is a shoot 'em up

Shoot 'em up

Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...

 video game for the MSX

MSX

MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...

 computer. It was created and developed by Pac Fujishima while working for Compile

Compile (software company)

Compile Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game company established on April 7, 1982, under the name Programmers-3. Founded by Masamitsu Niitani , they were famed for developing shooters and puzzle games such as Aleste and Puyo Puyo.Compile filed for bankruptcy and disbanded in 2003, but the franchise...

, the creators of other shoot 'em up games such as Zanac

Zanac

is an arcade-style shoot 'em up video game designed by Compile and published in Japan by Pony Canyon and in North America by FCI.It was released for the MSX computer, the Family Computer Disk System, the Nintendo Entertainment System, and for the Virtual Console. It was reworked for the MSX2...

, The Guardian Legend

The Guardian Legend

The Guardian Legend, known in Japan as , is a hybrid action-adventure/shoot 'em up video game developed by Compile for the Nintendo Entertainment System . It is the sequel to the 1986 MSX game Guardic, and was published and released in Japan by Irem in 1988, in North America by Brøderbund in 1989,...

, and Blazing Lazers

Blazing Lazers

Blazing Lazers, known in Japan as , is a shoot 'em up video game developed by Hudson Soft and Compile. It was released in Japan on for the PC Engine, and it was released in North America in November 1989 for the TurboGrafx-16. It was later released on the Wii's Virtual Console in North America on...

.

Guardic is unique in that the player can choose stages, which are connected by a maze. Each stage is a non-scrollable single screen and has 1 to 3 groups of different enemies. The player can "buy" ship power-up

Power-up

In computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player...

s like speed, weaponry, and special powers before each stage—a departure from the traditional scrolling-shooter power-up system. In the end of each stage, the ship could safely fly through a scrollable maze to another stage.

Guardic was not a hit, and this game was never released outside Japan, but was distributed in Europe. However, it did inspire a cult classic of a sequel, the NES

Nes

-Localities:In Norway:* Nes, Akershus, a municipality in the county of Akershus in Norway* Nes, Buskerud, a municipality in the county of Buskerud in Norway* Nes, Hedmark, a former municipality in the county of Hedmark in Norway...

shooter The Guardian Legend (known as Guardic Gaiden in Japan).