Positives:
- A mix of top-down shooter and shmup that blends really well together.
- Excellent performance on the NES; shots and special shots can be fired at the same time no problem.
- A good world to explore with a map available at any time.
Negatives:
- The difficulty has the tendency to go up- and down pretty frequently, and not in a good way.
- Can potentially be a bit confusing at first. Or I'm just dumb. Probably both.
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The Guardian Legend feels like a game way ahead of its time, which shouldn't be all too surprising when the developer, Compile, has always been able to master the tech behind the NES to their advantage. In comes a blend between one of the most popular genres at the time, the shoot-em-up's, and the explorative side of the adventure genre with top-down shooter gameplay. And they blend together very, very well, as both sides of the game compliment each other. Special weapons found in the exploration part can be used during both these sections, and the same also applies to health, attack- and defence power etc.
I like the adventure part a lot because it's mostly non-linear. There's always only one area that you can explore before the next unlocks, but how you go about that area is up to you. They can also be revisited at any time, though there usually wouldn't be a reason for that unless you missed a shop or boss fight. The main objective here however, is finding the corridors that lead to the Shmup stages. What I like about them is that they are all locked, and the hint to open them is usually found in the same area--which fortunately are all clear understandable hints. I was admittedly confused at first about all the symbols I saw on the floor though, which apparently were keys but they are shaped like typical Shmup upgrades so I just assumed that's what they were for. I was pretty confused for the first half an hour for that reason, but to be fair, I feel that’s also partially my own fault. Could the keyholes have been marked with better identifiable symbols? For sure. But if I just did what the games asked me to do and open up the first corridor, I would have realised it much sooner.
The Shmup sections all controlled well, and since it shares all the stats with the adventure sections, it's one that's not too punishing if you go out of your way to collect everything. Special weapons are available to switch between at any time, and enemies drop health-related items often enough to recover from failure if needed. But… you know what, never mind, I lied. I did say it wasn't punishing but that's only half true. The Guardian Legend has one real flaw if you ask me, and that's the constant difficulty curves. Corridor 3 is infamous for having a boss that deals massive amount of damage and also takes ages to kill, while the next corridor has a dragon boss that almost can't hurt you. Until Corridor 7 this low difficulty remains, where it starts introducing green enemies that just won't die, and other enemies that do massive damage. Don't get me wrong, these difficulty curves are all doable but they're so... sudden. Fortunately, there are enough checkpoints that keep your progress even after a death, so trying again usually isn't too big of a problem. Also props to the very in-depth password system that is… very long to say the least, but it saves literally everything. And the same system can be used for neat secrets, like hidden worlds never meant to be seen, or a mode that is just the Shmups sections and nothing else.
- A mix of top-down shooter and shmup that blends really well together.
- Excellent performance on the NES; shots and special shots can be fired at the same time no problem.
- A good world to explore with a map available at any time.
Negatives:
- The difficulty has the tendency to go up- and down pretty frequently, and not in a good way.
- Can potentially be a bit confusing at first. Or I'm just dumb. Probably both.
-----------------------------------
The Guardian Legend feels like a game way ahead of its time, which shouldn't be all too surprising when the developer, Compile, has always been able to master the tech behind the NES to their advantage. In comes a blend between one of the most popular genres at the time, the shoot-em-up's, and the explorative side of the adventure genre with top-down shooter gameplay. And they blend together very, very well, as both sides of the game compliment each other. Special weapons found in the exploration part can be used during both these sections, and the same also applies to health, attack- and defence power etc.
I like the adventure part a lot because it's mostly non-linear. There's always only one area that you can explore before the next unlocks, but how you go about that area is up to you. They can also be revisited at any time, though there usually wouldn't be a reason for that unless you missed a shop or boss fight. The main objective here however, is finding the corridors that lead to the Shmup stages. What I like about them is that they are all locked, and the hint to open them is usually found in the same area--which fortunately are all clear understandable hints. I was admittedly confused at first about all the symbols I saw on the floor though, which apparently were keys but they are shaped like typical Shmup upgrades so I just assumed that's what they were for. I was pretty confused for the first half an hour for that reason, but to be fair, I feel that’s also partially my own fault. Could the keyholes have been marked with better identifiable symbols? For sure. But if I just did what the games asked me to do and open up the first corridor, I would have realised it much sooner.
The Shmup sections all controlled well, and since it shares all the stats with the adventure sections, it's one that's not too punishing if you go out of your way to collect everything. Special weapons are available to switch between at any time, and enemies drop health-related items often enough to recover from failure if needed. But… you know what, never mind, I lied. I did say it wasn't punishing but that's only half true. The Guardian Legend has one real flaw if you ask me, and that's the constant difficulty curves. Corridor 3 is infamous for having a boss that deals massive amount of damage and also takes ages to kill, while the next corridor has a dragon boss that almost can't hurt you. Until Corridor 7 this low difficulty remains, where it starts introducing green enemies that just won't die, and other enemies that do massive damage. Don't get me wrong, these difficulty curves are all doable but they're so... sudden. Fortunately, there are enough checkpoints that keep your progress even after a death, so trying again usually isn't too big of a problem. Also props to the very in-depth password system that is… very long to say the least, but it saves literally everything. And the same system can be used for neat secrets, like hidden worlds never meant to be seen, or a mode that is just the Shmups sections and nothing else.