Guardian

Name:	Guardian
Company:	Apollo
Model #:	2008
Programmer:	Larry Martin
Year:	1982
Released?	Yes
Notes:	Guardian is the rarest released Apollo game

Androsian pirates have reduced all nearby galaxies to arid orbs of scorched cosmic rubble, and your planet is next!  That is, unless you have something to say about it.  As Chief Lord of the Sandrian Galactic Council you are in command of the Guardian, the most powerful weapon in the galaxy.  You are scanning a monitor, staring at the image of the gigantic Androsian strategic starship Dromeda, hovering out of range of the Guardian's lasers.  If her thermo-molecular detonators blast through your force fields your fertile plants will disintegrate into cosmic dust.  The Guardian's laser commanders report all batteries ready.  You prepare to defend your galaxy, the last hope of all our worlds...

If the game plot sounds a bit 'Sci-Fi Generic', then it's probably because this game pretty generic as well.  Guardian is about as average a space shooter as there is.  The goal of the game is shoot the thermo-molecular detonators being launched from that alien battleship in the middle of the screen before they blast through your shields and destroy your planet.  Been there, done that...

It's not that Guardian is a bad game, it's just that it's nothing special.  The graphics are decent (the spinning planets are a nice touch), the sound is passable, and the gameplay isn't bad.  However there's nothing in Guardian that keeps you wanting to come back for more, once you've blasted your fill of thermo detonators (which come in four different shapes) you've seen about all there is to see.  About the only thing that makes Guardian stand out from the other space shooters on the 2600 is that it uses paddles, when most games of the time used joysticks.

One nice about Guardian is that it supports simultaneous two player action.  In the two player mode one player is at the top of the screen, while the other player on the bottom of the screen.  In this variation, the battleship shoot bombs randomly at both players.  Unfortunately the gameplay is just a dull as in the single player game, only times two.

Guardian is one of those games that often gets lost in the large 2600 library.  There's nothing about the game to make it stand out among the vast amounts of space shooters that were made around the same time.  In fact, the only thing Guardian is known for is for its rarity (and being the last game everyone needs to complete their Apollo collection).  It's bland games like this that lead to the gaming crash.

Return to 2600 Software