The Guardian Legend is a gem that perhaps got overshadowed by other classics at the time. Make no mistake, because this game is a classic that, at least to me, deserves to be on the list of the best NES titles ever made.
This game is a strange hybrid between a shmup and an adventure game that borrows elements from The Legend of Zelda, Metroid and Mega Man with a RPG-like progression system. Players can upgrade their health and chips (currency) to buy weapons and upgrades with in shops that are scattered throughout the labyrinths. Each labyrinth is like a hub world to explore, which is similar to the original The Legend of Zelda. Instead of dungeons, this game has Corridors. Corridors are essentially the dungeon-equivalent of The Legend of Zelda, except they're shmup stages that each play like your classic Compile shmup similar to something like Zanac or Gun Nac with a boss at the end of every stage. There are a total of 22 Corridors. It's not required to go through all of them to beat the game, making this a fairly non-linear experience. Though it's recommended to clear them all in order to be sufficiently powered up as the game becomes more difficult with each labyrinth and Corridor.
Through exploration and clearing Corridors, players find all kinds of helpful weapons and upgrades. Now the cool thing about this game is that the weapons can be used on ground as well as on your ship in stages. Some weapons are very helpful for certain stages and bosses. Just like in Mega Man games you can clear the stages without extra weapons if the player wishes to do so. The game also has a mode where you can skip the exploration part of the game and jump straight into the shmup stages, which I think is super cool.
The Guardian Legend can be a bit cryptic for today's standards, but the same can be said for the original The Legend of Zelda. In fact, this game has aged extremely well. Arguably better than The Legend of Zelda. It features a save system as well as a map. Also, in the overworld you can move and attack in eight different directions. While this doesn't seem like a stunning innovation now, back in 1988 it absolutely was.
Out of the NES library I find myself coming back to this game more often than its peers. Exploring this world is a blast, it has an awesome soundtrack, cool designs and lots of replay-value. It's an unique game that mixes the best the NES era has to offer in one package. It almost feels like a compilation and a final celebration of the NES era.
This game is a strange hybrid between a shmup and an adventure game that borrows elements from The Legend of Zelda, Metroid and Mega Man with a RPG-like progression system. Players can upgrade their health and chips (currency) to buy weapons and upgrades with in shops that are scattered throughout the labyrinths. Each labyrinth is like a hub world to explore, which is similar to the original The Legend of Zelda. Instead of dungeons, this game has Corridors. Corridors are essentially the dungeon-equivalent of The Legend of Zelda, except they're shmup stages that each play like your classic Compile shmup similar to something like Zanac or Gun Nac with a boss at the end of every stage. There are a total of 22 Corridors. It's not required to go through all of them to beat the game, making this a fairly non-linear experience. Though it's recommended to clear them all in order to be sufficiently powered up as the game becomes more difficult with each labyrinth and Corridor.
Through exploration and clearing Corridors, players find all kinds of helpful weapons and upgrades. Now the cool thing about this game is that the weapons can be used on ground as well as on your ship in stages. Some weapons are very helpful for certain stages and bosses. Just like in Mega Man games you can clear the stages without extra weapons if the player wishes to do so. The game also has a mode where you can skip the exploration part of the game and jump straight into the shmup stages, which I think is super cool.
The Guardian Legend can be a bit cryptic for today's standards, but the same can be said for the original The Legend of Zelda. In fact, this game has aged extremely well. Arguably better than The Legend of Zelda. It features a save system as well as a map. Also, in the overworld you can move and attack in eight different directions. While this doesn't seem like a stunning innovation now, back in 1988 it absolutely was.
Out of the NES library I find myself coming back to this game more often than its peers. Exploring this world is a blast, it has an awesome soundtrack, cool designs and lots of replay-value. It's an unique game that mixes the best the NES era has to offer in one package. It almost feels like a compilation and a final celebration of the NES era.