mr. Budrick, there is actually a walkthrough somewhere for Super Star Force. It was on a Japanese site I had a couple computers ago and the URL is lost in space. I almost think Skrybe may have the URL if it still exists, but I may be wrong. I remember there is some tricky stuff you need to pull off to beat that game, things that you would not think of on your own.

Nice story on the Game Genie. That was worth more than a block of gold for me back in the day. TMNT and Bayou Billy were the first two games I slaughtered my way through with that device.

I have a story for my Game Action Replay, where my dad actually hunted one down for me, however I couldn't get the thing to work (even after prying that metal bar out of my NES). A few months later I threw all my games in my travel bag to play at my cousin's house and for the hell of it decided to try the GAR in his machine. After horrifying him by yanking the metal bar out of his NES, I slid the GAR into it and for some reason put in Adventure Island, a game both of us had tried to beat for a couple years, unsuccessfully. Wouldn't you know it, the damned thing worked! Luckily I remembered from the manual how to save and reload your saved game, so we conquered AI that night.

I'll try to hunt down that Super Star Force walkthrough/hint page. A quick google search turned up nothing.

[adaml]

Ahh, just remembered it wasn't a bookmark, but an old email from a website I saved the text from for Super Star Force thanks to Skrybe (from April 15, 2002!!):

1. shoot the largest fossil in 1608 to open up a cavern.

2. shoot at the egg in 1301 to make a pyramid appear in 1608.

3. fire at the right center of the lake in 1003 to make a bird-shaped island appear in 1301.

4. The maps of 1608 and 2010 in http://n-beetle.net/jp/Game/SuperStarForce/ show places of hidden doors, which if you enter the rooms, someone will give a bird-like object to you. By collecting 4 of these, you can enter the dungeon of 330.

5. If you give the statue from the being in 820 and give it to the one in 1301, you will make a fortress to appear in 820. To receive the second gem, go to the center bottom room then out to the parapets of the fortress. If you bomb two doors to the left, a door will appear.

6. How to make pyramid in 1003 appear: use the sun lamp and dry up water in fortress in 820. (You must be in the center of the fountain) Somewhere there must be some bomb since someone in that 360 asked for a bomb from 1003. Warning: do not finish this level at the end, and instead, get the bomb first. You may have to turn off bomb cheats.

7. In the pyramids of 1003 and the dungeon of DA 1, there is a golden archway. Use the cross there to pass under to the other side.

8. At DA 1, shoot at a volcano in the right hand side of the screen to make a dungeon appear, but enter the exit before the monster gets you. (If that happens, it is game over)

9. Somewhere in the pyramid a being sells some explosives. Give them to the being in the dungeon in 316 before exiting that dungeon.

10. Go to the right hand corridor and ignore pleas to go back. The other corridors are not only useless, they can lead to a certain death.

11. When you are near the sun pillars, blow up a hole in the wall. Inside is the character I mentioned earlier in 7.

12. Behind the "triceratops" is another hidden door, leading to a strange room with two pillars with sun patterns. If you walk between them, you will light up temporarily. If you gave the explosives to the character, hurry over to the blocked room, which will open if you are still shining.

13. DA 1 is the last dungeon. First, look in the rooms before the arch to see if there is anything special left. When you get all that is available, go to the golden arch. Use the cross the same way as you did in 1003, then get the gem.

14. You are not done yet! Return to 820 then visit the hole near the fountain. (This will only appear after you obtained the gems) Here you will receive the last trinket of the game, a "Cleopatra" stone head.

15. Finally, return to the DA 1, where you will fight Gordess. Winning the battle warps you directly to BC 2137. Go into the first cave you see and place the gems in their holders. As time is running out, you need to go in the correct order, as previously mentioned. Good luck!
P.S. If you destroy Gordess first, you will automatically warp to BC 2137, but when the level ends, the ending says that Gordess rose from the dead and entrapped your friend forever. Make several save states to ensure you can recover if anything goes wrong.




This is some seriously complicated stuff. Note that the website where the maps supposedly are no longer exists

[rbudrick]

Holy Crap! A real SSF walkthrough. Awesome, dude! Thanks!

-Rob