This side-scrolling action game features cyborg warriors fighting on various planets throughout the galaxy. Although relatively unknown, its crisp and satisfying controls helped influence future fighting games.
GUARDIAN
Japanese title: GETSTAR
| Release | 1986 |
| Genre | Side-scrolling action |
| Platforms | Arcade Nintendo Switch PlayStation4 |
Story
The Get Star robot is sent from Earth in order to defeat Big Demorr, a powerful entity that rules over five different planets. However, on each of these planets is a formidable foe under the control of Big Demorr that seeks to prevent your mission.
Controls & How to Play
The game is played with an 8-way joystick, a Punch button, and a Kick button.
Move the joystick up to jump straight up, diagonally to the upper right to perform a forward jump, and diagonally to the upper left to jump backward.
Move it right to advance forward, left to fall back, and down to crouch.
Use the Punch and Kick buttons to destroy enemies.
At the start of the stage, you begin with four energy units.
If you are hit by an enemy attack, you will lose one energy unit.
If you lose all four units, you will lose a life.
When you restart after losing a life, your power-ups will be reset and you will begin with four energy units.
The game is over if you lose all of your lives.
There are a total of six stages.
【Items】
Red balloon
Picking up two of these will double the damage inflicted by your punches.
If you pick up four, the damage you inflict against the enemy is increased even further.
And if you pick up eight, holding down the Punch button enables you to unleash a super powerful punch.
Box item
The item changes in color from blue → red → yellow on fixed intervals and loops back to the beginning after it progresses through them.The effect of the item varies depending on the color at the time that you pick it up.
If you get blue, you can press the Punch button to fire a beam.
A meter will appear in the bottom right corner of the screen, and you can continue firing beams until the meter is depleted.
If you get red, your energy will recover by one unit, and if your energy is already full, you will receive 3,000 points instead.
If you get yellow, you will become invincible for 10 seconds.
A meter will appear in the bottom right corner of the screen, and you will be invincible until the meter is depleted.
- POINT1
- There is also a hidden character that gives you 10,000 points if you can find and defeat it. In some instances, you might not earn the points if you destroy the target without using bombs.
Impressions
A rather unusual genre for a Toaplan title, this action game saw players control the main character with a joystick and use the buttons to punch and kick. However, the rather plain-looking robot that served as the main character and the cute enemy character design helped provide a unique setting that really resonated with players. It also helped draw them into the game, making it an excellent thematic match for the simple yet deep gameplay. At the time, it was a somewhat popular title both in Japanese and overseas arcades, and now many younger fans are also talking about the game due to the newfound interest in the retro game scene. In fact, some graphical artists that worked at Toaplan said that this game was a big reason why they decided to join the company in the first place.