Vanguard (arcade game)

Infobox VG
title = Vanguard


developer = TOSE
publisher = SNKflagicon|Japan
Centuri flagicon|USA
designer =
release = 1981
genre = Multi-scrolling shooter
modes = Single player
cabinet = Upright, cocktail (Cinematronics)
arcade system = M6502 (@ 930 kHz)
Custom audio
display = Vertical orientation
resolution: 224 x 256 64 colors
input = 4-way joystick, four buttons
platforms = Arcade, Atari 2600, Atari 5200nihongo|"Vanguard"|ヴァンガード is a 1981 arcade game by SNK. The game is known as one of the first scrolling shooters ever made and is additionally notable by being the first shoot 'em up where a player can shoot in four directions. Unlike other comparable games at the time, "Vanguard" was unique in that the player must focus on avoiding obstacles while firing in order to survive; which makes this game a precursor to Konami's "Gradius" and Irem's "R-type". [http://www.g4tv.com/icons/features/47823/Timeline_The_History_of_SNK.html] It also has the distinction of being the first color game created by SNK. The game was licensed to Centuri for manufacture in North America in October 1981. "Vanguard" was followed up by a sequel, "Vanguard II (arcade game)", which is similar to the original but with gameplay and graphical improvements.

Gameplay

"Vanguard" is very similar to "Scramble", in the sense that the player controls a ship with a limited amount of fuel that constantly depletes. The player loses a life once your fuel is gone, but gains more as enemies are destroyed. The player must constantly avoid colliding with the walls, which change in thickness all throughout the stages. The ship can independently fire lasers in any of the four cardinal directions using the four buttons. "Vanguard" is primarily a horizontal scroller, but in some levels (during the final level and also during the final boss), the ship flies upward.

By securing the energy pods, a short time of invulnerability can be granted. This turns the ship effectively into a weapon, and the enemies change attack patterns to avoid the player. At the end of each level the player must defeat a boss that is guarded by two moving force fields with holes in them. There are a total of ten zones in the game: Mountain Zone, Rainbow Zone, Styx Zone, Rainbow Zone 2, Stripe Zone, Rainbow Zone 3, Bleak Zone, and the City of Mystery.

ound

"Vanguard" uses a number of custom sound chips to produce digitized voices and custom synthesizer sounds. The speech is used to announce the name of the current level. Theme music composed by Jerry Goldsmith for the 1979 sci-fi film "", later utilized for "," is borrowed as "Vanguard's" introductory theme. Vultan's theme from the 1980 movie "Flash Gordon" is used as the sound effect when a power-up is attained.

Other apparance

*A Vanguard unit appears in the 1982 movie "Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again".

References

* [http://www.arcade-history.com/index.php?page=detail&id=3050 Vanguard at the Arcade-History database]
* [http://www.g4tv.com/icons/features/47823/Timeline_The_History_of_SNK.html The history of SNK]

External links

* [http://www.centuri.net/vanguard.htm"Vanguard"] entry at the Centuri.net Arcade Database
*StrategyWiki|Vanguard
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPxqY5HGzIw&mode=related&search= Video of the Atari 2600 Vanguard version]