Angel_Arle
The Guardian Legend 1988
Log Status
Completed
Playing
Backlog
Wishlist
Rating
Unrated
Time Played
--
Days in Journal
1 day
Last played
December 7, 2022
Platforms Played
Hidden gems, that was what this game was many years ago. For some reason when I think of that term, this one comes to mind. It's weird because it's not really a hidden gem anymore with how much more people have discovered about games. You think with the star character being female, it being rather obscure (at the time) and it being made by Compile would have meant I'd already played this game but I didn't. That's a shame because this was one of the best games I've played.
This game is a hybrid of sorts as it's part shmup and top down action game. It uses both genres pretty well, I'll talk about the shmup stuff first. You move pretty fast in these at times and you don't have to worry about dying in one hit. These can at some points feel samey but they never once felt dull or unengaging. The weapons you obtain in the top-down stuff can be used here and they add more depth to the shmup stuff and they aren't too easy but also not hard either. Even if you aren't good at the genre like me you shouldn't struggle too much with this.
The top down action parts will have you scouring the world for upgrades on attack, defense, and your weapons. You'll be fighting many enemies in rooms and you also need to find rooms to tell you how to open up specific corridors. So the game is never too cryptic about any of this. You can also find these helpers that are actually Compile's mascot that can hold a shop or give you a password.
The level design in these can also feel samey as they don't really have gimmicks as what mostly changes is the looks of them. In fact if that's one thing I have an issue with the game is the enemy variety isn't too grand. If it just had more enemy types I'd probably give it a 10/10, I'm not kidding. What makes this part of the gameplay so fun is just the variety of weapons you have to dispose of them and only like one of them I never found useful. It also helps that once again it's not too unfair.
The bosses also aren't too hard but a lot of them can die to the sword weapon without too much struggle. Even if you were to die you don't really lose any of your progress outside of just going back a little bit. It's surprisingly friendly for an NES game but it's a refreshing breath of fresh air compared to many other games. It also helps the game loves to give you health and chip restoring items.
The game looks pretty good for 1988 and it runs really well too. I was surprised at the speeds you could go in the shmup sections and a lot of the environments can look nice. The music is pretty good though I wish there were a couple of more tunes but what is there is great.
Yeah to say The Guardian Legend wasn't a blast from beginning to end would be an understatement. I love this game and I'll probably for now on play it every year as it's one of the best the console can offer. It's sad it never really got the popularity it deserved. It not only came out around the same time as DQ III in Japan (and Contra but idk how big that was there) but when the game came here, it got one of the worst cover arts for the console pretty much dooming it here. If you still haven't played this game, do it. You really need to try this game and experience one of Compile's best efforts.
This game is a hybrid of sorts as it's part shmup and top down action game. It uses both genres pretty well, I'll talk about the shmup stuff first. You move pretty fast in these at times and you don't have to worry about dying in one hit. These can at some points feel samey but they never once felt dull or unengaging. The weapons you obtain in the top-down stuff can be used here and they add more depth to the shmup stuff and they aren't too easy but also not hard either. Even if you aren't good at the genre like me you shouldn't struggle too much with this.
The top down action parts will have you scouring the world for upgrades on attack, defense, and your weapons. You'll be fighting many enemies in rooms and you also need to find rooms to tell you how to open up specific corridors. So the game is never too cryptic about any of this. You can also find these helpers that are actually Compile's mascot that can hold a shop or give you a password.
The level design in these can also feel samey as they don't really have gimmicks as what mostly changes is the looks of them. In fact if that's one thing I have an issue with the game is the enemy variety isn't too grand. If it just had more enemy types I'd probably give it a 10/10, I'm not kidding. What makes this part of the gameplay so fun is just the variety of weapons you have to dispose of them and only like one of them I never found useful. It also helps that once again it's not too unfair.
The bosses also aren't too hard but a lot of them can die to the sword weapon without too much struggle. Even if you were to die you don't really lose any of your progress outside of just going back a little bit. It's surprisingly friendly for an NES game but it's a refreshing breath of fresh air compared to many other games. It also helps the game loves to give you health and chip restoring items.
The game looks pretty good for 1988 and it runs really well too. I was surprised at the speeds you could go in the shmup sections and a lot of the environments can look nice. The music is pretty good though I wish there were a couple of more tunes but what is there is great.
Yeah to say The Guardian Legend wasn't a blast from beginning to end would be an understatement. I love this game and I'll probably for now on play it every year as it's one of the best the console can offer. It's sad it never really got the popularity it deserved. It not only came out around the same time as DQ III in Japan (and Contra but idk how big that was there) but when the game came here, it got one of the worst cover arts for the console pretty much dooming it here. If you still haven't played this game, do it. You really need to try this game and experience one of Compile's best efforts.