Blandia
Encyclopedia
is a one-on-one, weapon-based fighting arcade game
developed and published by Allumer
. It is the sequel to the arcade game, Gladiator
. Along with Strata's Time Killers
, Blandia is one of the earliest weapon-based fighting games modeled after its competitor Capcom
's arcade hit Street Fighter II
, but later became overshadowed by the success of SNK
's weapon-based fighting game, Samurai Shodown
.
, after the great swordsman Gurianos downed the devilish warrior Gildus, peace returned to Eurasia and its people completely forgotten the darkness sealed by the evil spirit. Five years later, while living in the interior of Eurasia, Guarianos learns from a passing fencer that Gildus has been resurrected. Gurianos once again hits the road to the to find out the truth.
In one-player mode, the player must choose one of the "Original Six Warriors" to control. Instead of fighting other characters in a random order like in most fighting games back then, the player will move the sword-shaped cursor on a map to choose any region one of the other characters are inside of, fight against them in each battle and then advance to the Golden Castle. In both one-player and two-player modes, each round is five minutes long, and if neither of the characters are knocked out before the time runs out, the one with the most health wins the round; however, if both lifebars are even, the players must fight in a rematch. If both lifebars are even in the rematch, the fight ends with a game over.
- The protagonist of the game. He loves justice and is the man of righteousness. Designed for beginners, he is an average fighter with no weak points, and is armed with a double-edged sword and a shield. His sorcery is light-based. He was originally the player's character in Gladiator and his name back then was spelled Guaranos.
: the FM Towns
on September 30, , and the NEC
PC-9821 on June 22, . Compared to the original arcade version, the FM Towns version features an extended, less-repetitive soundtrack plus some exclusive tracks that includes a vocal one, but it also has a smaller screen. The PC-9821 version was titled Blandia 98 and has a wider screen than the FM Towns version.
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Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
developed and published by Allumer
Allumer
, was a video game production company founded and headquartered in Meguro, Tokyo, Japan. The company suspended business in October 5, .-Arcade:* Blandia * Great Swordsman * Joshi Volleyball * Mad Shark...
. It is the sequel to the arcade game, Gladiator
Gladiator (arcade game)
Gladiator, known in Japan as , was a arcade game developed by Allumer and published by Taito. It was followed by a sequel titled Blandia.-Gameplay:...
. Along with Strata's Time Killers
Time Killers
Time Killers is a weapon-based fighting arcade game developed by Incredible Technologies and published by Strata. Along with Allumer's Blandia, Time Killers is one of the earliest weapon-based fighting games modeled after its competitor Capcom's arcade hit Street Fighter II, but later became...
, Blandia is one of the earliest weapon-based fighting games modeled after its competitor Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
's arcade hit Street Fighter II
Street Fighter II
is a competitive fighting game originally released for the arcades in . It is the arcade sequel to the original Street Fighter released in and was Capcom's fourteenth title that ran on the CP System arcade hardware...
, but later became overshadowed by the success of SNK
SNK Playmore
SNK Playmore Corporation is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. SNK is an acronym of , which was SNK's original name. The company's legal and trading name became SNK in 1986....
's weapon-based fighting game, Samurai Shodown
Samurai Shodown
Samurai Shodown, known as in Japan, is a competitive fighting game produced by SNK for their Neo Geo arcade and home platform. In contrast to other fighting games at the time which were set in modern times and focused primarily on hand-to-hand combat, Samurai Shodown is set in feudal-era Japan ...
.
Plot
The plot of Blandia takes place five years after Gladiator. In the Great Continent of EurasiaEurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
, after the great swordsman Gurianos downed the devilish warrior Gildus, peace returned to Eurasia and its people completely forgotten the darkness sealed by the evil spirit. Five years later, while living in the interior of Eurasia, Guarianos learns from a passing fencer that Gildus has been resurrected. Gurianos once again hits the road to the to find out the truth.
Gameplay
Blandia dismisses the side-scrolling feature of its predecessor, but kept its versus segments while including elements of other 2D versus fighting games released at the time, which the player's chosen character fights against his or her opponent in best two-out-of-three matches in a single player tournament mode with the computer or against another human player. Unlike most other similar fighting games at the time, Blandia was one of the first fighting games that combines the style of Capcom's Street Fighter II with the use of weapons in every character. Another unique feature it has is the ability to cause visible damage to the armors of the characters, originally used in Gladiator. However, unlike Gladiator, Blandia requires players to attack at the uncovered parts of the opponent's body multiple times to defeat him or her, instead of one hit like in Gladiator.In one-player mode, the player must choose one of the "Original Six Warriors" to control. Instead of fighting other characters in a random order like in most fighting games back then, the player will move the sword-shaped cursor on a map to choose any region one of the other characters are inside of, fight against them in each battle and then advance to the Golden Castle. In both one-player and two-player modes, each round is five minutes long, and if neither of the characters are knocked out before the time runs out, the one with the most health wins the round; however, if both lifebars are even, the players must fight in a rematch. If both lifebars are even in the rematch, the fight ends with a game over.
Characters
- Diokles - A nihilistic fighter who is considered the rival of the main character Gurianos and as such they both share similar move sets (albeit using different names). Unlike Guarianos however, Diokles uses a double-edged axe and a shield, and has better agility and hitting power than Guarianos. His sorcery is fire-based.
- Irriana - A temperamental female warrior who eats when she wishes, and fights only when she desires to. She is armed with a short sword, a round shield. While her sorcery is explosive-based, she mainly uses its related tricks. She is also relatively agile and has an intense jumping ability. Like Gurianos, Irriana is another character returning from Gladiator, and her name back then was spelled Irene.
- McGill - A male warrior full of confidence. He cuts by power with a longswordLongswordThe longsword is a type of European sword designed for two-handed use, current during the late medieval and Renaissance periods, approximately 1350 to 1550 .Longswords have long cruciform hilts with grips over 10 to 15 cm length The longsword (of which stems the variation called the bastard...
and uses large tricks with a hig. His body stamina and power, compared to his longsword, are far superior. He has no sorcery. - Jurane - An elegant, but harsh female fighter. She has the longest reach, but the least power, due to her weapon of choice being a short lance. Her sorcery utilizes various powerful magic tricks.
- Retsu.Zen - A man who is brave enough to take a defiant attitude toward his enemies and critical situations. He is the quickest fencer, has repetitively strong offense and is armed with two-swords. Lack of either speed or offense wouldn't be enough for him. His sorcery is referred to as "Zen Oriental Magic".
Ports
Blandia was later ported by Ving to two home computers exclusively in JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
: the FM Towns
FM Towns
The FM Towns system is a Japanese PC variant, built by Fujitsu from February 1989 to the summer of 1997. It started as a proprietary PC variant intended for multimedia applications and PC games, but later became more compatible with regular PCs...
on September 30, , and the NEC
NEC
, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....
PC-9821 on June 22, . Compared to the original arcade version, the FM Towns version features an extended, less-repetitive soundtrack plus some exclusive tracks that includes a vocal one, but it also has a smaller screen. The PC-9821 version was titled Blandia 98 and has a wider screen than the FM Towns version.
External links
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- Blandia at arcade-history