PixlBit

This sprawling adventure takes you into space and space stations

The NES has a lot of space shooters on it, but none quite like The Guardian Legend. This game is actually a hybrid of two genres, combining the scrolling shooter along with adventure, and it does it really well. Developed by Compile and published by Broderbund, TGL was released for the NES in 1989 (in North America). By this time, Compile had already given us great shooters such as Blazing Lazers and Gun-Nac. Now they would give us something completely unique to the NES library.

The game starts like any other scrolling shooter as you fly into space in your spaceship and take out enemies which fly right at you. The background in the opening level moves by at a blazing speed, which can be a little disorienting. You'll notice that no power-ups are given, instead all you have is your basic gun, but it'll do for now. You'll also notice that you have health meter, which means this game does not do the typical one hit kill which many shooters of the day would do. This is only the tip of the iceberg; as we will see, TGL is a very atypical shooter for its time.

After defeating the first boss, we get the story for the game via a computer message which was left behind. The star Naju was invaded by evil life-forms, killing everyone except for one person who left a message for you to self-destruct the place and kill all the enemies inside. For you to do this, you will need to activate all ten of the self-destruct units, and there we have our game. Apparently you control some kind of robot girl that can transform into a spaceship (which is really cool).

The adventure aspect of the game plays out a lot like The Legend of Zelda, as you go from screen to screen, shooting blocks, and grabbing new weapons or health. The B button fires your regular gun while the A button uses your special weapon. The special weapons are great, including a lightsaber, a fireball that circles around you, and other neat things. At any time you can press Select to change your special weapon. Be aware, though, that the special weapon uses chip power, which you can replenish by destroying enemies or blocks. Luckily, the game is generous in giving you chip power and health often, but the game can still be challenging (it IS an NES game, after all).

When you press Select, you can also look at the map. At first it's small, but there's still plenty of rooms to explore. You'll notice that one of the rooms is flashing. This is the room you want to go to, as it is the first Corridor into space. Along the way, you'll find that there are a lot of warp panels, some which you cannot access yet because they require a certain key. Some warp panels will take you to a different room on the map; others will transport you to rooms with a message giving you info about seals and corridors. These messages are given out by a big blue face (it must be a Naju resident), and this face will ask if you would like the password. Yes, this game uses a password system. The problem is, paswords are super long (32 characters!), and I wrote down the first password and attempted to put it in, but it didn't work! Perhaps it's just me, or perhaps the game is just a little too old for passwords to still work (I doubt it).

Anyways, you head for the first flashing room, which is Corridor 1. You're told to shoot the gate, which causes it to open, and robot girl jumps through and transforms into spaceship form. Now we have another shooter level! Here's the cool part: any weapons you acquired on foot can now be used in space; you simply choose the weapon in the select screen and use it by pressing A. By holding down both A and B, you'll fire both weapons constantly. You'll want to destroy everything so you can find more chip power and health. The shooter sections are great, giving you plenty of chaos on screen to worry about, and the bosses are simple yet challenging.

After you defeat the boss, you'll get a key which has a specific symbol. This key will open up the next area, expanding the map. Luckily, the map will tell you the exact rooms you need to go to by having them flash, but now three rooms are flashing! And here we have the brilliance of TGL: it is a non-linear game! You can choose to go north to one flashing room or south to the other. Both will lead to certain corridors which will take you into space, but one is more difficult than the other. After beating another space level, you'll get another key, and more of the map will open up. Each new area is distinct in its look and feel, making TGL feel like a cross between The Legend of Zelda and Metroid. And the game is pretty big, too, with several different areas!

One problem, though, is the fact that if you die (in space or on foot), you will start over in the last message room you discovered (y'know, with the big blue face). From here, you will have to make your way back to where you were before, which can be a pain. No one likes backtracking, but I suppose it is the bane of this genre. Despite this, the game does excel in terms of excellent gameplay, exploration, and awesome power-ups.

Finally, the music in TGL is wonderful, with some truly amazing themes for an NES game. These are not simple 8-bit tunes, but rather, well thought-out melodies which evoke great feelings, melodies which would fit right into a movie. Instead of posting the original music from the game, I've posted two remixes of the game music from Overclocked Remix. These remixes really bring out the themes and show you how incredible they are. Great music!

Final Verdict--4 Stars: Recommended

An intriguing story, great gameplay split between two genres, and Zelda-like exploration make this game really stand out among all the other space shooters on NES. It's good in both areas, and the expanding overworld gives the game greater scope and depth. If you enjoy shooters or Zelda, you will find fun to be had in this classic. It's a unique NES game, and it deserves more recognition than it often gets, so here's to you, Guardian Legend!

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