The Guardian Legend Review

This NES gem is a wonderful combination of sci-fi dungeon-crawling adventure and space-shooting action.

Note: This is the seventh in a series of Retro Reviews called Best Old School Games EVER from TGS.

When it comes to video games, I’ve always been more a lover of dark, gothic castles (i.e. Castlevania) and robot-infested jungles (i.e. Contra) than sci-fi spaceships.  One notable exception, however, is the forgotten NES classic The Guardian Legend.  Chances are you’ve never heard of it.  If so, this space/fantasy adventure is well worth checking out as a delicious mix of action-packed dungeon-crawler and vertical shooter.

The story involves a planet called Naju hurtling through space on a crash-course for Earth.  Once a peaceful world, it was invaded by horrific monsters who quickly destroyed the native civilization.  As the mysterious female android the Guardian, your mission is to intercept Naju and save the Earth from certain annihilation.  This is easier said than done, as the planet’s corridors and dungeons are crawling with monstrous life forms that thirst for blood.

The game’s first sequence has you, in the form of a jet (!), flying through space and entering Naju’s atmosphere.  While at first you must simply blast through falling meteors, you are soon assaulted by the planet’s defense systems, including the first boss of the adventure, a malevolent cluster of missile-spitting cannons.  After defeating this foe, you find yourself in humanoid form in the central control room.  Here a haunting message from the last survivor of the murdered civilization (“If someone is reading this…I must have failed.”) reveals that a system of safety devices, hidden deep within the planet, must be destroyed to activate Naju’s self-destruct sequence.

The Guardian Legend is divided into two main styles of gameplay: dungeon-crawler and flying shooter.  The dungeon areas cover a large map with plenty of exploration and fighting to enjoy.  Monsters are bizarre and colorful, and require different strategies to take on.  While your primary plasma shot attack starts off fairly weak, it isn’t long before you find upgrades that increase its power, range and firing speed.  Walking speed and overall durability also improve through the course of the quest as power-ups are discovered. 

The game’s main draw, however, is the huge variety of space-age weapons scattered throughout the quest, from a devastating fireball shot, to energy balls that aggressively home in on foes, to dual laser sabers that extend to burn into stationary creatures.  These weapons can each be upgraded two times either by buying, finding, or winning them off of defeated bosses.  Different weapons work better in different situations, and strategy is essential when entering the sub-boss battles that initiate without warning as a goosebump-inducing alarm sounds.  These special weapons are powered by red and blue Chips, dropped randomly by defeated monsters and found in specific locations.