GD: Guardian Legend (TGL mode)

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zaphod
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GD: Guardian Legend (TGL mode)

Post by zaphod »

Mod Note: The first seven or so posts in this topic were originally in the score thread, which is why you'll find scores posted periodically. ZK

833110 Area 7.

I had forgotten how NASTY the opening barrage of enemies was. i died before i knew what hit me. This is NOT a shooter meant for 1ccing! it takes too damn long (laugh)

Some tidbits, for those who do not wish to learn them the hard way (laugh)

Your protective shield extends slighly around your ship, and any hit on the protective sheild damages you meter. when your shield is gone, only a hit to yourship itself will kill you. but make no mistake, you have no miniscule hitbox here!

TO deal with pods after they hatch, use either saber laser, or oen enemy eraser. you can destroy therm before they hatch with your main gun if you are quick.

TO deal with volcanos use saber laser close up to kill it. Enemy erasers will destroy the shrapnel, but they will keep spewing, and if you get to them quick, you will take minimal damage with saber laser.

To deal with those pesky green slow floating things that takea bajillion hits to destroy and follow you around, use an enemy eraser.

If you are very low on life, pull out the enemy eraser, and when yo usee a hail of bullets and ro enemies, fire a few off in a row rapidly. you will get many powerups. you see enemy erasers destroy EXPLOSIONS caused by enemy destruction, which will spawn powerups faster.

Oh and i dont' care if you beat the NORMAL game without dying you will often need to change your strategies for this version! you CANNOT take the hits the same way you cold if you were playing the normal version!
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Zach Keene
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Post by Zach Keene »

Zach Keene - 285,090 - 3

Has anyone mentioned that Blue Optomon sucks yet? :P

How are you doing with your special score/powerups? This game I got down to the first Defense Shield (150000) before entering area 3. (My Green Optomon technique needs some work, apparently.)
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SFKhoa
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Post by SFKhoa »

I hate that stupid lobster like boss. Period.
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Zach Keene
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Post by Zach Keene »

Crawdaddy, the Corridor 2 boss? Just stay at the bottom of the screen, hold down your main shot, and lob the Fireball subweapon as fast as it can be fired. You'll eat a few claws but not enough to worry about, and the boss'll go down pretty quick.
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Zach Keene
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Post by Zach Keene »

OK, I think I've worked out how the special score works. There are basically two factors:
  • The number of points you score in the level before reaching the boss. (This becomes your base special score.)
  • The amount of time you spend fighting the boss. Your special score is penalized 10 points for every second.
I don't think any points you score during the boss battle (from destructable bullets/squids/claws/missiles/etc.) have any effect on your special score, so milking them probably isn't a good idea if you intend to collect a lot of powerups.
EddyMRA
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Post by EddyMRA »

zaphod wrote: To deal with those pesky green slow floating things that takea bajillion hits to destroy and follow you around, use an enemy eraser.
Save the Enemy Erasers. The green things can be destroyed by simply ramming them with your ship. They are impervious to all your weapons (main shot and subweapons) except the EE's, but I don't want to waste the EE's on them. They can actually suck away all your Chips if you are careless against them (using subweapons that count as one Shot per use, like the Repeller).
Zach Keene wrote:Has anyone mentioned that Blue Optomon sucks yet?
I hate hate hate that boss! His seaweed knocks off 8 full units of energy, and he shoots them out sometimes so freaking fast! The Blue Optomon is up there with Geo-Bite and the RFJet Phase 2 Tank Boss as my most hated shmup bosses ever!
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zaphod
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Post by zaphod »

THose green things are NOT impervious, they just really suck up the damage. ad it's best to waaait for them all to show up before using the EE.

Optomon is definitely one of the harder bosses in the game. the green one is ot so bad, but the blue one is an absolute terror. A level 3 (and ONLY a Level 3) fireball can destroy a tentacle.
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Zach Keene
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Post by Zach Keene »

zaphod wrote:THose green things are NOT impervious, they just really suck up the damage. ad it's best to waaait for them all to show up before using the EE.
Seriously, just ram them. Doing so destroys them instantly with very little damage to you. (Just like Zanac.)
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Post by EddyMRA »

Slightly off-topic, I never upgrade to a level 3 Fireball when I play the normal mode. A level 2 Fireball with a high defense (3 or 4 Shields, I forget) allows you to walk in the Labyrinths as fast as a level 2 Fireball travels. When you overlap the Fireball, you become invincible to everything. The Fireball absorbs all enemy bullets and allows the Guardian to walk through enemies without taking damage. This is an extremely useful tactic when fighting the tougher Labyrinth minibosses.
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zaphod
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Post by zaphod »

One more tip. as soon as you can get the saber laser, kill every one of those little blue sattelite things (you knwo the ones you couldnt' hurt in the first area?). they are 1000 points a pop! VERY much worth it.
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Post by EddyMRA »

Whew! I just recently 1CC'ed TGL mode! Here are some tips which helped me get the highest scores:
General Tips:
  • The twin side sabers turn out the be the best general-purpose subweapon in the game during non-boss situations. This subweapon is best for killing enemies to the side, and they are quite powerful to boot.
    A Level 2 or 3 Fireball is the only weapon that can destroy an Optomon seaweed or enemy lasers.
    I never used EE's except to spawn a crapload of item boxes when in a desperate situation.
Corridor Tips:
  • Water Realm:
    • Milk the pit worms by destroying their squid projectiles. They are worth 100pts each. Area 13 scrolls too fast to milk them, though.
      Milk the bubble spewers by destroying their bubbles for 200pts each.
      The Multi-Direction Shot (MDS) is useful early on for killing enemies from all sides.
      Kill the manta creatures effectively by firing both your main shot and MDS simultaneously.
      If you were able to get a Fireball before Area 13 (>70,000pts special score), you can use it to kill the two columns of shooting clams after the lull near the beginning. Release a Fireball in front of one column and use your Main Shot against the other. The clams are worth 200pts each.
    Plant Realm:
    • You'll see the small blue gyroscope things appear again. Use a Fireball, Saber Laser, or twin side saber to kill them quickly. They are worth 1,000 points each.
      The laser-shooting scorpion sometimes glitches. One of its lasers may keep extending up the screen when it leaves on the bottom.
      The twin side sabers are extremely effective in killing many of the shot-spewing flowers and mushroom-spewers.
      The spore pods can boost your score. Wait for them to hatch and pull out the saber laser to destroy the spores released when they burst.
      A Level 2 Hyper Laser is extremely useful in Area 4.
    Crystal Realm:
    • When the yellow diamond-shaped enemies start raining down in large numbers, pull out the twin side sabers to kill many easily. They are worth 300pts each.
Boss Tips:
  • Area 0 Boss: Destroy the large batteries first before the small ones.
    Fleepa: For the blue one, sit on the bottom of the screen and fire both your main shot and the MDS simultaneously. You won't take damage from colliding with the boss, but you will take minimal damage from its squid. For the red one, pull out the saber laser and stick it in its eye constantly.
    Optomon: The green and blue ones are TOUGH, given the weaponry when you meet them. Repeller works decently by adding damage when you are not able to hit them with your main shot. By the time you meet the red one, you should have at lesst a Lv2 Fireball, which destroys its seaweed and makes this boss far easier.
    Crawdaddy: See what Zach Keene wrote. This boss is far easier if you don't move. Move, then he sways back and forth on the screen so fast that he is impossible to hit.
    Bombarder: Easy. Go to where it teleports and use a saber laser. Your saber laser will destroy all the missiles it fires before they even move.
    Clawbot: Knock off its claws with a saber laser. Try to destroy the claws with it drops them, as they are worth some points. In its berserk phase, get close and lob Fireballs and keep firing your main shot.
    Teramute: This dragon is a joke. Go to where it teleports and stick the saber laser on its head. You'll destroy all its fireballs as well.
    Zibzub: Just like Fleepa. Follow its movements and stick a Saber Laser into its body.
    Bat glider: It is invulnerable when it is drifting around, otherwise this guy is easy. When it stops moving, use the Saber Laser.
    Eyeball defenses: Use the Twin Side Sabers. Kill the small eyes quickly and ther overlap the center of the clump of four big eyeballs.
    Grimgrin: Overlap the Grimgrins and stick the Saber Laser in its face (for some reason, you don't take damage if you overlap it).
    Eyegore: Sit beneath them and toss Fireballs as fast as I could fire them, which destroyed even their lasers.
    Final Boss: Use the Area Blaster to soften him up. When he turns orange, lob fireballs until he dies.
I will add to this post as I go along.
The age of Alluro and JudgeSpear is over.
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FinalBaton
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Re: GD: Guardian Legend (TGL mode)

Post by FinalBaton »

Well Irem, you cheeky bastard :D
You really tought out the boss fights in TGL mode well, didn't you? What a fantastic job. <3



So I haven't played the TGL mode in a while (a shame, I know) as I usually play the normal mode. Played it a bit this week and I am amazed at how good the TGL run is (more on that below).
Found 2 new(to me) very satisfying ways of handling bosses, so here they are :

Area 12 boss :
Spoiler
Shoot him with the Repeller just before he gets near his bottom-most position. As he backs away, the shot will travel back mostly at the same clip as him and follow him back, hitting him a whole bunch of times. Great offensive-wise.

Since you only have 1 shot to fire (and in advance), this also gives you a huge advantage defense-wise : it means you can fire before he reaches the very bottom of the screen and get out of the way, and thus not get touched directly by him even once in the whole fight.

This method has both very good offensive and defensive advantages, wich make it a very logical choice and very satisfying to pull off!
Area 2 boss :
Spoiler
(Most people probably have figured it out already but oh well, I'll post it anyway, it might help a couple of folks who haven't figured out the boss pattern yet). Always had a hard time with this boss, and JUST discovered (I know, I know -_-' lol) that if you stay at bottom center and don't move, this will make the fight a million times more manageable since the boss won't be flying left and right at blazing speed; instead, he will remain dead center (horizontally-wise) and as he moves up and down, stay in front of him, at the bottom, and hold down your regular shot as well as throwing Fireballs(I started out with the Saber, but Fireball works even better).
Since you get to the bosses with a different arsenal than in regular mode, this gives you a completely new experience regarding strategies. And dare I say it, the order in wich you get the weapon is even better than in regular mode : you always have a weapon that can trash each boss pretty soundly in your arsenal in TGL mode. It's just a matter of finding wich one and how to use it.

This makes TGL mode an impressive reimagining of the game. They really had fun with it and thought it out extremely well.
I can't praise that effort enough, it's really high quality software
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Despatche
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Re: GD: Guardian Legend (TGL mode)

Post by Despatche »

Guardic Gaiden was developed by Compile; for some reason, Compile had Irem publish it in Japan. It is a spinoff of something called the "Budruga" series, three MSX shmups known as Final Justice, Guardic (uses a similar "maze" level concept), and the episodic Blaster Burn. It is also further proof that Compile doesn't know how to brand (the Power Strike debacle, Gunhed is a random movie tie-in, Spriggan and Sophia, etc), and that nearly all Compile shmups are part of a single long-running series that began with Zanac.
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FinalBaton
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Re: GD: Guardian Legend (TGL mode)

Post by FinalBaton »

Yeah, I knew about the Guardic game on MSX and TGL being part of the Guardic series also, but for some reason my mind slip up and mixed Irem with Compile as the developper
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