Guardian Force

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ST-V NTSC-J
Guardian Force
System(s): Sega Titan Video, Sega Saturn
Publisher: Success
Developer: Success
Sound driver: SCSP (1 track)
Genre: Shooting
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1998 ¥? ? JP 1998-08-06 ¥5,8005,800 T-9905G

Guardian Force (ガーディアン フォース) is a shoot-'em-up game released for the Sega Saturn by Success in 1998. It was later brought to Sega Titan Video arcade hardware.

Story

The Guardians have assembled their tanks to crush the invading Hammerbolt Empire.

Gameplay

The game is an overhead shoot-'em-up with forced scrolling in multiple directions. Players control tanks with turrets that can be rotated in any direction. The game supports two-player simultaneous play.

The tank is moved in any direction using the D-Pad. It fires its weapons with (which can be held for continuous fire). It has a main gun that always fires in the direction that the screen is scrolling and a turret cannon that can be rotated by the player in 45-degree increments. The turret rotates clockwise with and counterclockwise with . The turret weapon has a special attack fired with +.

There are five different weapons that can be equipped on the rotating turret by collecting differently colored weapon power-ups, which affect both its standard and special attacks. The turret gun is upgraded by collecting crystals, which fills a meter at the bottom of the screen. The weapon gains a level, up to 10, when the meter fills, which increases its firepower. The player can also augment the main gun with missiles by collecting an item.

The game uses a medal chaining system for bonus points. Destroying an enemy sometimes drops a medal, which awards a certain amount of bonus points. Medals bounce around the screen before settling in place and eventually disappearing. If the player picks up the medal, the next medal is a higher value and awards more points, and so on. If the player misses a medal, the next medal starts over at the base value. Additionally, mid-bosses and bosses have timers and award bonus points if they are destroyed before time runs out. Bosses have specific parts that award 50,000 bonus points if they are destroyed.

The tank is destroyed in a single hit from an enemy, costing the player a life. It loses a weapon level when it is destroyed, but it drops crystals that the player can collect to power it back up. The player gains an extra life for every 2,000,000 points earned. The game ends if the player runs out of lives. It can be continued if the player has credits remaining, but the score resets.

There are four selectable difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, Hard, and Very Hard). The Saturn version allows the controls to be remapped, including changing the turret rotation to the shoulder buttons or assigning the special weapon to a single button press.

Items

	Crystal
	Increases the weapon meter. When the meter fills, the turret gun gains a level, up to 10. Awards 1,000 points if the weapon is already at the maximum level.
	Weapon
	Changes the weapon for the tanks rotatable turret. Cycles through the different colors for each weapon and back to its original color before eventually turning black. Collecting the color for the already equipped weapon awards 5,000 points; collecting the item when it is black awards 10,000 points.
	Medal
	Awards bonus points, depending on the level. The value of the medals dropped by enemies increases as long as the player collects every medal without missing one.
	M
	Equips missiles, which are fired along with the tank's main cannon.
	H
	Equips homing missiles, which are fired along with the tank's main cannon. These are weaker than the standard missiles but seek targets.
	S
	Gives the player an extra use of the special weapon.

Weapons

	Tusk (Red)
	The initially equipped weapon. A wide burst of fireballs. The special attack is a frontal barrage.
	Feeler (Yellow)
	A lancing laser, which does continuous damage in a line, including when it is rotated. The special attack is a flurry of homing lasers.
	Fang (Green)
	A spinning saw blade that extends from the tank like a yo-yo before retracting. The special attack is a large circular blast.
	Horn (Purple)
	A timed explosive that detonates in a spiral after hitting an enemy. The special attack is strands of bubbles that fly around the screen.
	Beak (Blue)
	A salvo of missiles. The special attack is a frontal barrage.

Stages

	Practice
	Stage-A
	Stage-B
	Stage-C
	Stage-D
	Stage-E
	Stage-F
	Stage-G
	Final Mission
	The second boss is only played if players destroy the first boss before the 30-second timer expires. There are two different endings depending on whether the second boss is fought.

History

Legacy

In 2021, Guardian Force was released along with Cotton 2 and Cotton Boomerang as part of the Cotton Guardian Force Saturn Tribute compilation for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 by City Connection. These versions include added features such as rapid-fire and online rankings. The collection was given a limited physical release by Strictly Limited Games.

Production credits

• Planner: Kazutoshi Yashiki
• Director: Kazutoshi Yashiki, Taku Ishigouka
• Main Graphic Designer: Kazutoshi Yashiki, Taku Ishigouoka, Yūsuke Nemoto, Takeshi Takahashi
• System Programmer: Masaru Hatsuyama
• Main Programmer: Yūichi Horiguchi
• Graphic Designer: Tōru Kagawa, Michi Yoshikuni
• Programmer: Masato Taniguchi, Yūichirō Satō, Yukio Ushigome, Tomohide Ōshiro
• Sound: Kenichi Hirata, Misako Tago
• 3D Adviser: Mizuho Sasa
• Title Graphic: Yūsuke Nemoto, Takeshi Takahashi
• Special Thanks: Liu Xiangdong, Chie Akama, Yumiko Tachibana, Hiromi Hirata
• Producer: Takato Yoshinari

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Guardian Force/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

Sega Titan Video version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score

	N/A
Based on 0 reviews

Guardian Force

Sega Titan Video, JP
Cart

Saturn version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Consoles + (FR) NTSC-J 84 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 58 Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J 60 Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J 70 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 70 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 78

	70
Based on 6 reviews

Guardian Force

Saturn, JP
Cover
Spinecard Disc

Technical information

Main article: Guardian Force/Technical information.