======================================================================
THE GUARDIAN LEGEND (GUARDIC GAIDEN)
- Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom) -
======================================================================

The Guardian Legend Copyright 1988 Compile, Irem, & Broderbund

Spherelander Videogame Strategy Guide Series #04 - Version 1.1
Copyright 2000-2001 Faididi (faididi@hotmail.com)
This strategy guide is intended for private use only and may not
be distributed for personal gain. This, or any part of it, may
not be copied without the author's permission.

This document contains about 40020 words.
If what you get is significantly different, somebody may have
tampered with this document (probably cutting out the walkthrough
credits and copyright information). While I can't do crap about
it (except complain), you should care in the event some important
gaming data is accidentally removed or if there is an error in
downloading this guide. If you still give half a rat's ass,
e-mail me to inform me that something funny's going on.

Cartridge Information (Approximations)
 Length: 11.9 cm
 Height: 13.4 cm
 Width:  01.6 cm
 Memory Size: 128 KB
 Japanese Release Date: February 5 1989
 American Release Date: April 1989
 American Cover Art:
  An ominous pair of alien eyes float in the blood-orange sky,
  staring forth over a barren landscape plugged with craters and
  scorched by lightning. Blue flames shoot out from the eyes as
  the expression of a second, serpentine head between the eyebrows
  seems to mock you. Whoa! This guy's definitely not human!
 European Cover Art:
  An alternate version of the Guardian stands on some rocky alien
  terrain, laser rifle in hand, gazing upwards at Naju. Instead of
  the red flight-armor she wears in the game, her body (excluding her
  face) is completely sealed in an interesting shiny metallic suit.
  (Perhaps Seana's Silver Spirit-Circuit Armor from Sony's
   Elemental Gearbolt is modelled after this new Guardian. Cool!)

---------------
VERSION HISTORY
---------------

Version 1.1 (Spring'01 Edition)
Updated - 05 28 2001 Monday - Memorial Day
New Features:
- Inserted a new section devoted to the TGL Mode.
- Cleaned up some wording and mistakes.
The Guardian gives her warmest welcome to the latest Zanac title.

Version 1.0 (Winter'01 Edition)
Updated - 12 31 2000 Sunday - New Year's Eve
From the Guardian & friends, hoping for a wonderful new year.  ;)

--------
FOREWORD
--------

  They just don't make videogames like The Guardian Legend anymore.
Many games today form a sea of crap that offers bland gameplay and
zero innovation. All the originality came from the stuff during the
dawn of the industry, when developers were searching for the true
meaning of "the videogame." Hell, they didn't know what it was, but
they tried, and they tried hard. Everything nowadays is only a rehash
of concepts that already exist in older games, providing you look
around enough. If you haven't played enough of those old games, go
back and spend some more time with them. You'll be amazed. Doing
so will let you see the sorry state of current games, and though
you may be greatly disappointed by the lack of real ingenuity
at present, at least you'll know better than the common gamer who
thinks he's never seen any of it before.

  I hope you will enjoy using this guide. Yes, sometimes I talk as
though I know everything. Yes, I alter some names of characters and
objects. And yes, I curse. But I can bet on the effectiveness of
the strategies presented here, and that's what this is all about.

  Game on.

                                    - the author, New Year's Eve 2000

======================================================================
======================================================================

INDEX

I.  Background Info
     - Death from Beyond (What this mess is all about)
     - Handling Your Flight-Armor (About the controls & the Guardian)
     - Aliens & Artifacts (On the game's items and structures)
     - Choose Your Weapon (Descriptions of the weapons, obviously)
     - Tips to Keep in Mind (A few important & very helpful hints)

II. In & Out of Naju
     - Introduction
     - Area  0
     - Area  1
     - Area  2
     - Area  3
     - Area  4
     - Area  5
     - Area  6
     - Area  7
     - Area  8
     - Area  9
     - Area 10
     - Escape!
     - Final Battle

III.The End
     - Epilogue & Game Credits
     - Secret TGL Mode

IV. TGL Mode
     - Corridor Order
     - Scores for Items

V.  Extra Chips (Miscellaneous Data)
     - Passwords
        > Ultimate Password
        > Progressive Passwords
        > Secret Password
        > Bug Passwords
     - Secret Debug Options & Bugs
        > Sound Test
        > View All Messages
        > Fatal Score
        > Power Chip Cloning
        > Escape from Minibosses
        > Walk through Walls
        > Purchase All Shop Items
        > Multiply Item Pods
     - Quick Reference
        > Area Access Requirements
        > Corridor Gate Seal Solutions
        > Power Chips & Power Levels
        > Shield Units & Scores
        > Maximum Chip Values
        > Boss Battle Strategies
     - Labyrinth Map
     - Game Genie Codes
     - Really Small Details
     - Game Evaluation

VI. Walkthrough Credits

======================================================================
I. BACKGROUND INFO - Things you should know by now or later.
======================================================================

-----------------
DEATH FROM BEYOND
-----------------

"Never before has evil come so close...."
                                - Sir Steve Newton, Witchaven 2 team
                                    (Capstone - February 28, 1996)


A bit into the future, things are going on nicely. Earth is pretty
peaceful, and people are generally happy. But something's gotta
give someday, so a special (and probably very secret) project was
started to keep us safe in case anything really bad shows up.

Well, screw me, because something like that actually does appear.
From a distant alien world comes a small space station hurling
directly towards Earth. Unless somebody stops it, this moon-sized
facility will crash into us and turn everything into space slush.

Okay, so here's where that wonderful project shows up. A living,
breathing human person will strap herself into a super-advanced
flight-armor, blast off towards our little problem, and then find
some way to save us all. Her flight-armor is a special
suit that functions in any environment, including space, and will
be helpful for: 1) getting to the damn space station, and 2)
fighting anything that might be inside the damn space station. Of
course, this person is called the Guardian, because she's the
"Guardian of Earth."

Shortly into the game, the Guardian discovers that this station,
called Naju, was originally intended to be nothing more than a
home, maybe even a research center, for the aliens. (This isn't
much of a spoiler; if you can't make your way up to this point,
stop playing immediately and seriously consider why you have
a videogame system.) However, Naju encountered some evil beings
who invaded it and killed the entire crew onboard. No crew
means no navigational control. At least messages were left
behind so anyone who entered Naju will know what's going on.
(Well, how else will we learn what's up?)

Okay, here's what the Guardian can do. Naju can be primed to
self-destruct, and Earth is still far away enough so the
resulting debris won't pummel it. She only needs to activate
10 switches and then get out.

Thankfully, the Guardian is not alone. Among the evil denizens
of Naju are some friendly round creatures called Blue Landers
and Red Landers. When she finds them, they will upgrade her
flight-armor. A particularly big Blue Lander also appears in
certain rooms to offer extra aid. With the help of the Landers,
our courageous protector undertakes what will be known as
"The Guardian Legend."

--------------------------
HANDLING YOUR FLIGHT-ARMOR
--------------------------

Q. What is the Flight-Armor?

A. It is a special suit of armor that functions in any environment,
   including space. Using the most advanced technology Earth has to
   offer, it lets its user walk or fly through virtually anywhere.
   It is also capable of functioning with unknown technology,
   allowing the proper usage of weapons that are created from worlds
   beyond. By picking up a weapon for the first time, the Guardian
   will be able to equip it. By picking up more of the same weapon,
   that weapon will become upgraded.

   A self-contained, full life-support system is projected around
   the user within the protective Shields. While the Shields can
   withstand a reasonable amount of punishment, it is nevertheless
   delicate. A single, direct hit to the flight-armor will
   destroy it, along with the user, so a close eye must be kept on
   the Shields at all times.

Q. Who is the Guardian?

A. She is the "Guardian of Earth," and the game's events will be
   known as the "Guardian Legend." Details are sketchy due to
   severely restricted access to the highly classified Guardian 
   project, but extrapolations from field observations suggest that
   the Guardian is quite human, though probably not in the normal
   sense. She may be genetically engineered to work specifically
   with the armor, not as a living piece of circuitry, but
   rather as an extremely effective operator through the use of
   what might be bio-neural links with the suit. This is merely a
   hypothesis, and further proof is required for confirmation.
  (The author's really having fun right now with all this fancy crap.)

   The Guardian has no real name, or at least it's not mentioned
   in the game. Sorry, guys.

Q. What are the freakin' controls to this thing?

A. I thought you had the instructions manual...:

 D-Pad  - Moves the Guardian around relative to the screen
          in the 8 cardinal directions and
          moves the cursor on the menu screens.
 B      - Fires the primary weapon (Pulse Laser Blasters) and
          goes on to the next page of text at Message Terminals.
 A      - Fires the secondary weapon (special weapons) and
          enters a character on the Password Screen.
 Select - Pauses the game and calls up the subscreen.
 Start  - Pauses the game only. (Great for taking photos!)

 Note: Controller 2 can also be used to play this game!
       Except for the Start and Select Buttons, Controller 2
       works just like Controller 1. Unplug this second Controller
       if you don't want someone else to mess with you while
       you're playing. (Pressing opposite directions on the same
       or different Controllers will cancel all movement. If you
       manage to press Left and Right simultaneously on a single
       Controller, for instance, the Guardian will not move. The
       same goes for pressing Up on Controller 1 while pressing
       Down on Controller 2. You're getting all of this, right?)

Q. How do I read this?

A. The Guardian's status is indicated on the bottom of the screen.
   By pressing Select, the subscreen will pull up, which looks
   similar to the subscreen in The Legend of Zelda. More status
   information will be displayed, and you can equip a special
   weapon. Here's a list of what everything means:

  SC - Score
   Destroy enemies to gain Points. When you earn certain amounts
   of Points, your maximum Shield Units will increase. Check the
   Quick Reference section to see the exact Point values required
   to increase your Shield capacity. There is enough space to
   display 7 digits, or Scores up to 9999999 Points. Scoring
   10 million Points or more is very, very bad for the game. Check
   out the Secret Debug Options & Bugs section to find out why.

  CHIP - Power Chips
   Nearly every special weapon consumes Chips. Try to carry as many
   Chips as you can, so you don't have to worry about running
   out of ammo. Also, the more Chips you have, the more shots you
   can fire at a time with your Pulse Laser Blaster.

  SHOT - Shots Remaining
   Each special weapon uses up different amounts of Chips. This value
   tells you how many more times you can shoot or the seconds of fire
   you have left for your current special weapon, at the amount of
   Chips you presently have. (Weapons like the Plasma Turret, Wave
   Cannons, and Plasma Shield define their Shots in seconds of fire.
   Weapons like the Grenade Launcher, Fusion Cannon, Repeller, and
   Enemy Eraser define their Shots as the number of times you can
   pull the trigger again.) Note: This display will never exceed
   255, even though you may have many more Shots in actuality. This
   problem is due to the inherent design of the data type used to
   store this value (this is similar to the 255 limits in Zelda,
   Metroid, and a ton of other early games).

  (Heart Symbol) ## (Blue Bar) - Shields
   The filled-in, blue portion of the meter represents the Shield
   energy remaining, with tiny marks indicating fractional values
   (each Unit is subdivided into halves and quarters). The number
   between the heart and the blue bar is a numerical display of the
   same energy, rounded up. Any attack on the Guardian will drain
   off some Shields, depending on the nature of the attack. The
   Guardian is destroyed only when she receives damage at 0 Shields.
   Any attack on her as long as she has some Shields will never
   kill her, only draining them to zero in the worst case. The flight-
   armor can attain a maximum of 32 Shield Units, although due to
   limited screen space only up to 24 Units can be displayed in the
   blue bar. When in doubt, check the numerical value.

  AREA - Current Area
   The Area the Guardian is presently located in will be
   displayed here. Naju is divided into 11 Areas, from 0 to 10.

  X## Y## - Map Coordinates
   Naju's Labyrinth consists of several rooms and roughly represents
   a square board when projected onto a 2-dimensional plane. The
   Guardian's current position, relative to the map, is shown here
   as numerical coordinates. Unlike the standard mathematical
   Cartesian Coordinate System, the Y values are inverted,
   increasing as the Guardian moves SOUTH, not north! The X values,
   however, are normal and increase as the Guardian moves east.

  (Map) - Map Display
   The Labyrinth's rooms are shown here. As you collect Keys, more
   Areas will appear. Your current position is represented by a
   rapidly flashing square with a blue outline and a white interior.
   Gates leading to unconquered Corridors are marked by slower
   flashing squares with white outlines and red interiors.

  KEY - Keys Obtained
   The Keys you've collected are shown here. There are 7 in all.

  CHIP MAX - Maximum Amount of Power Chips
   This value represents the highest number of Chips you can carry
   at present. You may increase this by finding Red Landers. Check
   the Quick Reference section to see how this value increases.

  ATTACK - Pulse Laser Intensity (Attack Level)
   The number of Blaster Pistol icons represent how powerful each
   of your Pulse Laser bursts are.

  SHIELD - Shield Absorption Capability (Defense Level)
   The number of Defense Shield icons represent how effectively
   your Shields can absorb enemy damage. The higher the Level,
   the less Shields you'll lose per blow. Keep in mind that
   this does NOT affect the maximum number of Shield Units!

  WEAPON POWER - Special Weapon Power Level
   The highlighted special weapon's Power Level is shown here.
   The higher the Level, the faster and stronger the weapon becomes,
   but beware as it'll consume more Chips too. A Level 1 weapon is
   color-coded blue, Level 2 green, and Level 3 red.

  USE CHIP - Chips Consumed per Shot
   This is the number of Chips used everytime you fire the selected
   special weapon (such as the Grenade Launcher or the Enemy Eraser)
   or everytime you fire it for about a second (such as the Saber
   Lasers or the Wave Cannons). The SHOT value factors this in when
   calculating how much more you can fire the chosen special weapon.

  ("NO USE") (Weapon Icons...) - Special Weapons
   Your special weapons are listed here at the bottom half of the
   subscreen. Highlight "NO USE" if you choose not to equip a
   special weapon. For the Enemy Eraser (EE), the number beside
   its icon is the number of charges it has left. The EE consumes
   no Chips since it runs on its own unique ammo.

Q. What are the 2 Modes of gameplay?

A. Throughout her trip in Naju, the Guardian will travel in one
   of 2 Modes, depending on whether she's on the surface
   levels (the "Labyrinth") or in the deeper "Corrdiors." One
   Mode is the Flight Mode, where her armor shifts into the
   "space glider" form and zips her forward like a fighter jet.
   When not in this form, the flight-armor will fold itself away
   and the Guardian will be able to walk normally and take her
   time to explore.

   These 2 Modes are interlinked very well, because what you
   get in one Mode will definitely affect your situation in the
   other. By thoroughly exploring the surface levels for power-ups,
   you'll have an easier time dealing with the Corridors, and the
   ammo and keys you pick up in the Corrdidors can be used back on
   the surface levels. The flight-armor is a wonderful piece of
   work, considering that you can use your weapons in both Modes.

   HOWEVER, weapons do not always operate exactly the same in
   different Modes, as their capabilities may be slightly changed.
   For example, the Fusion Cannon (or "Fireball" in the manual) can
   fire only upwards in the Flight Mode, whereas in the Walk Mode
   you can fire it in any of the 8 cardinal directions, since the
   Guardian can actually turn around and face those directions.

------------------
ALIENS & ARTIFACTS
------------------

IMPORTANT!!

 Here are a couple things you need to know. Due to some messy and
 sometimes poor translations, I may use certain terms in place of
 those provided by the instructions manual. You can complain
 all you want - I'm not stopping you from using other guides - but
 if you want to make sense out of this walkthrough, you must
 understand what I mean when I say...

~~~~~
MODES
~~~~~

Walk Mode
 The type of gameplay where the Guardian's flight-armor folds up
 and she can walk about freely in the Labyrinth sections.

Flight Mode
 The type of gameplay where the Guardian's flight-armor folds out
 into a space glider and she can fly through the Corridor sections.

~~~~~~~~~
LOCATIONS
~~~~~~~~~

Labyrinth
 The surface levels of Naju that must be explored room by room.

Corridor
 The deeper areas of Naju that must be flown through.

Password Room
 A special room where the big Blue Lander will display your current
 Password. It will also help check for mistakes by letting you
 input the same Password it showed you. (What a nice guy!)

Shop
 A special room where the big Blue Lander will sell you an item
 in exchange for Chips (I guess it likes to eat Power Chips like
 potato chips). If it offers you multiple items, you'll only be
 able to purchase one (unless you exploit one of the game's
 bugs - check out the Secret Debug Options & Bugs section!).

Message Terminal
 Before getting completely slaughtered, the crew of Naju has left
 their advice in these display monitors that are scattered across
 the station. If the Guardian finds one, she can access their notes.

~~~~~~~~~~
STRUCTURES
~~~~~~~~~~

Gate
 Graphic:
  A blue, double set of doors with strange inscriptions on them.
 Description:
  This a portal between the Labyrinth and a Corridor. Gates connected
  to Self-Destruct Switches (Corridors 1 to 10) are sealed and will
  open only after the Guardian performs a certain action. Gates
  leading to optional Corridors (11 to 20) are not locked at all.
  The Gate for Corridor 21 does not appear until the Self-Destruct
  Sequence is initiated.

Self-Destruct Switch
 Graphic:
  The 4 circuit panels at the corners of Gates 1 to 10.
 Description:
  All 10 Switches must be activated to destroy Naju. Some bosses'
  life-signs are linked to Naju's computers. By destroying
  these bosses, the corresponding Switches will be activated
  (by exploding - weird, eh?).

Warp Panel
 Graphic:
  A black circular pad, sometimes with a Key mark on top.
 Description:
  This short-range teleportal serves as a fancy doorway to the next
  room (and possibly to the next Area). To keep unwanted visitors
  out, some Warp Panels require the user to be in possession of a
  certain Key (indicated by the corresponding mark on top) before
  activating.

Yellow Block
 Graphic:
  A small yellow pyramid-shaped structure.
 Description:
  This is a barrier that can be easily destroyed. Blue Chips
  may be hidden underneath at some locations.

Blue Block
 Graphic:
  A small light-blue pyramid-shaped structure.
 Description:
  This is a barrier that can be destroyed as easily as a
  Yellow Block. Warp Panels leading to another part of the
  Labyrinth are always covered by these.

Red Block
 Graphic:
  A small red pyramid-shaped structure.
 Description:
  This barrier is indestructable and only blocks the Guardian.
  Check out the Secret Debug Options & Bugs section to find out
  how you can walk through these barriers!

Green Block
 Graphic:
  A small green pyramid-shaped structure.
 Description:
  This barrier will appear suddenly and block any means of escape
  when the Guardian encounters a miniboss. This is indestructable
  at first, but it will change into a Yellow Block when she
  defeats the miniboss and takes the reward.

Item Pod
 Graphic:
  A small container with a red dome and a silver/chromium outline.
 Description:
  Here's something for the Guardian to look forward to. Some of
  these are found at preset locations, and they always contain an
  important item such as a weapon or an upgrade. At other times,
  they spawn out from defeated enemies, containing a minor power-up
  like a Chip or a Shield-recharging item. During the Corridor
  sections, a spawning pod will zip ahead towards the top of the
  screen, where it'll appear and then scroll back downwards as the
  Guardian blazes forwards. If she's going too fast, she'll have a
  slim chance of breaking it open and retrieving the contents.

~~~~~
ITEMS
~~~~~

"Come and get some!"
            - Quinn Hart, from "VICE: Project Doom" (American Sammy)


Weapon Icon
 Icon Graphic:
  A weapon's picture in a box with a blue (Power Level 1) outline.
 Description:
  This adds the corresponding weapon to your inventory, or if you
  already have the weapon, upgrades it. This also adds 2 Units'
  worth of Shields.

Blue Power Chip
 Icon Graphic:
  A shiny blue ball.
 Description:
  This adds 10 Chips and restores the Guardian's Shields
  by a quarter-Unit (0.25 Units).
  (The manual mistakenly says this adds 20 Chips. Whooops!)
  Blue Chips at preset locations appear only when you step, for
  the first time, onto the screen they are located in. If you
  leave and re-enter the screen, they will disappear and not
  show up again until you come back from another Area.

Red Power Chip
 Icon Graphic:
  A shiny red ball.
 Description:
  This adds 500 Chips and restores the Guardian's Shields
  by one full Unit (1.00 Unit).
  (The manual mistakenly says this adds 50 Chips. I guess
   they're missin' a 0 there. Whooops again!)

Life Heart
 Icon Graphic:
  A plush red heart.
 Description:
  This restores 5 Shield Units. The Guardian has little physical
  armor (just look at what she's wearing!!!) and without her Shields,
  she has the durability equivalent to that of tissue paper. Keep
  the Guardian healthy by keeping those Shields up.

Energy Tank
 Icon Graphic:
  A blocky silver power pack with a red mark in the middle.
  (Not to be confused with the Item Pod.)
 Description:
  This restores the Guardian's Shields to full power.
  The Shields will keep increasing until they reach the top, even
  if the Guardian takes more hits before the Shields hit maximum.
  (If you have low Shields when you grab this, the recharging
   period will be longer. During this time, you can run into enemies
   with something like the Saber Laser, inflicting damage without
   really getting hurt yourself. Be sure to pull out before the
   Shields top off though, or else you'll get bashed for good.)

Blue Lander
 Icon Graphic:
  A happy blue sphere-shaped alien with cute eyes and a big smile.
 Description:
  By rescuing this guy, the Guardian's maximum amount of Shields
  is increased by 1 Unit. The Shields will also be restored to
  full power.

Red Lander
 Icon Graphic:
  A happy red sphere-shaped alien with cute eyes and a big smile.
 Description:
  By rescuing this guy, the Guardian's maximum amount of Power Chips
  is increased. Starting at 50, the total number of Chips she can
  carry will (for every Red Lander rescued) increase to:
    100, 150, 200, 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 2400, 4000,
     (and 6000 in TGL Mode).

Blaster Pistol
 Icon Graphic:
  A red-barrelled, silver-handled pistol.
 Description:
  This will increase the strength of the Pulse Laser Blaster.
  While the Chips determine how many shots can be fired per burst,
  the Pistols determine how much damage each burst deals.

Defense Shield
 Icon Graphic:
  A curved, red shield with a white cross mark.
 Description:
  This will increase the efficiency of the Shields. While the
  Blue Landers increase the number of Shield Units, the
  Defense Shields reduce the damage absorbed per hit.

Speed Arrow (Originally "Consecutive Firing")
 Icon Graphic:
  A series of arrows pointing upwards, resembling a conveyor belt.
 Description:
  This will increase the speed of the Pulse Laser's recharger.
  Collecting the first one will give a significant upgrade in
  the Laser's autofiring capabilities. I'm not so sure
  about the effect of each successive Arrow collected though....

Key
 Icon Graphic:
  A circle containing one of the following shapes in a white outline:
  Crescent, Hook, Waves, Square, Cross, Triangle, Rectangle
 Description:
  This special chip will grant the Guardian access to the
  restricted portions of Naju and, as an extra feature, upload
  map information to her flight-armor. This is helpful in scouting
  out new territory and in locating Gates. All 7 Keys must be
  collected if she wants to find the 10 Self-Destruct Switches.

------------------
CHOOSE YOUR WEAPON
------------------

"This'll teach ya' to mess with someone who
 has a portable positron collider!"
                                - Peter Venkman, from "Ghostbusters"


Here are detailed descriptions on the myriad weapons the Guardian
will find and use. The following is how the data will be shown:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
[Weapon Name]
 Icon Graphic:
  [What its icon appears as.]
 Chip Consumption:
  [For each Power Level, the number of chips required to shoot
   this weapon and what its effects are like.]
 Shot Type:
  [Whether this weapon drains Chips at a per-projectile basis
   or at a per-second basis.]
 Damage:
  [The amount of damage each of this weapon's shots deal
   relative to those of other weapons at the same Power Level.
   For the purposes of this guide, "LOW" will be the damage
   done by a single Pulse Laser burst.]
 Max Pulse Laser Shots Onscreen:
  [The maximum number of Pulse Laser shots allowed on the screen
   at a time when you're equipping this special weapon.]
 Details:
  [More notes go here. Wheee!]
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pulse Laser Blaster (Originally "normal weapon")
 Icon Graphic:
  Blaster Pistol
 Chip Consumption:
  Level 1 =    0 - A slow single-shot
  Level 2 =  100 - Slightly faster triple-shots
  Level 3 =  200 - Much faster, wider triple-shots
  Level 4 = 2050 - Very fast quad-shots
 (Note: The Chips you carry only affects how many shots are
        fired at a time and the shot's speed. The damage is
        determined by the number of Blaster Pistols collected.)
 Shot Type: PER PROJECTILE
 Damage: LOW
 Max Pulse Laser Shots Onscreen: 4
 Details:
  The Guardian's primary weapon. Her only Earth-based means of
  defense when she first enters Naju, this extremely efficient
  weapon rapidly fires short energy bursts at no net loss of
  Chips. When her other weapons seem useless, she can always
  rely on this. Find the appropriate parts in Naju to upgrade
  this trusty blaster, and increase your Chip max so you can fire
  bigger and faster bursts. In the Flight Mode, the blaster's
  shots look more impressive but aren't different in any other way.

Plasma Turret (Originally "Multi-Bullets" or "Multi-Directional Shot")
 Icon Graphic:
  A group of 8 lines radiating outwards from the center.
 Chip Consumption:
  Level 1 =  1 - A small shot
  Level 2 =  3 - A faster shot
  Level 3 = 10 - A larger, faster shot
 Shot Type: PER SECOND
 Damage: LOW
 Max Pulse Laser Shots Onscreen: 3
 Details:
  This is one of the first alien weapons the Guardian will find,
  and it will prove to be one of the most useful. This weapon can
  swivel and allow her to shoot in the 8 cardinal directions.
  As it becomes more powered-up, it will fire larger and faster
  balls of plasma energy. There is no difference when using this
  between the 2 Modes. By calling this a turret instead of the
  vague "Multi-Bullets," the reader will be better able to
  recognize it.

Forward Wave Cannon  (Originally "Wave Attack")
 Icon Graphic:
  A wave of white lines (in a rainbow-like form).
 Chip Consumption:
  Level 1 =  3 - A small semicircular wave
  Level 2 =  7 - A faster semicircular wave
  Level 3 = 20 - A larger, faster, circular wave
 Shot Type: PER SECOND
 Damage: MODERATE
 Max Pulse Laser Shots Onscreen: 3
 Details:
  Generating intense shockwaves, this weapon vibrates enemies,
  causing them to shatter. In the Walk Mode, this weapon
  operates exactly like the Plasma Turret. In the Flight Mode,
  it fires only forwards, but the cannon can be tilted left or
  right slightly to sweep away enemies scattered in front of you.
  If you can afford the Chips, use this instead of the Plasma Turret.

Side Wave Cannons (Originally "Back Fire")
 Icon Graphic:
  An arrow that splits into 2 heads at the bottom.
 Chip Consumption:
  Level 1 =  4 - Small semicircular waves
  Level 2 =  5 - Faster semicircular waves
  Level 3 = 40 - Larger, faster, circular waves
 Shot Type: PER SECOND
 Damage: MODERATE
 Max Pulse Laser Shots Onscreen: 2
 Details:
  Essentially the same as the Forward Wave Cannon, these fire
  wave energy to the sides and slightly to the rear of the
  Guardian instead. The waves cannot be tilted as with the
  front-mounted version, but you're already getting 2 waves
  instead of 1, so be happy. "Back Fire" sounds ridiculous,
  and since these cannons aren't too different from their
  counterpart, "Side Wave Cannons" will be more appropriate.

Plasma Shield (Originally "Bullet Shield" or "Circle")
 Icon Graphic:
  A ring of energy balls.
 Chip Consumption:
  Level 1 =  3 - A small energy orb
  Level 2 =  6 - A faster energy orb
  Level 3 = 30 - A larger, faster energy orb
 Shot Type: PER SECOND
 Damage: MODERATE
 Max Pulse Laser Shots Onscreen: 3
 Details:
  An effective defensive weapon. While it doesn't absorb many
  enemy projectiles, it does damage bad guys who dare to approach
  the Guardian. The name was changed since a ball of plasma energy,
  not a metal slug, revolves around her. This shield can be
  deactivated by switching to another special weapon or by running
  out of Chips (which is not a good thing...).

Repeller
 Icon Graphic:
  A small dot at the end of a line forming a red circle.
 Chip Consumption:
  Level 1 =  3 - A small energy orb
  Level 2 = 10 - A faster energy orb
  Level 3 = 30 - A larger, faster energy orb
 Shot Type: PER PROJECTILE
 Damage: MODERATE
 Max Pulse Laser Shots Onscreen: 3
 Details:
  A variant of the Plasma Shield, this also creates a revolving
  energy sphere, only this time the axis of the ball's orbit
  slowly shifts forward away from the Guardian. This supposedly
  knocks out enemies in front of her, thus "repelling" bad guys.
  Like the Plasma Shield, this can be switched off by selecting
  another special weapon. Most players won't be using this a lot,
  as it is often too slow and weak compared to some other weapons.
  Unlike the Plasma Shield, the Repeller consumes Chips only when
  you launch it, not for every second it stays on the screen.

Grenade Launcher
 Icon Graphic:
  A fragmentary grenade.
 Chip Consumption:
  Level 1 =  2 - A reasonable triangle-shaped cluster explosion
  Level 2 =  5 - A bigger explosion
  Level 3 = 20 - A really big explosion (almost a quarter-screen!!)
 Shot Type: PER PROJECTILE
 Damage: HIGH
 Max Pulse Laser Shots Onscreen: 3
 Details:
  The flight-armor can form small packs of high-explosives
  from Chip energy. With the ability to lob powerful grenades
  in all 8 directions in both Modes, this may seem like a great
  weapon, but it's too slow to be of much use.

Fusion Cannon (Originally "Fireball")
 Icon Graphic:
  A large fireball.
 Chip Consumption:
  Level 1 =  4 - A small fireball
  Level 2 = 12 - A larger, faster fireball
  Level 3 = 30 - An even bigger, faster fireball
 Shot Type: PER PROJECTILE
 Damage: EXTREMELY HIGH
 Max Pulse Laser Shots Onscreen: 3
 Details:
  Unlike the Plasma Turret, the Guardian will find this much later
  into the game. It is also less versatile, since it can only be aimed
  forwards in the Flight Mode. But don't dismiss this cannon, as it
  is one of the most powerful weapons in her arsenal, creating a
  lethal "fireball" of mega-intense energy that crushes enemies AND
  projectiles! "Fusion Cannon" is used because the term conveys a
  frightening sense of power, which is exactly what you get when
  this weapon is fully upgraded. Hell, fusion is probably
  what creates those killer nukeballs anyway.

Sprites  (Originally "Area Blaster")
 Icon Graphic:
  A small dot at the end of a line forming a red "Z" shape.
 Chip Consumption:
  Level 1 =   1 - 2 small energy orbs
  Level 2 =   8 - 2 slightly larger, faster energy orbs
  Level 3 = 120 - 2 super fast energy orbs
 Shot Type: PER SECOND
 Damage: MODERATE
 Max Pulse Laser Shots Onscreen: 2
 Details:
  An unique weapon with technology that goes far beyond anything we
  can come up with today. 2 small energy orbs will be generated,
  upon which they will each seek out an enemy and burn themselves
  into it. Definitely more fun than homing missiles! Unfortunately,
  at Level 3 this drains Power Chips at an obscene rate (this may
  be a mistake on the programmers' part - 20 Chips per second seems
  much more reasonable than 120, don't you think?). These Sprites
  can be deactivated by switching to another weapon; otherwise
  they'll fade away after dealing enough damage to the enemy. "Area
  Blaster" is too ambiguous, so I changed this weapon's name. The
  term "Sprite" is taken from Space Megaforce (or Super Aleste),
  another game made by Compile that ranks, along with Konami's
  Axelay, on top of the list of the best SNES space-shooters.

Forward Saber Laser
 Icon Graphic:
  A lightsaber. (Think Star Wars!)
 Chip Consumption:
  Level 1 =  4 - A lethal red-colored blade
  Level 2 =  8 - A more lethal red-colored blade
  Level 3 = 30 - An even more lethal red-colored blade
 Shot Type: PER SECOND
 Damage: HIGH
 Max Pulse Laser Shots Onscreen: 3
 Details:
  George Lucas may get credit for creating the first lightsaber,
  but Compile gets my vote for being the first game developers to
  let players actually use it in a videogame. Emitting a narrow
  band of energy, a very deadly "blade" is created. In the
  Flight Mode the sword is attached to the forward section
  of the armor, skewering any enemy directly in front of the
  Guardian. In the Walk Mode, she will detach it and hold it out
  in front of her, slashing anything she faces. When this weapon
  is upgraded, it only grows in intensity, not in length, so its
  short range will often become a liability.

Side Saber Lasers (Originally "Cutter Laser")
 Icon Graphic:
  Two lightsaber blades joined at the bottom, forming a "V" shape.
 Chip Consumption:
  Level 1 =  5 - Lethal blue-colored blades
  Level 2 = 10 - More lethal blue-colored blades
  Level 3 = 35 - Even more lethal blue-colored blades
 Shot Type: PER SECOND
 Damage: HIGH
 Max Pulse Laser Shots Onscreen: 2
 Details:
  "Cutter Laser" sounds like something that came out of the second
  boss from Capcom's Gun.Smoke. This is NOT a compliment. To make
  life easier (and for better diction's sake), we'll call this the
  side-mounted version of the Saber Laser. Like the Side Wave
  Cannon, 2 blades will shoot out from the sides of the flight-armor,
  making the Guardian the "first" of the Exar Kuns and Darth Mauls.
  Her version of the double-edged lightsaber may not look as
  impressive, but it's just as deadly. This will be useful for taking
  out enemies who are trying to flank her during the Corridor scenes.
  In the Labyrinth areas, I have a favorite tactic called "the Jedi,"
  where I mash down on the A and B Buttons and rotate the D-Pad like
  mad, killing everything around me, whether if it's enemies,
  projectiles, blocks, beer bottles, etc.

Hyper Laser Cannon
 Icon Graphic:
  A slender arrowhead with the point facing upwards.
 Chip Consumption:
  Level 1 =  4 - A thin straight laser
  Level 2 =  6 - Wider, twin lasers
  Level 3 = 30 - Even wider, twin lasers emitted from the wing tips
 Shot Type: PER SECOND
 Damage: HIGH
 Max Pulse Laser Shots Onscreen: 3
 Details:
  This sucker is one of the Guardian's favorites. By firing beams
  of super-charged energy, she can fry most enemies to a crisp
  in seconds. It has great range and power, plus it can sweep
  through bad guys as she strafes left and right. Like the
  Fusion Cannon's fireballs, Hyper Lasers tend to tear through
  bad guys, allowing you to wreck death on enemies hiding behind
  one another. At Power Level 3, the lasers come out from the SIDES
  of the armor, which can destroy surrounding things! Very cool...
  but the only major drawback is that it cannot be used in the
  Walk Mode. Hyper Lasers are probably created by charging them
  up along the suit's surfaces in the Flight Mode, but doing so is
  impossible when the suit is folded up. Boo. Equip another weapon
  instead in the Labyrinth or just stick with pure Pulse Lasers.

Enemy Eraser (EE)
 Icon Graphic:
  A sun-shaped energy spark.
 Chip Consumption:
  Level 1 =  0 - A bright energy flash
 (Note: Collecting another Enemy Eraser Icon only adds an
        additonal 20 Charges, up to a maximum of 255 Charges.
        The Enemy Eraser will never reach beyond Power Level 1.)
 Shot Type: PER PROJECTILE
 Damage: DEATH OR RESIST
 Max Pulse Laser Shots Onscreen: 3
 Details:
  Besides the Sprites, no other weapon is more mystifying than the
  Enemy Eraser. Creating a large field of energy around the flight-
  armor, the Guardian can destroy hostile organisms and objects
  in proximity without doing harm to herself or to other items. The
  EE can also be used to destroy several enemy shots to increase
  the chances of getting some Item Pods. Well, she ain't gonna
  argue, since this is one potent &%$#?@*! Unlike the other
  special weapons, the Enemy Eraser runs on its own charges,
  and the Guardian can stock up to 255 of them. Also note that this
  weapon works on an "all-or-nothing" basis. An enemy either dies or
  doesn't, so the Guardian will be wise to not waste charges on bad
  guys who are resistant to the EE. To be able to find EE charges
  in Item Pods left behind by dead enemies, you must first find the
  EE in a preset location or earn it from a boss fight (in other
  words, have the EE show up in your subscreen first).

Don't forget to check out the Quick Reference section towards the
end of this guide for a condensed statistics table on all the weapons.

--------------------
TIPS TO KEEP IN MIND
--------------------

"Kick ass or get killed."
                  - Captain Mitchell Foxworth, Chief Pilot Instructor
                        of Tri-M (Mechwarrior Mercenary Academy),
                      from "Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries" (Activision)


How about a few useful hints? Any videogamer should be at home with
the basics and some common sense. Get to know the flight-armor.
Practice with the many weapons and switch to the ones that best
suit the current situation. Take your time to explore. Learn to
move quickly and avoid wasting shots during the intense shooter
scenes. Be prepared by collecting all the items you can before
entering a zone that you think is exceptionally dangerous.
Here are some specifics:

- Don't worry if you run low on Shields or Chips. The game is
  structured so your chances of finding power-ups increase
  as you run low on resources. Why isn't this feature included
  in more games today???

- Weapon and enemy levels are indicated by a color.
  Blue is basic, green is intermediate, and red is advanced.
  (Generally, red-colored bosses are at least twice as bad as
  their green and blue counterparts. Generally.)

- Without equipping a special weapon, you can fire up to
  4 Pulse Laser bursts on the screen at a time. If you
  equip a special weapon, your bursts will be limited to
  3 or 2, depending on the special weapon.
  Therefore, if you're not using special weapons, don't equip
  them! Also don't equip the Hyper Laser Cannon in the Labyrinth
  zones since they can't do anything but drop your
  maximum number of Pulse Laser bursts from 4 down to 3.

- Take care to avoid running out of Chips. Not only do you need
  them for special weapons, you also need Chips to keep your Pulse
  Laser powered-up. You'd be surprised by how fast 4000 Chips can
  shrink to 2050 when you mindlessly leave on some Level 3 weapons
  (such as the Sprites). Sacrificing Pulse Laser burst power for
  more special weapon fire isn't always the best tactic.

- Kill things. When you reach certain Scores, your total number
  of Shield Units increase (the effect is equal to picking up a
  Blue Lander). Everything counts, so blast as many bad guys as
  you can. Even the enemy projectiles you destroy garner Points!
  Your Shields are improved when you reach the following Points:
  30000, 100000, 500000, 1000000, and then every million afterwards
  (until 10000000, where the game freezes - check out the
  Secret Debug Options & Bugs section to discover why!).

- When the big Blue Lander offers to sell you only 1 of 3 items,
  go for the one with more permanent value. A weapon power-up,
  Red Lander, or Speed Arrow is far more useful than a Life Heart
  or an Energy Tank in the long run. Or, you can buy more than
  one item with the help of a little bug... (check out the
  Secret Debug Options & Bugs section!).

- Keep in mind the maximum values you can power-up to. If one of
  your special weapons is at Level 3, don't waste Chips (and the
  chance to get another item) by buying an upgrade for this
  already maxed-out weapon. Likewise, you can stop worrying about
  Points once you reach 32 Shield Units (unless if you need your
  Shields recharged).

- Be wary of the Boss Alert Alarm. Not only will it tell you when
  you've reached a boss in the Corridors, it will also alert you to
  the presence of minibosses in the Labyrinth. There's a trick for
  escaping minibosses in the secrets section towards the end of
  this guide.

- Do care how fast you're flying in the Corridors. At high speeds,
  you'll have a very small time frame to destroy Item Pods and
  retrieve their contents.

- Stay on the bottom of the screen in the Corridors. This
  gives you more time to react to enemies up ahead, and almost
  nothing approaches directly from the back anyway.

- Grab all the items in an Area before fighting minibosses
  or jumping into Corridors, since those situations are where
  power-ups come in handy the most.

- Optional Corridors are usually easier than the mandatory ones
  (except if they end with an Optomon or a Clawbot encounter).

- Stay way clear of Gates as they open up. The Guardian will jump
  in even if she isn't touching the black pit, and the Gate doesn't
  even have to be completely open when she does that. This sucks if
  you wind up being underpowered and slaughtered because she got too
  near to the Corridor entrance. Silly human.

- I can never stress this enough: always write down your Passwords
  carefully. Many gamers are repeatedly frustrated from confusing
  similar-looking characters such as O and 0, l and 1, S and 5, and
  so on. Videogames usually give you as much time as you need when
  recording Passwords, so there's no reason to rush (unless you
  foresee a massive power outage). Here are some suggestions. You
  can clarify numerical characters by underlining them. An underlined
  0 will never be confused with the letter "O" again. Make your
  characters as distinct as possible. In Taito's Kick Master, the
  letter "S" has an elongated hook on the bottom end, making it
  easy to differentiate from the number 5. And use The Guardian
  Legend's method of drawing twin dots above lower-case letters
  if you find it helpful. All the Passwords in this guide have
  been checked and should be correct, so if you have problems
  entering them, try again before contacting the author.

======================================================================
II. IN & OUT OF NAJU - Like the wind, in and out, like the wind....
======================================================================

"That's no moon..."
    - Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi, from "Star Wars: A New Hope" (LucasFilm)


I hope you're ready. Before we start, let's go over the guide layout.

Each Area will be covered in the following sequence:
a little background data, a Password that records the Guardian's
progress up to that point of the game, some general advice, and then
the in-depth specifics. Item locations, special rooms, and minibosses
will be listed in the Labyrinth sections. I will even suggest
if it's better to skip over some optional Corridors so you can
return later when you're more powerful. The Gate Seal solutions
and bosses will be detailed in the Corridor sections. Since
this game is very non-linear, the strategies presented are only
a recommended course of action. Under no circumstances are you
to follow them blindly if you think you can come up with something
better. (Hell, I would actually want to hear from you if you think
you have better tactics!)

The following is the display for Passwords (Check the Passwords
section towards the back of this guide for more info).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
************************  [       current mission objective         ]
* [   The Password   ] *  [           current location              ]
* [    goes here!    ] *  [ Shield Units, Power Chips, EE (if any)  ]
************************  [ Attack Lvl, Shield Defense Lvl, Points  ]
[                                                                   ]
[          Your current Keys and special weapons go here!           ]
[                                                                   ]
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Got it? As for the author of this guide, just think of me as some guy
who provides you with radio support throughout the whole mission from
a post back at - oh, let's just say - a base on the moon.

Now, let's get on with it....

---------------------------
INTRODUCTION: THE INSERTION
---------------------------

PROLOGUE:

 " Long ago, an alien race sent
  a huge world hurtling toward
  the Earth, loaded with a cargo
  of mysterious lifeforms.
   You must battle your way
  deep within the alien world
  to destroy its vicious
  inhabitants.
   You are the Guardian of
  the Earth and your saga will
  become the Guardian Legend."

BACKGROUND:

Sensors have indicated that the only way to enter this vessel
is through the main airlock. This may sound like suicide because
this area is well-protected, but it shouldn't be too much of
a problem for someone as powerful as the Guardian. After
breaking past the Entrance Defense System, she will be able
to penetrate into the depths of Naju and find a way to keep
the bloody thing from ramming into Earth.

PASSWORD:

************************  Gain entry into the alien vessel.
*         N/A          *  Area 0 - Outside of the alien vessel
*      (New Game)      *  8 Shield Units, 50 Chips
************************  Attack 1, Shield 1, 0 Points
No items found.

GENERAL TIPS:

While most of the Guardian's mission will be carried out on foot,
the first scene of the game will take place in the Flight Mode.
The Guardian will blaze down towards the main airlock at top
speed, racing past obstacles hurled at her. Take care not to get
whacked by the flying meteoroids and Naju's missiles. At the end
of the stage is the Entrance Defense System. It consists of
several turrets feeding off from a bottomless reserve of ammo.

IN-DEPTH:

I call the first part of the game "Corridor 0" since it isn't a
real Corridor but is played like one.

"CORRIDOR 0"

Right after you hit the Start Button and begin a New Game, you'll
see the Guardian racing towards the alien vessel at top speed.
After 2 seconds or so, meteoroids will approach alternately from
the left and right sides of the top of the screen. Blast them
or avoid them. When you approach the station and see its blue, paneled
surfaces underneath you, the meteoroids will increase in frequency.
The meteoroids aren't the most dangerous things in the universe, but
you should conserve your Shields since your high speed makes
grabbing power-ups difficult. Stay on the bottom of the screen so
you will have more time to react.

Soon enough, some meteoroids will appear and form into a ring before
swarming towards you. The best way to handle them is to sit right
below them and blast away as they approach, and then run away when
the rest of them closes in on you. If you don't shoot them, it's
harder to escape unscathed. The diamond plates that appear in sparse
numbers will follow you slowly. The small twin-mandibled ships are
also slow and can be easily destroyed. The only thing to really
watch out for are the spinning star discs. These discs take an
incredible amount of punishment, so don't waste your shots on them.
Go around them instead. They will show up in randomized locations.

When you slow down and the blue tiles underneath become more
uniform, expect a series of turrets. Line up before these turrets
to destroy them or else their shots will knock you around. After
4 pairs of these guys, you get to fight your first boss.

"CORRIDOR 0" BOSS ALERT: Entrance Defense System

4 small turrets and 11 big ones form the 15 parts of this system.
Strafe left and right quickly, firing as many of your own shots.
You will definitely suck up some damage, so keep weaving to minimize
the wear on your Shields. Due to the incredible amount of enemy fire,
don't stay on one side too long to concentrate your fire or else
you will be trapped between the edges of the screen and a flurry of
bullets. Keep moving around and just blast any turret that you happen
to fly past in front of. Turrets take damage only when they're open.

If you must destroy one part of the system first, go for the larger
main turrets since they're closer to you (assuming you're still
staying along the screen bottom). The central turrets are also
larger and easier to hit. The smaller ones in the back fire the
same projectiles, but their shots will be easier to avoid since they
have to travel greater distances.

To keep your Shields charged, collect the goods from the Item Pods
that spawn out from the destroyed bullets. Notice that if an Item
Pod appears over a turret, that turret does not disappear and still
has to be destroyed. When the last turret is wasted and the system
goes "BANG!" you'll automatically stroll into the alien craft.

------
AREA 0
------

"Its... architects hadn't considered a breach
 by a creature such as myself."
    - Raziel, from "Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver" (Crystal Dynamics)


BACKGROUND:

Area 0 is the center of Naju. From this hub, the Guardian can
connect to all the other Areas. Upon entering Naju through the
main airlock, she'll drop right onto a Message Terminal explaining
what Naju really is and its rather nasty predicament. Fortunately
for her, she's not the only good guy around. A certain large,
round, friendly creature is waiting just around the corner....

PASSWORD:

************************  Find a means to destroy the alien vessel.
* nna6 kbq5  hT!4 eH!4 *  Area 0 - (X12,Y13) - Center of Naju
* b73z 2rpi  5S1x Ipmv *  8 Shield Units, 50 Chips
************************  Attack 1, Shield 1, 29260 Points
KEYS: (none)
Speed Arrow x0

GENERAL TIPS:

This is the least dangerous place in Naju, so take your time
to walk around and blast enemies. Plus, this Area is full of
power-ups and helpful Messages, not to mention the several rooms
where the big Blue Lander hangs out at. After blasting the
minibosses and upgrading yourself, head towards Area 1 at the
north-west corner of the station. An important note - the
Guardian isn't the only person who will grow stronger. Some rooms
that are empty now will be inhabited by new and more powerful
enemies when you come back later during the course of the mission.

If you check your map, you will notice a blinking square at
(6,10). Before you head for it, let's explore the hub and
get prepared. This Area goes around in a loop, so circle through
it and power yourself up. From the Message Terminals concerning
the fate of Naju and the hint for unlocking Gate #1 and the room
with the Speed Arrow (between the Blue Lander's Shops and
Password Room), you can take a counterclockwise path, starting
from the East Side. When you're done, you can buy 2 items from
the Shops and then head on to Area 1.

Remember, go for the items first. Afterwards, you can defeat
the minibosses. The Corridors should come last. Enemies here
make great target practice. Once you reach 30000 Points,
your Shields will be improved. Besides spiders (both organic
and robotic ones), tiny blue blobs (like those guys in
The Legend of Zelda) will show up on most screens. Kill them.
If you see red- and blue-rimmed saucers, look out.
They'll slide back and forth, hurting those who touch it, plus
they suck up a lot of damage. They are not worth killing; avoid
'em instead. Red saucers move horizontally, and blue ones move
vertically. If any of them slides off the screen, it will
teleport back in. Cheap bastards.

IN-DEPTH:

Congratulations - you made it into Naju. Now that you've
gotten the first taste of what to expect in this alien
vessel, let's move on to the real thing. The game is fairly
non-linear, so I'll just list the coordinates of interesting
locations along with some hints.

Coordinates (11,12) is where you enter the airlock past the
broken Defense System and drop right onto your first Message
Terminal. Thanks to the flight-armor's built-in
Alien Language Decoder (TM), you can read what's in
this terminal (just press B to read the next page):
 "If someone is reading this... I must have failed.
  This star "NAJU" was our home,
  but we were invaded by evil life-forms.
  Everyone except me was killed.
  I am going to try to activate the self-destruct device.
  If I fail, I would like you to do this task so this cannot
  happen to any other race.
  The self-destruct mechanism
  is protected by a safety device
  which is located in the underground corridors.
  Remove each seal and go deep inside NAJU.
  If you destroy all 10 safety devices, the self-destruct
  sequence will be activated.
  I don't have much time.
  I hope this message will not be read by anyone...
  It will mean that I have failed."
Oh, man. This sucks, doesn't it? Well, I hear no other
alternatives, so I guess we'll just have to listen to our
dead friend. The room you're in is (almost) the exact
center of the Naju Labyrinth, and there are 4 exits.

Past a few rooms to the west at (9,13), there is another Message
Terminal relating to the first one:
 "I had all the corridors sealed.
  If you need to know how to remove the seal,
  ask the person who sealed it.
  To remove the seal at corridor NO. 1, fire at the gate.
  All the rooms leading to the corridors are locked,
  so use the "warp panel" to get into the room.
  To use the "warp panel", blast through the cover.
  You will also need the key for the panel."
Did you catch that? When you reach Corridor 1, blast the Gate!

One room over at (10,13) there is yet another Message Terminal:
 "I put some weapons in these boxes.
  Take them out of the boxes to use them.
  Some weapons have been stolen by some of the life-forms;
  if you need these weapons
  you will have to destroy the life-forms.
  All the weapons need Power Chips.
  You must search for them."

Back towards the east at (12,12) there's an Item Pod, and inside
there's a Speed Arrow. Collecting this item is important because it
will enable full automatic fire for the Pulse Laser Blaster. Grabbing
more Speed Arrows seems to have little or no effect, though....

Located at (12,13) is the first Password Room. The Blue Lander asks:
 "Do you want me to record your progress?
  Set your weapon to "NO USE" and
  press button "A"."
When you let the big guy show you your current Password, you will
get two options. "Go Out" is pretty obvious - it lets you exit the
Password Screen and resume your mission. "Word Check" will let you
input the Password you just received. If what you enter doesn't match
what the Blue Lander gives you, you should check for errors!

At (12,11) your dead friend will inform you of the Blue Lander's shop:
 "There is a round creature in this room.
  It will give you items in exchange for Power Chips."
This room is the entrance to a ring of Shops. Whether you
take the north Warp Panel or the east Warp Panel, you will
return to this Message Terminal. Go ahead and browse a bit.
 - To the east, (13,11), is a Forward Wave Cannon for 50 Chips.
 - The middle Shop at (13,10) will sell the Sprites for 100 Chips.
 - The north Shop at (12,10) offers a Side Wave Cannon for 150 Chips.

Just north of the first Message Terminal are some more Shops.
 - (10,10) offers a Repeller for 500 Chips. Come back later.
 - (10,11) offers a Hyper Laser Cannon for 300 Chips. Come back later.

The Blue Lander will say:
 "I will sell this to you
  in exchange for Power Chips."
If you purchase the item, it will reply with:
 "Good Luck!"
If you return to a shop where you already bought an item, it'll ask:
 "Any luck?"
The Forward Wave Cannon and the Sprites can be bought before leaving
Area 0, so pick them up now (be sure to find the Red Lander first).
The Forward Wave Cannon costs 3 Chips compared to the Plasma
Turret's 1, so stick with the Turret if you need to save ammo.

Located at (13,13) is a Power Chip refueling station. Fill up on Chips
if you need to buy something or if you need a quick Shield boost.
Once you leave this screen, the Chips will disappear until you come
back from another Area.

(13,15) has a message containing data that will be helpful later:
 "I set seal 6 very well;
  you will need a special weapon to break it."
Unfortunately, you cannot go to (13,16) yet because you do not have
the Waves Key.

(14,9) MINIBOSS ALERT: spiderworm
This moldy brown worm will probably be your first miniboss.
Sit next to (but not touching) it and wait for it to burrow out
of its hole. It'll remain exposed, doing nothing for a short
period of time, during which you can relentlessly attack it.
Use your new-found special weapon (if you have any) in addition
to your Pulse Laser Blaster. When it fades back into its hole, stop
firing to save ammo and wait for a spider to appear. Kill
the spider when it solidifies and then wait for the worm to
burrow out again. When you kill it, you will rescue a Blue Lander.

Up at (8,9) you'll find yourself the Plasma Turret, which serves as
effective support fire. Look out for the swooping yellow bats.
(Press Select to enter your subscreen where you can equip your
special weapons.)

At (8,11) you'll find some slow robot spiders and a Red Lander,
which will boost your Chip maximum from 50 to 100. Notice that
your Chips will be refilled, and your Pulse Laser Blaster will fire
triple-shots. If you drop below 100 Chips though, you'll fire
single-shots again.

(8,13) MINIBOSS ALERT: green crabbot
A robotic crab will chase you. Remember, the green means this
guy sucks compared to the other minibosses, so this fight will
be pretty short. Retreat to a comfortable distance and then stick
your Saber Laser (if you have it) into it and gut it while
firing Pulse Lasers at the same time. Keep moving back if you
need to. Kill it, and you get out, plus you earn the Plasma Shield.
From now on, you can use the Plasma Shield to destroy this crabbot's
stronger cousins.

Down at the coordinates (9,14), you'll find some jumping rocks
and the Forward Saber Laser weapon.

When you cleared out as much of Area 0 as you can, it's time to find
the first Self-Destruct Switch at (6,10).

------
AREA 1
------

BACKGROUND:

Naju is home to alien life-forms afterall, so the Guardian will be
exploring a variety of environments. The world this station comes
from must have oceans similar to those of our own, as "sea" creatures
inhabit this watery zone. Thanks to the low gravity and the
Guardian's high-tech equipment, she will have no trouble walking
through the deep-blue depths of Area 1.

PASSWORD:

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #1.
* Y9i3 xZz2  S9Ha r5y1 *  Area 0 - (X12,Y13) - Center of Naju
* 9oj1 ldiN  GgAY 1?yW *  10 Shield Units, 100 Chips
************************  Attack 1, Shield 1, 44400 Points
KEYS: (none)
Speed Arrow x1
(Lvl 1) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 1) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 1) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 1) Sprites
(Lvl 1) Forward Saber Laser

GENERAL TIPS:

At last, we're finally out of the introductory parts of the game.
Area 1 isn't much more difficult than Area 0, but always be on your
guard. Find everything you can, and watch out for the minibosses
and Corridors. Corridor 11 hides a very dangerous boss, and it's
probably better for you to come back later after clearing a few
other Areas.

IN-DEPTH:

(6,10) is the entrance to Corridor 1.
Although your navigation system says the Gate is located
in Area 0 (as it does with all Gates), the Corridor is
actually in Area 1.

CORRIDOR 1

>>>> Gate Seal Solution <<<<
 In case if you missed it back in (9,13), the dead crewmember left
 a note telling you that the first Gate can be opened by simply
 shooting at it. Hold down your B Button and a few seconds of
 Pulse Laser fire will break the Seal. Hop in by approaching the
 black hole.

You'll start off slowly. Use the Plasma Turret in conjunction with
your Pulse Laser. 2 Plasma Turret blasts (at a Power Level of 1) will
knock out the alien flat fish approaching from the sides. Aim
diagonally and to the sides. Clams in the middle will fire those
spinning shots very much like those from the turrets of the Entrance
Defense System. The flat fish will turn and go sideways if they hit
the bottom of the screen. Just move forwards and go around. When the
fish reach the other edge of the screen, they will swim upwards.
The seahorses will move sideways and then rush vertically towards
you when both of you line up. Large bubble pods growing out from
the seabed will spew more bubbles down at you, so just sit in front
of them and fire everything at it. There is a part where 3 of them
appear at the same time. Pit worms are the things that break open a
hole in the floor and then dig upwards, squeezing off homing shots
as they move away. Line up underneath them and fire. You can even
use the Forward Saber Laser on these red dot-shaped creatures!

After a long period without enemies there will be more flat fish
and another pit worm on the right side. Red stingrays will swoop down
and up, and then dive right at you. Kill 'em before they reach you.
After a third pit worm, some more rows of flat fish, and twin bubble
pods, you'll see some sets of identical underwater mesas and meet
the boss.

CORRIDOR 1 BOSS ALERT: blue Fleepa

You fight Fleepa, a large one-eyed fish that moves up and
down, all the while following you horizontally. It will spit out
little jellyfish that will chase you. Just keep firing forwards
as you move left and right. Don't let the brute bump into you.
The Forward Wave is great here, or if you're more brave, you can
lounge at it with the Forward Saber Laser. Just don't let it touch
you, and always prepare to back away. The Plasma Shield is great too.
This guy isn't tough, and after awhile it'll go "BANG!" and you
get the Crescent Key. You'll also activate the first Self-Destruct
Switch (see it explode back at the Gate!) and earn the Repeller.
Way to go, Guardian!!

Press Select and check out your map - you'll notice that it's been
updated, thanks to the data on the Crescent Key Chip. Area 2 (a bit
to the south) is open now, but let's explore Area 1 first. You've
already activated the first Switch, but you haven't even entered
Area 1 proper yet!

Chances are your Chips are low from the fight with Fleepa, so
don't go about killing everything with your special weapons.
Go north from the Gate and grab the Blue Chip, then
and head up and around to the west.

At (3,10) there will be a Side Wave Cannon.

(2,9) is a Password Room. The sea anemone outside at (2,10) will spew
out bubbles that rain down on you. Kill it before things get messy.

(4,11) MINIBOSS ALERT: green lobstercrab
This is something of a cross between a lobster and a crab. It
teleports around, and when it appears, it tracks your vertical
position and launches a batch of bubbles at you. Most fly over your
head if you stay to the right side, so just take out your Forward
Saber Laser and stab it from there. You can even use the Side Sabers
if you're too lazy to turn towards it. Your prize will be the Fusion
Cannon. This weapon is slow and relatively weak now, but later when
you power it up it will become one of your best weapons.

Stored at (4,12) is the Side Saber Laser. Watch out for yellow bats.

(0,11), (1,11), (0,12), and (1,12) form a stupid joke. Don't follow
the arrows since they'll lead you through a ridiculous loop!

At (1,9) a spider will duplicate itself. Kill it or run from the
infestation before the screen becomes "Bog City."

At (0,9) there's an Energy Tank. Save it for after the next Corridor.

(0,6) MINIBOSS ALERT: blue crabbot
This is like the one in Area 0, only it's a bit more dangerous. It
will follow you, aiming shots at you along the way. DON'T TOUCH IT!
Use the Plasma Shield and run away, circling the room if you need to.
After it kills itself by running into your Shield, it will release a
Red Lander, boosting your Chip maximum to 150!

(1,8) is the first of the optional Corridors. It hides an extra
power-up, BUT WAIT!!! The boss is not fun to tussle with, and the
reward really isn't worth your trouble at this point of the game!

CORRIDOR 11 (Recommended that you return later)

You'll start off facing the usual set of flat fish. Plasma Turret
'em. Starfish will drop down and then jump up and away. The midway
point is marked by a "V" formation of several of these starfish.
When several rows of bubble pods appear, along with some flat fish
towards the last of the pods, get ready for the boss.

CORRIDOR 11 BOSS ALERT : green Optomon (!)

I'm not kidding - this guy is extremely dangerous!! The Guardian's
Shields defend poorly against Optomon's seaweed attacks, so you should
seriously consider coming back after upgrading your defenses from
another Area or two. Whether you choose to fight Optomon now or
later though, the strategy remains the same.

Sweep back and forth with it, firing as you avoid its lethal
seaweed. You can use the Forward Wave Cannon, but a more conservative
(and much safer) method is to save up on Chips and blast it with your
Pulse Laser's triple-shots. The bubble bullets will be aimed at you.
The seaweed, which comes out only when Optomon opens its big eye,
may linger on in air, so stay alert and don't get trapped between
them and the screen edges.

DODGE THE SEAWEED OR DIE!

The small bubble bullets do 1 Unit of damage to your Shields.
Seaweed does 5 to 6 Units, possibly more! I don't wanna find out.
You get a semi-useless Grenade Launcher if you make it out alive.

When you feel you're done with Area 1, get out and return to the Blue
Lander's Shop in Area 0. At (12,10) get the Side Wave Cannon for
150 Chips.

------
AREA 2
------

BACKGROUND:

Naju supports at least two Areas of the same environment for back-up
purposes, so this is why Area 2 looks just like Area 1. What's not
different though, are the enemies who have had a better chance of
growing stronger than their earlier counterparts. Yes, evil is in
the air... and in the water!

PASSWORD:

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #2.
* I8hJ h4zI  C8DJ akdH *  Area 2 - (X6,Y13) - Entrance to Area 2
* F5gD ZgdT  igHG V18C *  11 Shield Units, 150 Chips
************************  Attack 1, Shield 1, 129660 Points
KEYS: Cresent
Speed Arrow x1
(Lvl 1) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 2) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 1) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 1) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 1) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 1) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 1) Sprites
(Lvl 1) Repeller
(Lvl 1) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 1) Side Saber Lasers

GENERAL TIPS:

Like Area 1, Area 2 offers a chance to find more items and
bosses. Again, find all the items before fighting the minibosses
and the Corridor bosses. Run past the miniboss rooms before the
green blocks close in if you need to explore some more.

IN-DEPTH:

At (4,15) there's Corridor 12.

CORRIDOR 12

Lots of pits, eh? As you cruise over them at a medium speed,
use the Side Saber Lasers to kill the flat fish next to you.
There is nothing new to worry about, except for a part where
there are 3 pit worms. The flat fish should "teleport" out
in nice blue square fields right before you meet the boss.

CORRIDOR 12 BOSS ALERT: red Fleepa

Fleepa gurgles jellyfish-like organisms out at you. Although
tougher than the blue Fleepa, the strategy for beating it
remains the same. Fleepa is big enough to make your Fusion Cannon
effective, but the Plasma Shield is a great weapon too. You
can fly beside Fleepa and let the Plasma Shield do its work.
Stay alive, and you get a Hyper Laser.

Down at (4,17), screw what the arrow says. Go right first.

(5,17) MINIBOSS ALERT: blue lobstercrab
 Unlike its weaker cousin, this guy spews bubbles that can
 actually hit you. Equip the Forward Saber Laser and swing
 it around in a circle quickly to sweep away the bubbles
 and to cleave apart the miniboss. Staying on the right side
 makes your work easier. You'll get a Blaster Pistol,
 upgrading your Attack Level to 2! Your Pulse Laser bursts
 will now do more damage. Yay!

At (5,18) there is an important tip:
 "To remove the seal for Corridor No. 2,
  touch everywhere."
 Yes, the writer means this in a non-sexual way.  ;p

When you reach (3,17), like at (5,15), watch out for lots of
enemies. Use the Side Saber Lasers and do "the Jedi"
against the spiders and chasing flowers.

At (2,17) there's a Speed Arrow. Pick it up. Does your Pulse Laser
Blaster feel any faster???

Set up at (1,18) is the Blue Lander's Shop. It says:
 "I will sell only one of these to you."
For a low, low price of 150 Chips, you can have one of the following:
 - Speed Arrow
 - Life Heart
 - Plasma Turret
Get the Speed Arrow or, if you desperately need extra firepower,
the Plasma Turret.

Outside and around at (0,15), don't worry about which path you'll
take since they loop back to each other. But start with the top
path first (along Y coordinate 14) to find an item and a miniboss.

(1,14) MINIBOSS ALERT: blue crabbot
This Crabbot will yield a Red Lander. Go past to (3,14) first
if you need some Shields. Again, use the Plasma Shield
(but not Repeller) on the Crabbot. With the Red Lander, your
Chip max should be increased to 200 Power Chips - watch your
Pulse Laser shots go!! Watch out, because having anything less
than 200 Chips will reduce the size of your bursts.

At (3,14) you'll find a Blue Lander. Beware of the red and blue discs.

(2,16) is where Corridor 2 is located. Make sure you've collected
the power-ups in the rest of Area 2 before jumping in.

CORRIDOR 2

>>>> Gate Seal Solution <<<<
 Touch the 4 circuit panels forming the corners of the Gate.
 (Even if they blow up, it doesn't mean that the Switch is
 activated - you still need to destroy the boss!)

Start off by Plasma Turretting the flat fish as usual.
After a force of seahorses and clam groups, look out for
tape worms (who spew horizontal shots) and more bubble pods.
A Forward Wave Cannon and Plasma Turret combo is effective
against these creatures. Large shell creatures later on will
rain forth even more bubbles. After a few pairs of bubble pods,
the Guardian will slow down to minimal speed and fight...

CORRIDOR 2 BOSS ALERT: Crawdaddy

I can't tell if this lobster-like monster is red or not, but it
doesn't matter since this guy sucks as a good challenge. At this
point your weapons aren't very powerful, though, so weave between
its claw projectiles. Your Forward Wave Cannon might not be strong
enough to plow through its shots and hit it yet, so move to the
sides to draw away its fire and then return underneath it to blast
away. Weapons like the Hyper Laser or Forward Wave Cannon are your
best bet. If you think you're tough enough, you can try sitting
below the lobster and trade hits with it. This method is riskier,
but it's faster and more exciting. You will earn the Hook Key and
a Forward Saber Laser upgrade.

Your Shields may be weak when you leave for Area 3, so stay alert.
At places like (1,15) the robot spiders can be easily killed for
power-ups. You might as well try out your upgraded Forward Saber!

------
AREA 3
------

BACKGROUND:

Time to go on an out-of-this-world safari. The next environment the
Guardian checks out consists of alien flora. If water back at Naju's
home is blue, I guess the plants there are also green. What Earth
doesn't have, though, are the killer plant creatures lurking between
the dense trees. Don't have an elephant gun? No problem - the
Guardian doesn't need one.

PASSWORD:

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #3.
* Vtk2 upA2  PAbY r3W0 *  Area 3 - (X8,Y15) - Entrance to Area 3
* swfb iZyB  j4Ra ??OW *  12 Shield Units, 200 Chips
************************  Attack 2, Shield 1, 249270 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook
Speed Arrow x3
(Lvl 1) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 2) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 1) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 1) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 1) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 1) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 1) Sprites
(Lvl 1) Repeller
(Lvl 1) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 2) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 1) Side Saber Lasers

GENERAL TIPS:

A step up in difficulty from the Marine Areas, this place still
isn't that much harder. Again, look for items and minibosses
and stay prepared. The Corridors, both the mandatory one and the
optional one, are located near the beginning, but check out the
Labyrinth parts first.

IN-DEPTH:

Located at (5,20) is Corridor 13*. To the left is...

(4,20), where Corridor 3* is. Before heading in, let's explore the
jungle outside. We've only scratched the surface.

* Look for the Corridor walkthroughs down below after the
  red spiderworm miniboss section!

(6,23) MINIBOSS ALERT: green tentacleleech (!)
This ugly mofo is hell to deal with. Finish Corridor 13
beforehand to boost your defenses, and run past to (6,22)
to increase your Chip maximum. You'll need the extra power.
With full Shields, you can sit to the left or right of it
and hold out your Forward Saber Laser. It will die before your
Shields hit 0. Another method is to run away from it while
using your Plasma Shield, but this can be more dangerous since
the bastard persistently charges at you. The only time this
leech moves away is when it bounces off from ramming into you.
You will get a valuable Defense Shield when you triumph.

Hiding at (6,22) is a Red Lander. If you have been following
me up to this point, it will boost your Chip maximum to 400.

At (4,23) there's a Password Room. Too bad the blue guy can't help
by recharging your ailing Shields.

At (0,22) there's a Speed Arrow. No enemies + free speed = great deal!

A message at (1,23) tells you:
 "Wait. Wait forever...
  The seal for No.3 will be removed.
  What are you doing here? Do not wait here!"
You heard the man. Wait at Gate 3, not here.

(1,20) MINIBOSS ALERT: red spiderworm
Fortunately for you, like in Area 0, this dude is no more than a
punching bag that just generates tissue-paper-strength spiders.
Stick a Forward Saber into it, and stand back to Pulse Laser the
spiders created. You get a virtually free set of Enemy Erasers
(Your armory should now be complete - you only have to upgrade
 it from here on)! After getting this first set of EE charges, you
can now collect more from Item Pods left behind by dead enemies.

After clearing out the Labyrinth section of Area 3, you can now
return to the Corridors. Hey, I promised I'd help you out, right?

CORRIDOR 13

Look out for meteoroids. They form into rings again but only 4 of
them come at you at a time. Plant stalks will spit out bubbles
just like the bubble pods from the Marine Areas. The super-strong
star discs will return. With the meteoroids, it's just like
"Corridor 0!"

The Hyper Laser Cannon will kill most things, but the Wave
Cannons cover a wider area. EE charges will kill the star discs,
but don't waste them since the discs keep appearing and are easy
to avoid. Sprites are somewhat effective against the white stalks.
Watch out for the big, red flowers that will erupt into a dozen of
small spores when approached. Killing the flowers is tough, so expect
lots of spore showers. Fly out of their way or charge through them
with a Saber Laser, Wave Cannon, or Fusion Cannon. After a group of
a couple red flowers and many, many white bubble-spewing stalks,
you'll meet a new boss.

CORRIDOR 13 BOSS ALERT: blue Bombarder
This teleporting ship likes to fire a barrage of homing missiles
at you. Most players will shoot it when it's vulnerable and then
pick off the missiles with side-mounted weapons when it disappears.
I have a better tactic. Thrust the Forward Saber Laser into it!
The front part of the Guardian can actually touch Bombarder without
danger. (Your Forward Saber should be able to reach across the
entire canopy-like structure.) This will kill Bombarder and the
missiles! You'll find a very useful Defense Shield back at the Gate.

CORRIDOR 3

>>>> Gate Seal Solution <<<<
 Wait inside the room for 30 seconds. If you leave the room before
 the Gate opens and return later, you'll have to wait for 30 seconds
 again.

The zigzagging mushrooms are no real threat. The red ones with white
spots will try to ram you and shoot a bit. Red pterodactyls drop
bubble shots too. Meteoroids come back in full force in the ring
formations. After a couple of red flowers and white stalks, you'll
find a dangerous foe indeed....

CORRIDOR 3 BOSS ALERT: blue Optomon (!)
I hope you found the 2 Defense Shields covered above. Remember to
avoid the seaweed, which is either shot across the screen or stuck
floating in the air. Hyper Lasers and Forward Waves along with good
ol' Pulse Laser bursts are your best attacks. Use some EE charges
if you need to destroy the bubbles for Item Pods. You will gain the
Waves Key and an Energy Tank (which you'll most likely need!).

Get the hell out and proceed to the next Area in the north east
regions of Naju. But stop by (10,11) at Area 0 first to get a Hyper
Laser upgrade for 300 Chips. That's definitely not a rip-off!

------
AREA 4
------

BACKGROUND:

The second floral Area is no walk in the park, but that isn't a
problem for the Guardian. While she's probably the type of person
who would care about the environment, she understands that 1) if she
doesn't kick some ass, she won't have a home to return to, and 2) this
isn't a real natural habitat anyway. Happy blasting!

PASSWORD:

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #4.
* OWxm nCFm  IjHl ee1k *  Area 4 - (X13,Y7) - Entrance to Area 4
* 7Tr! DiZ!  sX6r YzSg *  12 Shield Units, 400 Chips, 28 EE
************************  Attack 2, Shield 3, 373210 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook Waves
Speed Arrow x4
(Lvl 1) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 2) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 1) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 1) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 1) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 1) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 1) Sprites
(Lvl 1) Repeller
(Lvl 2) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 2) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 1) Side Saber Lasers
(Lvl 1) Enemy Eraser

GENERAL TIPS:

Like Area 1, the boss in the optional Corridor is actually tougher
than the one in the mandatory Corridor. Come back later if you
think you need more power. (Hell - if you haven't already, go back
to Corridor 11 and slaughter that Optomon mofo right now.)

IN-DEPTH:

At (15,6) take the top path if you want to know how to remove
Gate Seal 4.

Found at (17,5) is the Message Terminal for the next Seal:
 "Seal No.4 cannot be removed;
  I think I goofed up when I sealed it.
  Ask for help from the round creature several times."
Whooops. Thank goodness for the big blue guy.
Now go back out and take the bottom path to continue on.

To the east at (19,6) is a small Blue Lander. Watch out for the
spiders and chasing flowers surrounding it.

Located at (17,4) is Corridor 14. You might want to come back
later because the boss can be pretty tough for your current
condition.

CORRIDOR 14 (Recommended that you return later)

Meteoroids will greet you. Watch out for the surge of laser
beams coming from the cone-shaped shell monsters. A bug in
the game also causes laser beams to appear repeatedly on one
side of the screen if you let the shell creatures squeeze
off enough shots. Stay away from the beams if the bug occurs,
and use your Hyper Laser to kill the creatures. Ugly spiked
mouth-pits will spew out little parasitic spores, which
swim after you. Use the Plasma Shield or run over everything
with the Side Saber Lasers. After the first set of mouths, the
bugged-up lasers will stop showing up. Spore clusters will launch
off from their stems toward you, so be prepared to shoot them
out of the air. When another mouth appears, look out for star
discs. The Saber Laser or the EE is great for destroying them if
you want them out of your way. More laser-firing shell monsters
will appear, along with several spore-spewing white stalks.
Meteoroids and little ships will also show up, adding more
to the mayhem. Charge up your Side Saber Lasers if you need
extra firepower. When your Shields are low, you can use the EE
in hopes of reducing enemy fire and creating some Item Pods.
Look out for thick undergrowth below you, which is the ideal
habitat for mouth-pits and white stalks. After the last set of
mouth-pits, it's time to activate some Party Power.

CORRIDOR 14 BOSS ALERT: blue Clawbot

The biggest worry is Clawbot's giant deathray cannon. When
its mandibles (the 2 claw-like front parts of the ship) slide
open, get the hell out of its way. Meanwhile, you can use your
Side Sabers, Side Wave Cannons, or the Plasma Shield to kill its
homing missiles. Level 2 Hyper Lasers may actually be the most
effective. As you shoot, wiggle left and right in front of Clawbot
when the mandibles are closed. Not only will you damage the
mandibles, you will also destroy the missiles coming out of
Clawot. Keep hitting the mandibles. When they turn orange, they're
getting weaker. You can also try getting close to Clawbot and
slicing the mandibles with the Sabers, but never, ever touch
them. Touching Clawbot is just as bad as touching the deathrays.
Hitting either mandible will do, as the damage is shared between
both of them. It's best to break the mandibles off at the sides
of the screen so they won't get in your way when they float away.

When the mandibles come off, Clawbot goes krezzy with its main
weapon, turning it into a super-laser-deathray-machinegun disguised
as a broken gun. DO NOT TOUCH THE MANDIBLES!! You can destroy them,
but you may be too busy fighting back. Just don't scrape against
the mandibles or else your Shields will go "poof!" Stay a bit to
Clawbot's side and clip it with something like Hyper Lasers or
Fusion blasts. Unless you're suicidal or are really good, don't go
in Sabering it. Use the EE to (hopefully) turn the missiles into
Item Pods. This is the most dangerous part of the fight with
Clawbot, and a lack of good weaponry and defenses will make it
tough to kill this sucker. If you can't beat 'em, come back later
with improved firepower and murder the mofo to get a Blue Lander.

Back in the Labyrinth, head north to (17,2) where you'll find
2 red bouncing boulders guarding a Side Saber Laser upgrade. Nice!
Now go back south and turn west for...

(16,3) MINIBOSS ALERT: blue crabbot
Equip the Plasma Shield and run away from it as usual. Turn
and shoot it with some Pulse Laser bursts if you think you can
do it. You get a Plasma Turret upgrade for this easy victory.
If you bought a Plasma Turret upgrade from a previous Shop, it
will be fully powered-up by now. Check out those Level 3 shots!!

Up at (16,0) there's a Speed Arrow. Grab it. Are your Pulse Laser
bursts becoming any speedier?

(17,0) is a dead end. Damn.

(18,1) MINIBOSS ALERT: blue tentacleleech (!)
Equipped with a Level 2 Saber Laser at full Shields, you can
sit there and let it jump itself onto your blade. I can't
stress this enough: always have full Shields before confronting
a miniboss you're not sure of. You will earn a nice Blaster
Pistol, and your Attack Level will become 3! Congratulations!

At (19,0) take the left Warp Panel to teleport to...

... (18,0) to meet Mr. Big Blue Lander in a Shop, who for 400
Chips offers one of the following:
 - Blue Lander
 - Energy Tank
 - Plasma Shield
Take the Blue Lander, because you can attain more Shield Units
than Power Levels for the Plasma Shield. Blue Landers are also
proportionally harder to come by, plus this's a great opportunity
to charge up on Shields for the next mandatory Corridor.

Remember the idiot who screwed up the Seal for Gate 4? Enter the
shop 4 times (that's right - FOUR times) and the Blue Lander says:
 "I see you are trying very hard, so I will
  remove the seal for Corridor No.4."
Don't wander off elsewhere before having the Lander unlock the seal,
or else you'll need to re-enter the shop 4 times again.

CORRIDOR 4

>>>> Gate Seal Solution <<<<
 I told you already - enter the Blue Lander's Shop 4 times.

The Guardian will blaze by the white stalks and the laser spitting
shell creatures at a medium-fast speed, so take extra preparation for
retrieving items. If your Pulse Laser Attack Level is 3, you might
notice the new power in your shots. Meteoroid rings, spore clusters,
and red flowers will bombard you. I hope those Blue Landers you
collected help. When the Guardian and the action slow down, the
remaining enemy objects on the screen will be spontaneously destroyed
("BLAM!" - no phasing out like back in the Marine Corridors!).
It's boss time!

CORRIDOR 4 BOSS ALERT: Teramute

Ah, the mighty Teramute. It sounds big but really isn't. Compared
to Clawbot in Corridor 14, this guy reaches new levels of sucking.
It only teleports around and breathes weak fireballs outwards in
an arc. All you have to do is sit in front of Teramute and blast
its head. Your shots will blow through the fireballs and whack the
dragon. This is a grand opportunity to equip your Forward Saber
Laser and to do some serious dragon slayin'. This easy kill grants
you the Square Key and a Plasma Turret upgrade. If you've been
powering-up your Turret only by finding upgrades (and not buying
them), your Turret will be your first Level 3 special weapon.
Pretty cool, eh?

Hey - check your map out! Notice that 2 new Areas are open now?
You're given the choice of exploring Area 5 or Area 6, but for
the sake of this strategy guide, let's head to Area 5 first.

Oh, yeah, if you haven't cleared out Corridor 14 yet, go back
there now and give Mr. Clawbot some serious ass-kicking. You
can use the extra Blue Lander and the Points.

------
AREA 5
------

BACKGROUND:

From the humid jungles of Area 4, the Guardian jumps into the
frozen tundra of Area 5. At least her flight-armor will keep
her from freezing to death. Whether it'll protect her from
new enemies is another matter though....

PASSWORD:

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #5.
* JANO i89I  Dv?A rMeH *  Area 5 - (X16,Y9) - Entrance to Area 5
* GhU2 MYRj  VehJ v1DD *  16 Shield Units, 400 Chips, 22 EE
************************  Attack 3, Shield 3, 512310 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook Waves Square
Speed Arrow x5
(Lvl 3) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 2) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 1) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 1) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 1) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 1) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 1) Sprites
(Lvl 1) Repeller
(Lvl 2) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 2) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 2) Side Saber Lasers
(Lvl 1) Enemy Eraser

GENERAL TIPS:

Running away becomes a better and better tactic as you encounter
enemies who make more trouble than they're worth. Reproducing ice
cubes will bog up the screen unless you use an EE charge or
leave. The rooms north of Corridor 15 resemble the letter "E"
when laid out on a map. Use this knowledge as you systematically
explore every corner of Area 5.

IN-DEPTH:

You're in a narrow canyon that leads to the right, so follow it.

(19,8) MINIBOSS ALERT: blue crabbot
Run away again and use the Plasma Shield. Or, if you have full
Shields, a Defense Level of 3 or above, and a Level 2 Forward
Saber Laser, you can stand there and trade blows with it for
a loss of roughly half your Shields. You'll get a Forward
Wave Cannon upgrade. It should be about Level 2 by now.

Found at (21,8) is Corridor 15. Ignore it and go right first for an
important item.

At (23,8) there's a Blue Lander. It's held hostage by boulders and
red and blue discs. Enter Corridor 15 afterwards if you wish.

CORRIDOR 15

Crystal clusters and diamond plates will appear and fly towards you.
Ships that fly down will release several laser beams if given the
chance. Crystal rocks will appear and follow you. Their weakness lies
in laser attacks - use your Saber Laser weapons! (Either the Forward
or Side variants will do.) Volcanoes will erupt more debris that
somehow chases you. Equip the Side Saber Lasers and sweep over all
the crap and the volcanoes to cool them down. A floating flower will
wildly spray out shots. Quickly blast it with something like the Hyper
Laser Cannon. Meanwhile, watch out for star discs and meteoroids.
Side weapons are essential in this zone. After a series of
3 volcanoes, it's time to turn on your Party Power!

CORRIDOR 15 BOSS ALERT: green Clawbot

This dude is weaker and slower than the guy from Corridor 14, but
continue to stay alert. As the strategies for all Clawbot battles
go, blow off the mandibles, and then blast the rest of the ship.
It's best to break off the mandibles at the side of the screen so
they don't obstruct your path when you enter the second part of the
fight. Hyper Lasers work great. When a part of Clawbot turns moldy
orange, it's close to death. You'll get a Red Lander afterwards.

It's difficult to get lost in the tundra north of Corridor 15.
You know what the letter "E" looks like, right? You're in a long
canyon that runs straight towards the north, and smaller canyons
branch off to the right, parallel with one another.

At (23,7) you get your solution to Seal 5:
 "Fire into the Corridor,
  then the seal on No.5 will be removed."

At (23,6) there's a Plasma Shield upgrade. Look out for yellow bats.

At (21,5) you'll find the unique ice cube enemy. It's extremely
difficult to kill with conventional special weapons, and it
multiplies itself like the metallic spider. Run away before the
screen turns into a freezer, or use your EE.

(23,5) is a lousy dead end. Screw me.

(21,4) MINIBOSS ALERT: ice crystal (!)
This strange object will follow you at right angles, firing shots
at you. Run away while shooting back. Avoid touching it at all costs,
and if you have it, use the Level 3 Plasma Turret to destroy its
shots. This thing sucks up quite a bit of damage, so you may wanna
come back later. Take extra care since its shots can still kill
you after it dies. You'll get an important Defense Shield.

(23,3) is a Grenade Launcher upgrade. Run in and quickly grab it
(it's in the north-east corner of the group of blocks) before
the ice cubes reproduce like ants.

Follow the arrow at (21,2). Go back down because...

Up at (23,2) there is another dead end. Watch out for the rapidly
multiplying metallic spider at (22,2) if you choose to explore
there anyway.

Now check out (23,4) for Corridor 5.

CORRIDOR 5

>>>> Gate Seal Solution <<<<
 Gate got you confused? Just shoot the display panel on the top of the
 screen (showing the words "Corridor 5") with continuous Pulse Laser
 fire until the Gate is unsealed.

Meteoroid shower! A Plasma Shield is a good weapon to use here, but
you still need to move around to avoid getting smacked by the few
meteoroids that'll slip through. Watch out for the ones that form
into rings, too. Crystal rocks can be handled with the Saber Laser,
especially the side version. A second's worth of Sabering will
destroy a rock (don't waste EE charges on these guys). Then you
get your usual diamond plates, pterodactyls, starfish, and other
garbage that can be killed without trouble. After seeing 2 volcanoes,
whip out a strong special weapon.

CORRIDOR 5 BOSS ALERT: Zibzub

This boss will will try to screw with you. Don't ask why it has a
missile launcher hidden underneath its tentacles. Sit underneath
and let everything you have go at it. The Forward Wave Cannon works
great since you can shift the shots slightly to the sides to take
out the missiles. You won't get a Key or a weapon upgrade, but you
won't waste your time. You'll leave with the 5th Switch activated
and a fresh set of 20 EE charges.

Before going to the next Area, you should return to Area 0 to get
more stuff.

First, go to (10,10). With a maximum of 800 Power Chips, you can
buy the Repeller upgrade for 500 Chips. It's not the most effective
weapon, but you want to be as heavily armed as possible. This should
be the last item you need to buy from an Area 0 Shop.

Next, return to (13,15) for the solution to unlocking Seal 6:
 "I set seal 6 very well;
  you will need a special weapon to break it."

GAME GENIE NOTE:
 If you're using the "Never use any Shots" code, be sure to record
 your Password and enter Area 6 without using that code. Turn your
 code back on later when you're inside Area 6 to avoid messing up
 your game. Read the Game Genie Codes section for more info. I
 don't wanna get flak for anything that goes wrong in your game
 due to some cheap cheating.

------
AREA 6
------

BACKGROUND:

More icy wastelands await our guardian angel here. With half of the
Self-Destruct Switches activated, she still has a long way to go.
Let's hope she can blow this thing up before it gets too close to
Earth.

PASSWORD:

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #6.
* cg?b ?Tc4  2UAw iTI9 *  Area 0 - (X12,Y13) - Center of Naju
* 3Nij OzPb  S0Yw ?lY5 *  17 Shield Units, 800 Chips, 61 EE
************************  Attack 3, Shield 4, 639140 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook Waves Square
Speed Arrow x5
(Lvl 3) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 2) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 2) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 2) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 2) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 1) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 1) Sprites
(Lvl 2) Repeller
(Lvl 2) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 2) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 2) Side Saber Lasers
(Lvl 1) Enemy Eraser

GENERAL TIPS:

Consisting mostly of twisting mazes leading to dead ends, this
Area has an unique characteristic - you can connect directly to
Area 7 if you have the Cross Key. Even more important, though, is
the next Defense Shield you'll find - by reaching a Shield Defense
Level of 5, your movement speed will increase!

IN-DEPTH:

Notice that there isn't a Password Room after you come into Area 6
from Area 0, so if you need to record your progress, you should
meet the Blue Lander at (12,13).

(16,11) is Corridor 6. If you don't know how to unlock the Seal,
return to (13,15). That, or read the solution below.

CORRIDOR 6

>>>> Gate Seal Solution <<<<
 Hit the Gate with a special weapon, like the Plasma Turret or even
 a Saber Laser. After a second or two, it'll slide open.

With the Guardian travelling at a slow speed, you can easily grab
items. Blow away the meteoroids and other objects with a mix of
Hyper Lasers and Side Saber Lasers. Crystal rocks and star discs
will appear, all of which are weak against the Forward or Side
Saber Lasers. Volcanoes are rampant in this area. When a group of
star discs appear and then explode afterwards, meet the boss.

CORRIDOR 6 BOSS ALERT: bat glider

This scary-looking freak isn't listed in the manual, but that
doesn't mean it isn't dangerous. It zips around, momentarily
stopping to launch missiles at you. Hyper Laser the bat to hurt
it and to vaporize the missiles as they come out. Don't let it
scrape you, and use side weapons should the need arise. (Note that
the Wave Cannons aren't too effective against the bat but work great
against the missiles.) You'll get the Cross Key and a neat upgrade
for the Sprites. Check out 'yer map - another 2 Areas are revealed!

Back out in the Labyrinth, run like hell past the ice cubes.

(18,10) MINIBOSS ALERT: red spiderworm
This guy releases more spiders (4, to be exact), but you know this
thing still sucks. Jab the Forward Saber into it and kill it for an
easy Defense Shield.

You should be at Defense Level 5 by now - notice that your movement
speed went up!! Maybe the improved Shields reduce the effects of
gravity on you or something, making you lighter. Now you can do
that "walk through walls" trick as described below in the Secret
Debug Options & Bugs section. Just don't abuse your new power now,
heh heh heh....

At (18,12) there's a Plasma Turret upgrade. You might not need anymore
by now, but grab it anyway. Doing so will mark that you've been here
(in case you get lost and wander back by accident), plus you don't
want to waste such a nice piece of equipment when you blow this place
to hell. Oh yeah, you can also use that small Shield recharge that
comes along with the upgrade.

At (20,10) there are spiders and slimes guarding a much needed
Fusion Cannon upgrade. Alright, mofo....

(21,11) is a dead end, so head back down past the assorted
rainbow-colored boulders.

At (21,13) there is another 20 EE charges. You should grab them and
quickly leave before a billion ice cubes appear.

Working your way down to (21,15) is a waste of time as it's a
dead end. What you need to do is to head towards (18,15).

(17,16) MINIBOSS ALERT: red lobstercrab
Use your Forward Saber Laser from the right side as usual. If the
bubbles get uncomfortably close, do "the Jedi" and sweep at them
with the Saber. A Red Lander will join you after this easy victory.

(18,13) is Corridor 16.

CORRIDOR 16 (Come back later if you hate Optomon)

You'll blast off at a fairly fast speed. A guy with a laser
rifle will jump across the screen, firing downwards periodically.
Respond with your own Hyper Lasers or something similar in power.
Pterodactyls, meteoroids, red flowers (exploding into homing spores),
and other crap get in your way. The EE is helpful if the action is too
intense, but remember that it doesn't work on the crystal rocks that
chase you. Stick a Saber Laser into 'em instead. After a lone green
starfish followed by a long stretch that's void of enemies, across the
silent icy lake and over the dormant craters, it's...

CORRIDOR 16 BOSS ALERT: red Optomon (!)

A high Shield Level is a must! If you've fought the previous
Optomons, you'll know what to do. Sweep back and forth, avoiding the
seaweed and blasting Optomon whenever you have the chance. EE the
other projectiles if you need some Item Pods. But above everything
else, avoid the seaweed. You'll get an upgrade for the Side Wave
Cannons, increasing its Power Level to 3 by now.

At (16,12) there's an Energy Tank. It'll help if you grab it after
finishing Corridor 16.

(19,13) is a great opportunity to use the EE to kill several ice
cubes for Item Pods. This will help if you need to recharge after
Corridor 16's red Optomon.

Look out when you return to Area 0. Some rooms that used to be empty
are now inhabited by killer robotic squid monsters.

------
AREA 7
------

BACKGROUND:

Yeeeeaaaagghh!! Here's something that isn't on the travel brochure!
If it's one thing the aliens have that we don't, it would be this
flesh environment. I mean, it's just as organic as the Floral
Areas, but humans just aren't used to trodding upon bloody,
meaty stuff.

PASSWORD:

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #7.
* m31p IJLO  iqnY 857Q *  Area 7 - (X15,Y14) - Entrance to Area 7
* rXJV rNep  Atg3 gG5L *  17 Shield Units, 1200 Chips, 82 EE
************************  Attack 3, Shield 5, 784030 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook Waves Square Cross
Speed Arrow x5
(Lvl 3) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 3) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 2) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 2) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 2) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 2) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 2) Sprites
(Lvl 2) Repeller
(Lvl 2) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 2) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 2) Side Saber Lasers
(Lvl 1) Enemy Eraser

GENERAL TIPS:

Despite the environment's appearance, it's not too different from the
other Areas. Anemones will inhabit much of this Area, throwing out
bubble spores. Red boulders deal a lot of damage if touched.

IN-DEPTH:

There are 2 ways into Area 7: one is through (15,14) from Area 0,
and the other is through the south section of Area 6.

At (15,12) there's a Shop that will offer, for 600 Chips, one of
the following:
 - Red Lander
 - Energy Tank
 - Grenade Launcher
Go for the Red Lander. You can never have enough of those little guys.

(16,18) MINIBOSS ALERT: blue spiderworm
A simple kill for a simple Grenade Launcher upgrade - make it
quick and painless for this poor parasitic bastard.

Go down to (18,21) and take the Warp Panel on the left edge of the
screen to meet the Blue Lander who'll handle your Password. Another
exit in the room eventually leads to...

... (17,23), where an EE pack is hidden right in the middle of some
yellow blocks. To get the EE, you need to go through the Blue
Lander's Password Room or use the "walk through walls" trick.
Watch out for those annoying flowers.

(18,19) is Corridor 17. The top panel leads back to Area 6, but you've
probably been through with all of that by now. Still, it doesn't hurt
to check.

Up at (19,19) is a Repeller upgrade. Look out for those super-tough
vertically-standing worms. Avoid them or prepare to waste a lot of
Chips (or EE).

CORRIDOR 17

Cruise down a large vessel as you take on a variety of organic
defenses. Be wary of the green octopi - these guys absorb all of
your firepower, wasting your Chips. Meanwhile, they'll slowly chase
you. You can avoid them or use an EE charge. One strategy to ridding
yourself of these annoying creatures is to TOUCH them. That's right,
fly straight into 'em! Assuming you have enough defensive power, your
Shields will dissolve those green Chip suckers with minimal damage.

Other enemies are standard fare. Large shell monsters spew shots.
Large eyeballs serve as turrets from the ground. Seemingly harmless
black pits will spray out shots like machineguns in a circular
pattern. Keep hitting the black pits and the shots will stop (I
guess there's something living down inside those awful pits...).
Blue flowers will erupt into homing spores just like the red ones
back in the Floral Areas. When you reach a narrow part of the
vessel and see more green octopi, expect a ground-based boss.

CORRIDOR 17 BOSS ALERT: Basic Eyeball Defense System

Like the one back in "Corridor 0," this boss is composed of several
gun emplacements, only this time the "turrets" are... organic.
The large eyeballs will throw little eyes at you very much like the
guys from the Entrance Defense System. If there's anything different,
reinforcements composed of standard enemies will fly in from
the back, but you can use them to get Item Pods. Unlike their
blue-tiled mechanical counterparts, the eyeballs are always
vulnerable, since they cannot "close" themselves up. Fusion Cannon
the big eyeballs - you will do a lot of damage and destroy their
shots at the same time. A Forward Saber Laser upgrade will be found
back at the Gate.

(22,20) MINIBOSS ALERT: red lobstercrab
Stay to the right and whack it with a Saber. Sweep away the bubbles
if you must. A Defense Shield will be waiting to be picked up. Man,
these would have been so much more useful earlier on....

The solution to Seal 7 is found at (21,20):
 "Try to enter the room in the corridor several times;
  only then will seal 7 be removed."

At (23,21) you can go Shopping. You may trade 1000 Chips in for a:
 - Speed Arrow
 - Life Heart
 - Forward Wave Cannon
The Forward Wave Cannon is a good choice. That, or the Speed
Arrow. Never get the Life Heart.

At (22,23) there's yet another Defense Shield. Get it, but
not before killing off the anemones there.

Located at (19,23) is Corridor 7.

CORRIDOR 7

>>>> Gate Seal Solution <<<<
 Enter the room repeatedly. Or more specifically, enter and then
 exit from the same Warp Panel multiple times. When you step in
 for the 4th time, the Gate will open. Presto!

Flying over flesh and nerves isn't as bad as getting shot by those
small ships who jerk off their lasers like crazy. Kill them quickly
with a powerful weapon, like the Hyper Laser. Eyeballs on the ground
will act like turrets, spewing out eyeball bullets. Later on, large
shell creatures, mushrooms, and other organic "stuff" will fly at
you, unloading all sorts of chemical weapons. Some even attempt to
crash into you. A well-timed EE is enough to take out a batch of
green octopi. That, or touch them. A green octopus is easily killed
by coming into contact with the Guardian's Shields (she should
have adequate defenses, of course - a Defense Level of 5 is good).
When the Guardian slows down, it's time to equip the Fusion Cannon.

CORRIDOR 7 BOSS ALERT: Advanced Eyeball Defense System

This defense system is just like the one in Corridor 17, only
there're more eyes. You can start damaging them as soon as you see
them. Watch out - the eyeballs home in on you, and reinforcements
constantly pour in from the back. There are 16 eyeballs total - 4
main ones grouped in the center, 4 small ones behind this main
group, 4 more in front of this main group, and another 4 small ones
lining the outer corners. The small eyes have less defenses, so kill
them first to reduce the number of homing eyeballs coming at you.
A Level 2 Fusion Cannon fireball will take out the small eyes in
1 or 2 hits. Go for the big eyes next. Hyper Lasers and Grenades
work too. Remember to use the reinforcments for Item Pods. There's
no Key, but you'll jack up the seventh Switch and get a Side Saber
Laser upgrade.

When you leave, head back to Area 0, using your Waves Key to get
to the Message Terminal at (13,16) for an important clue pertaining
to the next Area:
 "To remove seal 8, set your weapon to "NO USE" and fire."

------
AREA 8
------

BACKGROUND:

More bleeding gooey stuff for the Guardian. Fortunately, she has a
stronger stomach than I do. Now, if you would look at the Password
for this Area while I excuse myself and head to the washrooms...
oh, man, I think I need to go again... have the Blue
Lander -- urrghk! -- cover for me! -- !! #$%*-urhk-@&?!

PASSWORD:

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #8.
* UU8t ssou  VzMT Ot2P *  Area 0 - (X12,Y13) - Center of Naju
* R0oU RVDl  KdUb Af1H *  17 Shield Units, 1600 Chips, 122 EE
************************  Attack 3, Shield 7, 914850 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook Waves Square Cross
Speed Arrow x6
(Lvl 3) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 3) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 2) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 2) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 3) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 2) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 2) Sprites
(Lvl 3) Repeller
(Lvl 2) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 3) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 3) Side Saber Lasers
(Lvl 1) Enemy Eraser

GENERAL TIPS:

You'll need to work your way around quite a bit if you want to find
all the secrets. Think of this Area as a large intestine - to reach
the optional Corridor 18, you must work down the east side, pass
through the south, and then head back up the west sector.
To get out, you can make like Hansel and Gretel and backtrack.

IN-DEPTH:

Be sure to head back to that room past the Waves Warp Panel you
couldn't get into earlier at Area 0. It'll tell you how to break
Seal 8. Or, if you're lazy, just read on.

Right past the Cross Panel is Gate 8.

CORRIDOR 8 (Recommended that you return later)

>>>> Gate Seal Solution <<<<
 Similar to receiving a Password, select "NO USE" and then press A.
 You can think of this as an "invisible weapon."

Green octopi and meteoroid rings will be there at the start of this
Corridor. Because the octopi absorb your projectiles, your Plasma
Shield is of little use if it touches one of them. Instead, protect
yourself from the heavy enemy fire with some EE charges. To conserve
ammo, wait for as many enemies as possible to appear on the screen
before destroying them. Eyeballs, mutant mushrooms, and other familiar
enemies will flood the screen soon enough. There may be so many things
that the meteoroid rings won't be complete (or else the NES will run
at half a frame per second). Don't forget that a green octopus can be
destroyed by touching it, if you think losing barely any Shields is
better than wasting an EE charge. (Make sure your Shield Defense
Level is about 5 to 7 though).

CORRIDOR 8 BOSS ALERT: red Eyegore

Despite what some other sources say, I'm pretty sure this guy is
Eyegore, not Grimgrin. The mouth looks more like a smile than a grin,
and there's more eyes here than on that other similar-looking dude.
Anyway, Mr. Igor throws eyeballs at you, considering that it has many
eyes itself (there are 2 standard eyes, 1 big one on the forehead, 2
on the top, and 2 more small ones on either side of the head). Eyegore
also shoots tiny bubble bullets at you. It moves by boomeranging
around the screen, but it's so huge that it'll be difficult to avoid.
Stay away and hit it with whatever you have. Even Level 2 Hyper
Lasers barely work. If you have a Level 3 Repeller, try it (line it up
correctly and it will hit Eyegore and its eyeballs). Use some EE on
the projectiles if you need an Item Pod. When the boss turns darker
red, it's getting weaker. Eventually, its 2 main eyes will burst
(at 3/4 energy), and then the 2 top eyes will follow (when its life
is down to half). At this point, you may notice that it isn't firing
eyeballs anymore. When its big eye bursts (after you reduce its
life to 1/4), it'll turn ugly yellow and start spewing eyeballs from
its large wound again, but this time it'll be at an unstoppable rate.
Persevere, and you will win the Triangle Key and a Plasma Shield
upgrade!

At (10,18) there is an Energy Tank if you need to recharge after the
red Eyegore incident.

(12,18) MINIBOSS ALERT: red tentacleleech (!)
At full Shields (around 18 Units worth), a Defense Level of 7, and a
Level 3 Forward Saber Laser, you can sit there and trade blows with
it. Your Shields will be halved at most by the time it dies, but the
Red Lander you rescue will recharge them back to full. If you have
at least 2050 Chips, your Pulse Laser Blaster will fire the biggest
bursts possible (4 shots per burst, to be exact)!

At (13,19) look out for 2 blue Crabbots. They're like the minibosses
you killed earlier, only this time there are 2. Ignore them (since
they don't give you any special power-ups) and run off to the next
screen. Screw the arrow and go east to...

... (14,20), where you'll find more EE charges lying around.

Go to (14,21) for a Password Room. Here we are at Area 8. Wanna save?

(12,22) MINIBOSS ALERT: red crabbot
Run down one more screen to the south if you need a Shield recharge
first. This guy is fast, but your own speed increase will let you
outrun it, just barely. Again, equip your Plasma Shield (it should
be at Level 3) and run around the room. Bad guys get faster and
stronger, but they don't get smarter. 20 more EE charges will be
offered for your trouble.

Hiding at (12,23) is a Blue Lander. Sneaky....

Up there somewhere at (9,19) is a Hyper Laser upgrade. Kill the
running alien before it drops down too many slimes.

Finally, we get to Corridor 18, which is stuck all the way at the
end of this spiral-shaped intestine of an Area.

CORRIDOR 18

You might as well check out your new Hyper Laser Cannons. You'll blaze
through at top speed during the first part and then slow down later.
Ships, meteoroids and other people you've seen will gang up on you.
Fortunately your fully-powered Level 3 Hyper Lasers will grind them to
mincemeat. Watch out for the blue flowers - Hyper Lasers are neither
too effective against them nor their spores. After these flowers and
a few more meteoroids, you'll meet...

CORRIDOR 18 BOSS ALERT: blue Eyegore

This is the weaker younger brother of the dude in Corridor 8. Once
you've taken off its top eyes, no more eyeball shots will appear
(for a while). When the big eye goes "POP!" and Eyegore turns moldy
orange, it'll literally bleed on you. Stay below it and Hyper Laser
it up the ass. If your Chips run low, use the EE to make some Item
Pods out of the many eyeballs. You will be rewarded with a Fusion
Cannon upgrade. When you meet someone as powerful as this guy again,
your enhanced Fusion fireballs will cut short your work.

With 80% of Naju conquered, you will now head to the final type
of environment in Areas 9 and 10.

------
AREA 9
------

BACKGROUND:

The deserts of Naju aren't so deserted. The harsh sands and rock
canyons hide the toughest creatures who are waiting to ambush
the Guardian. She must hurry - Naju isn't getting any farther
away from Earth, and she cannot afford to screw around.

PASSWORD:

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #9.
* qMb8 SYP9  p1ba 4nrN *  Area 9 - (X9,Y7) - Entrance to Area 9
* 7vab z!fY  wKMg Dj?8 *  19 Shield Units, 2400 Chips, 182 EE
************************  Attack 3, Shield 7, 1088240 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook Waves Square Cross Triangle
Speed Arrow x6
(Lvl 3) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 3) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 2) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 3) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 3) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 3) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 2) Sprites
(Lvl 3) Repeller
(Lvl 3) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 3) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 3) Side Saber Lasers
(Lvl 1) Enemy Eraser

GENERAL TIPS:

The desert environment is the ideal breeding ground for the
hardiest enemies. The bosses are definitely forces to be
reckoned with. Don't underestimate those evil life-forms!

IN-DEPTH:

Work around to (4,5) for a very helpful tip:
 "Seal 9 can be removed by standing on the gate."

Placed at (6,3) is another Defense Shield.

(5,3) MINIBOSS ALERT: red crabbot
Run away as you let your Plasma Shield kill it. You'll receive a
Forward Wave upgrade. Your Forward Wave Cannon should be at
Level 3 now. You'll appreciate the power. Gimme the POWER!!

Down to the south-west at (3,6) is a Blue Lander. Beware! A meteoroid
shower will bombard the screen. While the shower will stop eventually,
you'll be better off if you rush in, grab the Blue dude, and then run
back out.

Either way you go, Corridor 19 is at (4,4).

CORRIDOR 19

Red Skulls will turn blue and fly towards your last position.
When star discs appear, expect some laser rifle-wielding robots
to show up too. These guys jump across the screen and fire
repeatedly. Well placed Fusion shots will stop them and their
laser bolts cold. Crystal rocks will appear for a short while and
can be Sabered away. Don't be fooled by those large horned skulls;
they will also come to life and break off from their bony necks,
shooting at you. I say Saber them, since crystal rocks may appear
in conjunction. After 5 pairs of large skulls, you'll meet 'da boss.

CORRIDOR 19 BOSS ALERT: red Bombarder

Stick the Forward Saber Laser right into the canopy-like structure.
Remember that you can fly over a part of Bombarder without getting
hurt. You can also sit back and Hyper Laser it. Your reward is a
Defense Shield.

Located at (3,3) is a Red Lander. Look out for the rainbow boulders
there. Save yourself some trouble with a little aggressive use of EE.

Found at (0,3) is an Energy Tank.

Found at (1,0) is an EE pack. Like in (3,3), there are many boulders.

(2,0) MINIBOSS ALERT: green spiderworm
Have fun killing this loser. You'll get a virtually free Blue Lander.

(2,2) is the coordinates of Gate 9.

CORRIDOR 9

>>>> Gate Seal Solution <<<<
 Walk ontop of the Gate. If you don't want to jump in yet,
 you'd better step off before it almost opens up completely.

Equip the Forward Wave Cannon or the Hyper Laser Cannons (both now
should be at Level 3) and hold down your A Button as you go in.
Meteoroids, diamond plates, and large skulls farting out little
skulls will try to gang rape you. Super-large rock skulls act like
turrets and spew even more bone heads at you. Blue faces with sharp
teeth hide in the sand and jump out at the last moment. Like the
crystal rocks, they're resistant to the EE. Side Saber Lasers are
great for most of this level, especially against the laser riflemen,
who are also unaffected by EE charges. For the blue flowers, use
the Fusion Cannon. Past the last few blue heads is a desert boss.

CORRIDOR 9 BOSS ALERT: blue Grimgrin

This grinning customer only floats up and down along the center
of the screen, spitting skulls at you and shooting lasers ahead
of itself. Obviously, a frontal assault will get you killed, and
the Guardian will jab her heels down your balls just for suggesting
such a course of action. A better tactic will be to use Side Sabers
or Side Waves, but even this may not stop the continous outpour
of skulls. I find the Level 3 Grenade effective. Carefully aim
and throw it right into Grimgrin, where the explosions will hurt
it, destroy the skulls, and kill its lasers! The only problem is
that any Item Pods that show up will be in the middle of the screen,
covered by Grimgrin itself and the ever-renewing stream of lasers.
Let the skulls come out to the sides where you are and then EE them
if you need power-ups. You'll find the important Rectangle Key from
Grimgrin's remains and an upgrade for the Sprites back at the Gate.
Now you have all the Keys! The last Area awaits....

-------
AREA 10
-------

BACKGROUND:

The Guardian only has one Self-Destruct Switch left to go, and she
can't stop now. Only the strongest will survive in Area 10. I hope
you've brought along some sun lotion - and a lot of Shields!

PASSWORD:

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #10.
* RNhU THVV  W3hz ZdFx *  Area 10 - (X11,Y7) - Entrance to Area 10
* 2xhz YA!M  HP6D yfig *  21 Shield Units, 4000 Chips, 184 EE
************************  Attack 3, Shield 7, 1481080 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook Waves Square Cross Triangle Rectangle
Speed Arrow x6
(Lvl 3) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 3) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 3) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 3) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 3) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 3) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 3) Sprites
(Lvl 3) Repeller
(Lvl 3) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 3) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 3) Side Saber Lasers
(Lvl 1) Enemy Eraser

GENERAL TIPS:

Everything you learned from the previous Areas will be applied here.
Tough enemies, mutiple paths leading to dead ends, and dangerous
bosses will all be present. Go get 'em, Guardian!

IN-DEPTH:

Stop by (12,5) before going into the thick of action to visit the
last Shop in the game. For 2000 Chips you may take a(n):
 - Sprites
 - Energy Tank
 - Fusion Cannon
It wouldn't matter what you get because the Sprites and the Fusion
Cannon should be fully powered up by this point. Get the damn
Energy Tank if you want to.

Back at (11,5) is Corridor 20.

CORRIDOR 20

Cruise down over the large sandy stones as the laser happy ship
drones and riflemen blow away at you. Fusion Cannon them and their
shots. The laser bolts do severe damage to your Shields, even at a
Defense Level of 7. Really, Fusion your way through. Fusion kills
crystal rocks, flying skulls, pit worms, star discs, and anything else
that tries to bang you up. Okay, you may want to use the Side Saber
Lasers and EE occasionally too. After you see 4 large dark pits and
2 flying skulls that lift off from their necks, you'll meet...

CORRIDOR 20 BOSS ALERT: red Clawbot

Fly right up in front of Clawbot's mandibles and do some big-time
Fusion Cannon fire. Your strengthened Shields will protect you from
the missiles. Touching the beams aren't as bad, but keep avoiding
them if possible. When the claws come off, keep Fusioning to destroy
them and then run up close to the rest of Clawbot. Blast it as you
stay slightly to its side, matching its horizontal speed and staying
away from the large beams. You'll get a Blaster Pistol for an
Attack Level of 4! Sadly enough, this is the last Pistol on Naju.
I wonder if you can ever reach a higher Attack Level....

Go north into Area 10. Welcome to the "Death Skull" zone. This Area is
shaped like a human skull on the map (very much like Ganon's dungeon
in The Legend of Zelda - what a rip-off!!). From the entrance near
Corridor 20's Gate at the "teeth," you'll have to work your way up
the west side of the "skull," down across the "nose," up the east
side, and then into the "forehead" where you'll find the last Switch.

(11,3) MINIBOSS ALERT: flying skull
This harmless-looking bonehead looks just like the ones from the
Desert Corridors, but it shoots semi-homing projectiles that do a
lot of damage. Since this guy is so fast, Level 3 Sprites are pretty
effective here. Be sure you have enough Chips (no less than 4000)
before you try the Sprites strategy. Otherwise, you'll have to run
around and shoot it down with your Pulse Lasers and other specials,
which is much tougher than it sounds. You'll get a Defense Shield. If
you haven't reached a Defense Level of 7 yet, you're inviting death.

Out at (8,3), take the left fork (unless you plan to walk through
walls later on).

The lonely Message Terminal at (8,0) holds the last Seal's solution:
 "Keep firing, the last seal will be removed."

Continue following the weaving path through this dry canyon.
At (11,2) take the lower fork.

Go to (12,4) for an Energy Tank.

At (13,4), again, take the lower path. Prepare to run through
plenty of meteoroid showers.

(12,0) MINIBOSS ALERT: bat glider
The winged terror from the tundra comes back. Because you're not
flying, you have a better opportunity of hitting it from its back.
Let it fly around, and then run up next to it and stab it with your
Saber. The Saber will kill the missiles coming out, and this is
important since you can't use Hyper Lasers to destroy them. You
will earn some EE charges after the bat bites it.

CORRIDOR 10

>>>> Gate Seal Solution <<<<
 Hold down the trigger for your Pulse Laser Blaster for a full
 10 seconds. Afterwards, it's Rumble Time in the Corridor.

You know the drill. Kill the meteoroid rings and skull turrets.
The Plasma Shield helps. Crystals and laser-firing ships join the
fray soon into the fight. The Guardian starts off slow but speeds
up after the skull turrets. When the Guardian slows down, expect
4 pit worms lying in wait. Next comes a group of 8 skull turrets
spread fairly far apart, and then it's...

CORRIDOR 10 BOSS ALERT: red Grimgrin

This is the tougher version of the dude back in Area 9. Instead
of slinging skulls at you, it fires homing claws, making the
Grenade trick much harder to apply. I'm not saying Grenades are
ineffective; they're still useful, but I'm not keeping you from
using another special weapon that's more to your liking. Enjoy
a bonus of EE charges after the last Switch is activated.

Check your map out - notice anything that wasn't there before?

-------
ESCAPE!
-------

"What the hell?! You think we can just walk in and out like the wind?"
                                                - Wang Chi

"Yeah, I thought that was your whole damn plan!"
                                                - Jack Burton

                                   from "Big Trouble in Little China"
                                    when the two heroes were trapped
                                    inside a flooding elevator


BACKGROUND:

The Guardian's mission is accomplished, but it won't do her any good
if she sticks around for the fireworks to go off around her. Rest in
peace, dead crew of Naju. Your worst fears will soon be over....

PASSWORD:

************************  All Switches Activated -- Just escape!
* ie0m m!Kn  p60m sGLr *  Area 0 - (X12,Y13) - Center of Naju
* vS1N yaf8  ckuf 9WvO *  22 Shield Units, 4000 Chips, 255 EE
************************  Attack 4, Shield 7, 2037660 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook Waves Square Cross Triangle Rectangle
Speed Arrow x6
(Lvl 3) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 3) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 3) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 3) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 3) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 3) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 3) Sprites
(Lvl 3) Repeller
(Lvl 3) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 3) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 3) Side Saber Lasers
(Lvl 1) Enemy Eraser

ULTIMATE PASSWORD:

Even better than the one above, this slick code starts you
off with everything you can find in Naju, plus a damn hot Score!

************************  All Switches Activated -- Just escape!
* REdE TARN  W2dH ZkBG *  Area 0 - (X12,Y13) - Center of Naju
* 2wdj bA6y  7O7X 0rpw *  32 Shield Units, 4000 Chips, 255 EE
************************  Attack 4, Shield 7, 9000000 Points!!
All items on Naju found.

GENERAL TIPS:

There's only one phrase everyone needs to know for escaping
self-destruct sequences: "Run like hell!" With the sequence
started, the Guardian's map will register an active Gate at
(9,11). That must be the escape route! 

IN-DEPTH:

Gate 21 will suddenly appear at (9,11). It opens automatically like
an optional Gate, only this isn't optional, unless you wanna hang
around and see what the Guardian looks like after experiencing a
supernova - from within!

Actually, there's no timer in the game at all. If you wish, you
can tour Naju again and again to search for items you have missed,
taking as much time as you desire. Naju blows up only when you
finish Corridor 21, so make sure you're fully prepared before
you drop into...

CORRIDOR 21

Meteoroids will pour down as Naju starts breaking up. Vaporize 'em
with some Hyper Laser fire. Before escaping, some irate evil
life-forms will attempt to stop you. If they're goin' down, they're
gonna take you with them! Run the gauntlet by fighting a series of
6 bosses. They appear one by one in the following order:

CORRIDOR 21 BOSS ALERT x6:

1. blue Fleepa   -- Tear ass with Fusion.
2. red Zibzub    -- More Fusion. Up the ass.
3. blue Clawbot  -- Do some serious ass-forkin' with Fusion.
4. red Optomon   -- Ass-rape it with even more Fusion.
5. blue Eyegore  -- 3 words: "Fusion up ass."
6. red Bombarder -- For once, use the Forward Saber Laser instead.
                    Don't worry, you'll get to return to your
                    Fusion fun with the next guy....

The Guardian hightails it outta Naju just as it erupts into a large
and loud explosion behind her (which is funny since there's nothing
in space to carry sound waves, maybe with the exception of the
air rushing out from the destroyed station).

------------
FINAL BATTLE
------------

"Sonofab-tch must pay!"
                    - Jack Burton, from "Big Trouble in Little China"


BACKGROUND:

Naju is no more. The Guardian has escaped. Earth is safe. Or is it?
The mastermind behind the corruption of Naju is still very alive,
and the Guardian solemnly understands her duty to utterly destroy
all evil threatening her home....

PASSWORD:

************************  Terminate hostile life-form leader.
*         N/A          *  Area 0 - (X11,Y12) - Space
*     (Final Boss)     *  ?? Shield Units, ???? Chips, ??? EE
************************  Attack ?, Shield ?, ??????? Points
No more new equipment.

GENERAL TIPS:

The Guardian's final foe is the boss of all bosses. This
frightening being of unimaginable power is dangerous indeed.

IN-DEPTH:

Similar to the introductory portion of this game, the final scene
isn't a real Corridor but is played like one.

"CORRIDOR 22"

After the awesome explosion, you'll enter another meteoroid field.
I guess these rocks are supposed to be the flying chunks of Naju?
When the debris dies out, it's time to activate your Party Power
for the last time!

"CORRIDOR 22" BOSS ALERT: final boss

This guy is very ugly, and it's even more dangerous. Well, sort of.
It tries to claw at you with its 2 arms (each arm acts separately),
it shoots homing rockets, and it also tosses out an occasional
bubble shot. Try launching Fusion fireballs from underneath it and
then fly away before the arms catch you. The arms do the most damage.
Another strategy a few gamers use is to fly to either corner on the
top of the screen and let loose with a barrage of Side Wave Cannon
fire. If you prefer this tactic, use it, but remember that it
requires a lot more patience.

When it turns from blue to orange, it's at 1/2 of its former life and
it gets mad, shooting at a faster rate. When it becomes bloody red at
a quarter of its original life, it's intensely pissed and machineguns
its homing rockets at you, not to mention its bubbles will also flood
the screen. The angrier this dude gets, the more it moves around.

Keep firing and EE the shots for Item Pods. If the Guardian is true to
her title, she will have a home to safely return to. Or, if you wanna
put it more bluntly, this bastard really deserves it rough up the ass.

======================================================================
III. THE END - What does the Guardian do in her spare time?
======================================================================

"A flash in the distance tells you that [your missiles] have
 done their job - and so have you."
                        - from "Raptor: Call of the Shadows" (Apogee)


With the final, blinding explosion, the evil being dies. The Guardian
relaxes her breath and slowly flies away. What the heck - before
returning to Earth, she might as well enjoy a peaceful cruise through
the quiet expanse of space....

-----------------------
EPILOGUE & GAME CREDITS
-----------------------

Here are the final messages at the end of this fantastic game.
Included for your reading pleasure are the endings from both
the Japanese and American versions of The Guardian Legend.
(Check out the differences - it's great how they corrected
 most of the errors in the staff credits!)

- American Version -              - Japanese Version -

(The Guardian slowly flies        (The Guardian silently observes
 by Earth.)                        Earth from afar.)

Your Final Score is               Your Final Score is
  [insert your score here]          [insert your score here]

Mission                           Mission
  Complete.                         Complete.

You are the                       You are
  greatest                          greatest
     player.                           player.

  Program                           Program
    and Effect                        and Efect
Jemini Hirono                     Jemini Hirono
  Password                          Pass Word
Wao Isee                          Wao Isee

  Map Maker                         Map Maker
Pochi Nakamori                    Pochi Nakamori

  Graphic                           Graphic Des.
Janus Teramoto                    Janus Teramoto
Yoriki                            Yoriki

  Music                             Music
Miyamo                            Miyamo
Shant                             Shant
  Effect Idea                       Efect Idea
Sin-Kun                           Shin-Kun

  Test Play                         Test Play
Midnight                          Midnight
 Commander-Nui                     Commander-Nui
Janus Teramoto                    Janus Teramoto
Kunny                             Kunny
Tanida                            Tanida
Shant                             Shant
Pal                               Pal
    ...etc                            ...etc

  Director                          Director
Moo Niitani                       Moo Niitani

Created by                        Created by
     Compile                           Compile

Produced by                       Produced by
 Irem                              Irem
   Corporation                       Corporation

Password TGL

-------------------
THE SECRET TGL MODE
-------------------

Q. What the hell is that at the end of the American staff credits???

A. I'll tell you: it's a SECRET CODE that lets you play
   The Guardian Legend in a different Mode! You just enter
   "TGL" on the Password Screen, and you're ready to go!

Q. How do I see it?

A. Press Start when the screen displays the "Compile" and "Irem"
   company names. This extra message will pop up after awhile.

Q. What is this special Mode?

A. The gameplay will resemble more of traditional space-shooters.
   You will only play the Corridor scenes; all the Labyrinth Areas
   are cut out. After you finish one Corridor, you will be awarded
   power-ups according to how many Points you've scored, and then
   you will be thrown into the next Corridor. When you reach
   "Corridor 22" and defeat the final boss, you win.

Q. Anything new I should know before taking off on this new quest?

A. Not really. The Corridors themselves and the bosses are pretty
   much the same, and the strategies listed above are still
   effective. But if you absolutely must know the little details,
   check out the TGL Mode section immediately following this one.

Q. Can I play this special Mode in the Japanese version of TGL?

A. Yes, but the secret Password is different. Read the
   Secret Password section below to find out more.

Q. Is the "TGL" Password a play on the game's title?

A. Yes. Next question.

Q. Can something like Naju actually hit Earth?

A. The answer is yes. Small meteoroids dropping onto Earth aren't
   uncommon (which become meteors as they burn up through the
   atmosphere and then become meteorites when they land). Although
   the chances of something as big as Naju slamming into Earth
   are very slim (we're talking about one in several billions or
   trillions here, and that's not even taking certain factors into
   account), such an event is not impossible. But there's also no
   need for panic. By the time this occurs, Earth will hopefully
   have the technology to deal with it, as it kinda does in TGL.
   If not, humans will all be dead by then or be living in another
   part of the solar system. In short, if anything like Naju does
   occur, you'll unlikely be around to experience it.

Q. Any other words of wisdom?

A. Live your life. Be happy. The Guardian is.

======================================================================
IV. TGL MODE - The "Super-Ultra-Sexy" secret Game Mode. Yee-haw!
======================================================================

Some people out there acknowledge the recondite greatness of TGL,
yet they still hunger for the simple action of Zanac or Gun-Nac.
It's time to return to that arcade-style blast-fest in the TGL Mode.
Before flying off again, let me go into detail on the differences:
 1) After defeating a boss, you will gain Power-Ups depending on
    your Score. Generally, the more Points you have, the faster you
    will upgrade your flight-armor. However, you can only earn up
    to 5 Power-Ups at a time. Don't worry, though, as all the Points
    you score in one Corridor will be carried over to the next.
    This is quite useful, since your extra Points will help out in
    the event you don't score as many Points in future Corridors.
 2) YOU MUST FINISH ALL THE CORRIDORS, including the optional ones!
    At least you won't be hassled by Keys or teleportals....
 3) Skipping the Labyrinth can save you a lot of time, but doing so
    has a price, too. Since you won't be meeting the big Blue Lander,
    you can't save your progress. Yep, you gotta finish this from
    beginning to end, so expect to spend 4 or 5 hours sitting in
    front of your TV. Furthermore, your Shields and Chips aren't
    refilled after a boss, unless you earn a Blue or Red Lander!
 4) If you wanna know, the ending is crappier than the regular one,
    since only your final Score, the text messages, and the staff
    credits are displayed. That's right - there's NO image of the
    hot Guardian or the movie where she flys by in front of Earth.
    There's no point in finishing TGL Mode other than for the
    pure hell of it.
 5) Well, maybe there's a better reason. TGL Mode is the only place
    where you can obtain a Chip maximum of 6000! You need to score
    800000 Points though, and that's no easy task (unless if you
    cheat, of course).

--------------
CORRIDOR ORDER
--------------

Here's a quick list of how you'll go through the Corridors
(the bosses are the same - there are 23 Corridors total):

00 - Entrance Defense System
01 - blue Fleepa
11 - green Optomon
12 - red Fleepa
02 - Crawdaddy
13 - blue Bombarder
03 - blue Optomon
14 - blue Clawbot
04 - Teramute
15 - green Clawbot
05 - ZibZub
16 - red Optomon
06 - "bat glider"
17 - Basic Eyeball Defense System
07 - Advanced Eyeball Defense System
18 - blue Eyegore
08 - red Eyegore
19 - red Bombarder
09 - blue Grimgrin
20 - red Clawbot
10 - red Grimgrin
21 - blue Fleepa, Zibzub, blue Clawbot,
     red Optomon, blue Eyegore, red Bombarder
22 - "final boss"

----------------
SCORES FOR ITEMS
----------------

The Scores-to-Items list is divided into sets of 5 for
your viewing convenience. Remember that even though you
can obtain up to 5 items at the end of every Corridor,
chances are you'll get less because no one can always
kill everything and rack up a huge Score.
Without further crap from me, here's the list:

 00000 Speed Arrow            300000 Side Wave Cannons
 00000 Plasma Turret          310000 Hyper Laser Cannon
 00000 Blue Lander            310000 Grenade Launcher
 00000 Red Lander             320000 Red Lander
 10000 Forward Wave Cannon    330000 Blue Lander

 10000 Plasma Shield          340000 Forward Saber Laser
 20000 Forward Saber Laser    350000 Repeller
 20000 Grenade Launcher       360000 Speed Arrow
 20000 Side Wave Cannons      370000 Red Lander
 30000 Repeller               370000 Fusion Cannon

 40000 Red Lander             380000 Plasma Shield
 50000 Blue Lander            400000 Defensive Shield
 60000 Sprites                410000 Forward Wave Cannon
 70000 Fusion Cannon          420000 Side Saber Lasers
 70000 Hyper Laser Cannon     430000 Blue Lander

 80000 Side Saber Lasers      440000 Plasma Turret
 80000 Blue Lander            450000 Side Wave Cannons
 90000 Red Lander             460000 Blue Lander
100000 Blaster Pistol         460000 Red Lander
110000 Sprites                460000 Speed Arrow

120000 Forward Saber Laser    470000 Defensive Shield
130000 Forward Wave Cannon    480000 Blaster Pistol
140000 Blue Lander            500000 Enemy Erasers
150000 Defensive Shield       510000 Blue Lander
160000 Speed Arrow            520000 Sprites

160000 Grenade Launcher       530000 Enemy Erasers
170000 Plasma Shield          540000 Red Lander
180000 Hyper Laser Cannon     560000 Speed Arrow
190000 Blue Lander            580000 Blue Lander
200000 Red Lander             600000 Blue Lander

210000 Enemy Erasers          680000 Blue Lander
220000 Plasma Turret          700000 Red Lander
230000 Defensive Shield       800000 Red Lander (6000 Chips!)
240000 Repeller
250000 Blue Lander

260000 Enemy Erasers
270000 Enemy Erasers
280000 Side Saber Lasers
290000 Blue Lander
290000 Fusion Cannon

======================================================================
V. EXTRA CHIPS - Other bits, pieces, and notes you might find helpful!
======================================================================

---------
PASSWORDS
---------

Having some trouble guarding the Earth? The Passwords below should
help, but in the end it's entirely up to you to save us all.
The following Passwords are the same ones from the main strategy
section above. Remember that all the Passwords below have been
earned without cheating and are the results of the honest,
hard-driven gameplay of a real, living videogamer.

Don't forget the advantages of continuing with a Password. First
and foremost, it lets you resume your progress without having to
sit your ass down for hours without end. Second, because these
codes don't record the Shields and Chips you had, you will always
resume your quest with those values restored to their respective
maximums (ie. everytime you start, your blue bar will be completely
filled up to whatever Shield max you have). If you think of it, the
Blue Lander's Password Rooms resemble the Inns in ye olde RPGs. Sweet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ultimate Password
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You'll see things no one else can see, do things no one else can do!"
                        - Egg Shen, from "Big Trouble in Little China"


"What makes this so 'kick-ass?,'" one might ask. Here's a little
history. By the fourth time I was playing TGL from beginning to
end, a dream told me that I should go for the most complete, totally
covered, all-items-found, all-areas-covered, all-objectives-complete,
make-an-obnoxious-showing-of-your-gaming-prowess Password.

In short, the "Ultimate Password."

As I do with all the games I enjoy, I attempt to earn a Password that
gives me everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. I don't care if it's
Mega Man, Metal Gear, or River City Ransom - I kill all the bad guys
and fill up on Life Containers and Ammo before recording those sacred
characters down on fresh paper. And if the Score can be saved, I'd
top that too. This explains the 9 million Points, which shows how
obsessed I am with the Guardian. (For reasons explained below in the
Secret Debug Options & Bugs section, I stopped at 9000000 Points to
avoid freezing the game. I'm a fanatic, not a moron.)

I'd be wrong if I say this whole walkthrough is written just so
I can put this code up and show it off to everyone, but I do admit
it is one of the biggest reasons why this guide exists. George
Orwell once said that every author writes for some egotistical
reason, and I find that to be very true. Well, without further
ado (drum roll please), here is... the Ultimate Password!

************************  All Switches Activated -- Just escape!
* REdE TARN  W2dH ZkBG *  Area 0 - (X12,Y13) - Center of Naju
* 2wdj bA6y  7O7X 0rpw *  32 Shield Units, 4000 Chips, 255 EE
************************  Attack 4, Shield 7, 9000000 Points!!
All items on Naju found.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Progressive Passwords
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For those who don't want to spoil themselves with the
Ultimate Password (yet), the following puts you at various
points of the game. From the beginning to the end, you can
resume your mission from almost anywhere on Naju.

************************  Find a means to destroy the alien vessel.
* nna6 kbq5  hT!4 eH!4 *  Area 0 - (X12,Y13) - Center of Naju
* b73z 2rpi  5S1x Ipmv *  8 Shield Units, 50 Chips
************************  Attack 1, Shield 1, 29260 Points
KEYS: (none)
Speed Arrow x0

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #1.
* Y9i3 xZz2  S9Ha r5y1 *  Area 0 - (X12,Y13) - Center of Naju
* 9oj1 ldiN  GgAY 1?yW *  10 Shield Units, 100 Chips
************************  Attack 1, Shield 1, 44400 Points
KEYS: (none)
Speed Arrow x1
(Lvl 1) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 1) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 1) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 1) Sprites
(Lvl 1) Forward Saber Laser

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #2.
* I8hJ h4zI  C8DJ akdH *  Area 2 - (X6,Y13) - Entrance to Area 2
* F5gD ZgdT  igHG V18C *  11 Shield Units, 150 Chips
************************  Attack 1, Shield 1, 129660 Points
KEYS: Cresent
Speed Arrow x1
(Lvl 1) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 2) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 1) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 1) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 1) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 1) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 1) Sprites
(Lvl 1) Repeller
(Lvl 1) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 1) Side Saber Lasers

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #3.
* Vtk2 upA2  PAbY r3W0 *  Area 3 - (X8,Y15) - Entrance to Area 3
* swfb iZyB  j4Ra ??OW *  12 Shield Units, 200 Chips
************************  Attack 2, Shield 1, 249270 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook
Speed Arrow x3
(Lvl 1) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 2) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 1) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 1) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 1) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 1) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 1) Sprites
(Lvl 1) Repeller
(Lvl 1) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 2) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 1) Side Saber Lasers

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #4.
* OWxm nCFm  IjHl ee1k *  Area 4 - (X13,Y7) - Entrance to Area 4
* 7Tr! DiZ!  sX6r YzSg *  12 Shield Units, 400 Chips, 28 EE
************************  Attack 2, Shield 3, 373210 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook Waves
Speed Arrow x4
(Lvl 1) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 2) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 1) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 1) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 1) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 1) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 1) Sprites
(Lvl 1) Repeller
(Lvl 2) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 2) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 1) Side Saber Lasers
(Lvl 1) Enemy Eraser

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #5.
* JANO i89I  Dv?A rMeH *  Area 5 - (X16,Y9) - Entrance to Area 5
* GhU2 MYRj  VehJ v1DD *  16 Shield Units, 400 Chips, 22 EE
************************  Attack 3, Shield 3, 512310 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook Waves Square
Speed Arrow x5
(Lvl 3) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 2) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 1) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 1) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 1) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 1) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 1) Sprites
(Lvl 1) Repeller
(Lvl 2) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 2) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 2) Side Saber Lasers
(Lvl 1) Enemy Eraser

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #6.
* cg?b ?Tc4  2UAw iTI9 *  Area 0 - (X12,Y13) - Center of Naju
* 3Nij OzPb  S0Yw ?lY5 *  17 Shield Units, 800 Chips, 61 EE
************************  Attack 3, Shield 4, 639140 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook Waves Square
Speed Arrow x5
(Lvl 3) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 2) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 2) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 2) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 2) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 1) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 1) Sprites
(Lvl 2) Repeller
(Lvl 2) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 2) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 2) Side Saber Lasers
(Lvl 1) Enemy Eraser

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #7.
* m31p IJLO  iqnY 857Q *  Area 7 - (X15,Y14) - Entrance to Area 7
* rXJV rNep  Atg3 gG5L *  17 Shield Units, 1200 Chips, 82 EE
************************  Attack 3, Shield 5, 784030 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook Waves Square Cross
Speed Arrow x5
(Lvl 3) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 3) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 2) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 2) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 2) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 2) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 2) Sprites
(Lvl 2) Repeller
(Lvl 2) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 2) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 2) Side Saber Lasers
(Lvl 1) Enemy Eraser

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #8.
* UU8t ssou  VzMT Ot2P *  Area 0 - (X12,Y13) - Center of Naju
* R0oU RVDl  KdUb Af1H *  17 Shield Units, 1600 Chips, 122 EE
************************  Attack 3, Shield 7, 914850 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook Waves Square Cross
Speed Arrow x6
(Lvl 3) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 3) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 2) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 2) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 3) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 2) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 2) Sprites
(Lvl 3) Repeller
(Lvl 2) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 3) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 3) Side Saber Lasers
(Lvl 1) Enemy Eraser

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #9.
* qMb8 SYP9  p1ba 4nrN *  Area 9 - (X9,Y7) - Entrance to Area 9
* 7vab z!fY  wKMg Dj?8 *  19 Shield Units, 2400 Chips, 182 EE
************************  Attack 3, Shield 7, 1088240 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook Waves Square Cross Triangle
Speed Arrow x6
(Lvl 3) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 3) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 2) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 3) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 3) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 3) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 2) Sprites
(Lvl 3) Repeller
(Lvl 3) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 3) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 3) Side Saber Lasers
(Lvl 1) Enemy Eraser

************************  Locate and activate Self-Destruct Switch #10.
* RNhU THVV  W3hz ZdFx *  Area 10 - (X11,Y7) - Entrance to Area 10
* 2xhz YA!M  HP6D yfig *  21 Shield Units, 4000 Chips, 184 EE
************************  Attack 3, Shield 7, 1481080 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook Waves Square Cross Triangle Rectangle
Speed Arrow x6
(Lvl 3) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 3) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 3) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 3) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 3) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 3) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 3) Sprites
(Lvl 3) Repeller
(Lvl 3) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 3) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 3) Side Saber Lasers
(Lvl 1) Enemy Eraser

************************  All 10 Switches Activated -- Just escape!
* ie0m m!Kn  p60m sGLr *  Area 0 - (X12,Y13) - Center of Naju
* vS1N yaf8  ckuf 9WvO *  22 Shield Units, 4000 Chips, 255 EE
************************  Attack 4, Shield 7, 2037660 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook Waves Square Cross Triangle Rectangle
Speed Arrow x6
(Lvl 3) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 3) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 3) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 3) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 3) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 3) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 3) Sprites
(Lvl 3) Repeller
(Lvl 3) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 3) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 3) Side Saber Lasers
(Lvl 1) Enemy Eraser

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Secret Password
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I took something. I can see things no one else can see."
                    - Jack Burton, from "Big Trouble in Little China"


Enter this to play through all and only the Corridors. If you need to
be reminded on what else is different in this special Mode, you can
refer to the TGL Mode section back up there in Part III of this guide.

************************  Fly through all the Corridors and survive!
* TGL_ ____  ____ ____ *  Area 0 - Outside of the alien vessel
* ____ ____  ____ ____ *  8 Shield Units, 50 Chips
************************  Attack 1, Shield 1, 0 Points
KEYS: (none)
Speed Arrow x0

If you accidentally enter something in what should be an empty space,
just reset the game and try again. Or, enter the capital "A" character
in what should be an empty "_" character, because both are
equivalents of each other. From this, you can enter:

************************
* TGLA AAAA  AAAA AAAA *
* AAAA AAAA  AAAA AAAA *
************************

Or even:

************************
* TGLA A_AA  __AA A_A_ *
* ___A A__A  _A__ AA__ *
************************

It doesn't matter, because there is no difference between "A" and "_"
(just input "TGL" as the first three characters, okay?).

If you're interested in the Japanese version of the TGL Password,
you can enter the following 6 characters*...

 For those who know Hiragana:
  e, i, e, ru, ji, i

 For those who are illiterate in Hiragana:
  (1st row, 4th character),
  (1st row, 2nd character),
  (1st row, 4th character),
  (4th row, 8th character),
  (5th row, 7th character),
  (1st row, 2nd character)

* The first 4 characters will be separated from the others just like
  in a regular Password. As with the interchangeability between "_"
  and "A" in the English version, you can switch the "_" here with
  the top-left corner character.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bug Passwords
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm a reasonable guy, but I experienced
 some very unreasonable things."
                    - Jack Burton, from "Big Trouble in Little China"


There's no point in entering these Passwords because they lead to
hopelessly screwed up games you can't finish. That's what happens
when the Password system contains bugs where the game may still
recognize these illogical codes as "correct."

************************  ?!
* JJJJ JJJJ  JJJJ JJJJ *  Area 8 - (X12,Y23) - Next to a Blue Lander
* JJJJ JJJJ  JJJJ JJJJ *  2 Shield Units, 9999 Chips
************************  Attack 4, Shield 1, 93570 Points
KEYS: Cresent Hook [  ] [  ] [  ] Triangle [  ]
Speed Arrow (At least 1)
(Lvl 3) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 3) Forward Wave Cannon
(Lvl 1) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 2) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 1) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 2) Sprites
(Lvl 2) Repeller
(Lvl 3) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 1) Forward Saber Laser
(Lvl 1) Side Saber Lasers

************************  ?!?!
* 6666 6666  6666 6666 *  Area 2 - (X24,Y31) - Off the map!!
* hhhh hhhh  hhhh hhhh *  6 Shield Units, 50 Chips
************************  Attack 2, Shield 4, 100190 Points
KEYS: [  ] Hook [  ] Square Cross Triangle Rectangle
Speed Arrow (At least 1)
(Lvl 2) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 3) Plasma Shield
(Lvl 3) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 3) Fusion Cannon
(Lvl 3) Sprites
(Lvl 3) Repeller
(Lvl 3) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 3) Side Saber Lasers
  Head south-west to (19,33) to see the Gate leading to "Corridor 30."
  This will screw up your game, though.

************************  ?!?!?!
* JJJJ JJJJ  JJJJ JJJJ *  Area 7 - (X5,Y31) - Empty room
* ZZZZ ZZZZ  ZZZZ ZZZZ *  2 Shield Units, 1600 Chips
************************  Attack 4, Shield 4, 118200 Points
KEYS: [  ] [  ] Waves [  ] [  ] Triangle Rectangle
Speed Arrow (At least 1)
(Lvl 3) Plasma Turret
(Lvl 3) Side Wave Cannons
(Lvl 2) Forward Wave Cannons
(Lvl 3) Grenade Launcher
(Lvl 2) Sprites
(Lvl 3) Repeller
(Lvl 1) Hyper Laser Cannon
(Lvl 1) Side Saber Lasers

************************  ?!?!?!?!
* GGGG GGGG  GGGG GGGG *  Area 4 - (X28,Y10) - (the game freezes)
* HHHH HHHH  HHHH HHHH *  1 Shield Unit, 4000 Chips
************************  Attack ?, Shield ?, 5694830 Points
?

************************  Crashes the game (the screen blacks out)!
* VLM_ ____  ____ ____ *  Area ?
* ____ ____  ____ ____ *  ? Shield Units, ? Chips
************************  Attack ?, Shield ?, ? Points
?

************************  Crashes the game (the screen blacks out)!
* Flee pa__  ____ ____ *  Area ?
* ____ ____  ____ ____ *  ? Shield Units, ? Chips
************************  Attack ?, Shield ?, ? Points
?

Note: Don't forget, the empty "_" characters can
      be substituted with the "A" characters.

---------------------------
SECRET DEBUG OPTIONS & BUGS
---------------------------

"PARTY POWER!"
    - from "Chaos Engine," aka. "Soldiers of Fortune" (Bitmap Brothers)


As with a handful of other NES games that came out around the same
time as TGL, access to some debugging options were not removed in
the final version of this game. This allows anyone to sample specific
parts of this sci-fi thriller with ease. And like with any other
computer program, bugs are also present. The cool part is, you can
exploit these bugs to turn the gameplay into your favor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sound Test (Debug Option)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Before the Title Screen appears, hold the A and B Buttons on
 Controller 1. (This can be done by holding A & B as you turn on
 the power or as you press the Reset Button.) The Title Screen should
 appear as usual, but there will be 2 digits at the top and there
 should be silence. On the D-Pad, press Left and Right to cycle
 through the audio values, Down to play them, and Up to stop them.
 (If you wanna play the game normally, you'll have to press Reset.)
 Here's a list of the music tracks and sound effects:

  Themes (71 total)
   01 Title Screen (Main Theme)
   02 Floral & Flesh Labyrinth
   03 Boss A
   04 Floral Corridor
   05 Tundra Corridor
   06 Boss B
   07 Marine & Tundra Labyrinth
   08 Desert Corridor
   09 Central Hub Labyrinth (Area 0)
   10 Game Over (you can only stop this early on by pressing Up)
   11 Flesh & Desert Corridor
   12 Flesh & Desert Corridor (alternate version)
   13 Tundra & Desert Labyrinth
   14 Desert Labyrinth
   15 Ending & Staff Credits
   16 Gate inactive (Cleared Corridor - not used)
   17 Gate active
   18 Gate active (alternate version)
   19 Message Terminal
   20 Marine Corridor
   21 Marine Corridor (alternate version)
   22 Boss C
   23 Corridor cleared - Part 2 (returning to the Labyrinth)
   24 Big Blue Lander
   25 Password Screen & "Corridor 22"
   26 Shield Max Unit Increase (from earning enough Points)
   27 Corridor cleared - Part 1 (just killed the boss)
   28 Corridor 21 (escape route)
   29 Corridor entering (shifting into Flight Mode)
   30 "Corridor 0" (the Title Screen theme without the intro)
   31 (silence)
   32 beep
   33 Pulse Laser hit
   34 Enemy explode & EE
   35 Block explode
   36 Grenade explosion
   37 Pulse Laser fire
   38 Plasma Turret fire (Multi-Directional Shot)
   39 Fusion Cannon fire (Fireball)
   40 Hyper Laser fire
   41 Fusion Cannon fire (alternate version - longer whoosh)
   42 Wave Cannon fire
   43 Wave Cannon fire (alternate version)
   44 Saber Laser emission
   45 Guardian's jet thrusters
   46 Grenade Launcher fire
   47 EE or alternate Grenade explosion
   48 Life Heart pick-up
   49 Blue & Red Lander pick-up
   50 Energy Tank or Weapon pick-up
   51 Blue Chip pick-up & Password Input Menu cursor move
   52 Red Chip pick-up
   53 Energy Tank or Weapon pick-up (alternate version)
   54 Key pick-up
   55 Guardian die
   56 Guardian hit
   57 Boss hit
   58 Warp Panel teleport
   59 Warp Panel teleport (alternate version)
   60 Warp Panel teleport (alternate version - not used)
   61 Subscreen cursor move
   62 Subscreen cursor move (alternate version)
   63 Gate Seal unlock
   64 Enemy slide (pit worm from Marine and Desert Corridors)
   65 Enemy shuffle
   66 Enemy shuffle (alternate version)
   67 Boss Alert Alarm
   68 (silence)
   69 (silence)
   70 Subscreen enter (followed by silence)
   71 Subscreen enter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
View All Messages (Debug Option)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 When you're inside a Message Terminal, press the Select Button once
 to enter the subscreen. Now press and hold the Select Button again
 so you resume the game. While holding Select, keep pressing the
 B Button to display all the pages of text in the game. This is
 great for viewing all the Gate Seal solutions. Note that this trick
 only work for text from Message Terminals, not from Shops. Here is
 the order the messages will appear in (starting with the text
 from the first Message Terminal):
  - fate of Naju and how to activate the Self-Destruct Mechanism
  - weapons hidden in boxes/blocks and weapons taken by enemies
  - Corridor Gate Seals and the solution to the first Seal
  - big Blue Lander introduction in the Area 0 Shops
  - big Blue Lander's Password Room
  - "Corridor" display on the monitor by the Gates
  - "Corridor" display on the monitor by the Gates (alternate version)
  - big Blue Lander's Shop - single item
  - big Blue Lander's Shop - 1 of 3 items
  - big Blue Lander's Shop - buying an item
  - big Blue Lander's Shop - returning later, after purchasing an item
  - big Blue Lander's Shop - breaking Seal 4
  - Seal 2 solution
  - Seal 3 solution
  - Seal 4 solution
  - Seal 5 solution
  - Seal 6 solution
  - Seal 7 solution
  - Seal 8 solution
  - Seal 9 solution
  - Seal 10 solution
 (The text will loop back to the first message from here.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fatal Score (Bug)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Don't score over 9999999 Points (that's 7 nine's, or one less than
 10 million). Apparently, the guys at Compile never believed that
 someone would actually reach so many Points, so they never
 programmed in a check for the Score limit. As a result, gaining
 10 million Points or more will cause the game to lock up (due to a
 lack of display space), forcing you to reset the NES. If you must
 test your own gaming prowess, going for 9 million Points will
 suffice. How did I find this bug? I actually went ahead and tried
 to score 10 million Points. Yes, I am a loser.  :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Power Chip Cloning 101 (Bug)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 First, find a Chip surrounded by blocks on at least 2 adjacent
 sides. Move between 2 of these blocks, so you will touch the
 Chip's corner from the outside. As a programming flaw, the Chip
 won't disappear when you pick it up, so you can keep grabbing
 it "repeatedly" as long as you touch its corner from the other
 side of the blocks. This explains the rapid series of
 "Chip pick-up" sounds (Sound Effect 51) that occur.

 The following diagram illustrates a simple example.
   (G represents the Guardian, B represents the blocks, and
    C represents the Chip)

             GB
             BC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Escape From Minibosses (Bug)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Not sure you can handle the mystery miniboss when you suddenly
 hear the warning alarm? Here's a great way to see what you're
 up against without having to face it. When the alarm sounds,
 stay at the edge of the screen where the green blocks will start
 forming. Don't worry when the green blocks appear underneath
 you - you can walk off of them anytime, which is exactly what you
 do when you see the miniboss. If you wanna run away, leave the
 screen. Otherwise, walk into the arena and fight the miniboss as
 usual. Some words of warning though - don't fight a miniboss by
 standing on the green blocks because they don't offer any
 protection!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Walk Through Walls (Bug)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 This handy trick only works after you increase your movement speed
 (by reaching Shield Defense Level 5, usually around Area 6). You can
 horizontally pass through any structure in a limited manner. First,
 walk up to the left or right side of a line of blocks. Next, walk
 against the blocks diagonally. After a short moment, the Guardian
 will walk right ontop of the blocks. Notice that she can only pass
 through 1 layer of blocks, so this trick works best on single-layer
 barriers, like the red blocks forming dead ends. Used correctly, you
 can cut a few corners. Used incorrectly (like at the edges of the
 screen), you can get stuck. Also don't leave the screen without
 grabbing the power-up reward after killing a miniboss. If you do,
 the miniboss will reappear when you come back! (At least the game
 doesn't punish you by making you lose the item forever....) The
 speed increase is required probably because the Guardian can only
 "break through" barriers with a higher movement value (again,
 something with bugged-up coding).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Purchase All Shop Items (Bug)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Think the big Blue Lander is ripping you off by selling only 1 item?
 Well, you can actually buy all 3 items! When you're in a Shop, press
 the Start Button (you will pause the game). Now press and hold the
 Start Button again. When the game resumes, buy an item. As long as
 you're holding Start (which is probably holding up some important
 checking algorithms), the other 2 items won't disappear. You can buy
 them as usual by walking over them, but you still need enough
 Chips to cover the prices. If you can, buy an item such as the Red
 Lander first so your Chips will be refilled, allowing you to buy
 the other stuff. (This trick doesn't always work because not every
 Shop offers a Chip-refilling item.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Multiply Item Pods (Bug)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Need some Chips really fast? Think the Guardian can use a swim in a
 sea of Life Hearts and Energy Tanks? No problem. To solve your
 energy crisis, find some small enemies or destructable projectiles
 such as bubble bullets or missiles. Next, equip your Enemy Eraser
 and rapidly nuke the screen. Your multiple EE blasts will destroy
 the projectiles and, for some reason, perpetuate and spawn more
 explosions. The more explosions you have, the higher the chances
 of an Item Pod appearing. The only downside is you have to expend
 a ton of EE charges, but remember that you can always find more.
 Hell, you might even get a few packs of EE along with the
 several Chips and Life Hearts.

 Note: Doing this can also reduce the number of enemy projectiles
 on the screen, as all the extra Item Pods will tax the NES'
 processor, cutting down on the memory reserved for certain
 objects - which include enemy shots.

---------------
QUICK REFERENCE
---------------

Need to look up something fast? No problem - Here are some tables
summarizing the data for Area access conditions, the solutions to
the Gate Seals, Power Chips requirements per Weapon Power Level,
boss strategies, and more. (For values relating to TGL Mode,
please consult the section above that is devoted to it.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Area Access Requirements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 Area    Conditions You Gotta Meet
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
  00      Destroy the Entrance Defense System
  01      Obtain the Crescent Key
  02      Obtain the Crescent Key
  03      Obtain the Hook Key
  04      Obtain the Waves Key
  05      Obtain the Square Key
  06      Obtain the Square Key
  07      Obtain the Cross Key
  08      Obtain the Cross Key
  09      Obtain the Triangle Key
  10      Obtain the Rectangle Key
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Corridor Gate Seal Solutions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Seal 1
  Shoot the Gate with the Pulse Laser Blaster.
 Seal 2
  Step on the 4 Circuit Panels around the Gate.
 Seal 3
  Wait inside the room for 30 seconds.
 Seal 4
  Enter the big Blue Lander's nearby Shop 4 times.
 Seal 5
  Keep shooting the monitor displaying "Corridor" at the screen top.
 Seal 6
  Shoot the Gate with a special weapon.
 Seal 7
  Enter the room 4 times. (Enter and exit from the same Warp Panel!)
 Seal 8
  Select "NO USE" and press A. (It's just like getting a Password.)
 Seal 9
  Walk ontop of the Gate.
 Seal 10
  Fire your Pulse Laser Blaster inside the room for 15 seconds.
 (Seals 11 to 20)
  None.
 (Seal 21)
  Activate the Self-Destruct Sequence by activating all 10 Switches.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Power Chips & Power Levels
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 Weapon         Chips Required/Consumed at Level...
  Name                   1   2   3   4
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 Pulse Laser Blaster*    0 100 200 2050
 Plasma Turret           1   3  10   -
 Side Wave Cannons       4   5  40   -
 Forward Wave Cannon     3   7  20   -
 Plasma Shield           3   6  30   -
 Grenade Launcher        2   5  20   -
 Fusion Cannon           4  12  30   -
 Sprites**               1   8 120   -
 Repeller                3  10  30   -
 Hyper Laser Cannon      4   6  30   -
 Forward Saber Laser     4   8  30   -
 Side Saber Lasers       5  10  35   -
 Enemy Eraser***         0   -   -   -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
  *   The Power Levels for the Pulse Laser refers to the shot
      pattern of each burst. Pulse Laser fire never consumes
      any Chips, but you still need to have the required amount
      of Chips to shoot at the corresponding Power Levels.
  **  Yes, the Sprites consume a ludicrous 120 Chips at Level 3.
  *** Enemy Erasers never reach beyond Level 1 and only expends
      its own type of ammunition (charges).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shield Units & Scores
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The effect of grabbing a Blue Lander will take
place after reaching the following Points:

  30000, 100000, 500000, 1000000, and then every million afterwards
  until 10000000 (10 million) where the game freezes due to a bug.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maximum Chip Values
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every Red Lander you rescue will increase the maximum
amount of Chips you can carry to the following values
(starting with the initial value at the beginning of the game):

  50, 100, 150, 200, 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 2400, 4000, 6000*

* The 6000 refers to the Chip maximum you can only obtain in TGL Mode.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Boss Battle Strategies
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"My rage ruins you."
                - Rayar, from "Ninja Commando"


Here you can find condensed strategies for beating all of the bosses
and minibosses. The names for the minibosses and a few of the big
bosses are completely made up for the purposes of this guide, but
the names for 2 bosses, Eyegore and Grimgrin, have been exchanged.

If you don't agree with me, then hear out my argument. I figure the
big dude who spews eyeballs from his many eyes, including the wound
of the big eye, would be Eyegore. Someone who represents eyes so much
would, by logic, have the name that contains the element of eyes,
and the "gore" part is justified by the nasty torn eyes. As for the
smaller head with the many horns, it would be called Grimgrin because
its mouth forms more of a grin than Eyegore's (which is more of a big
smile). Besides, Grimgrin kills you with lasers, skulls, and claws,
so despite its multiple eyes, the name "Eyegore" just doesn't match.
Again, I'm not keeping you from using other guides and walkthroughs.
I'm only trying to make things more sensible and easier to read here.

Note: If the boss has no distinguishable colors, none will be listed.

NAME: Advanced Eyeball Defense System
APPEARS IN: Corridor 7
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: a large group of eyeballs, both big and little
ATTACKS: lots of homing eyeballs and enemy reinforcements
MOVEMENT: none, except looking at you in a creepy fashion
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   Apparently these alien eyeballs do not come with eyelids. Unlike
 the Entrance Defense System's turrets, these suckers are always
 vulnerable. However, they are much, much tougher. Using a
 powerful weapon like the Fusion Cannon, destroy the small eyes
 first (since they are easier to kill), and then focus on the big
 ones. Blast the reinforcements for Item Pods.

NAME: Basic Eyeball Defense System
APPEARS IN: Corridor 17
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: a small group of eyeballs, both big and little
ATTACKS: eyeballs and enemy reinforcements
MOVEMENT: none, except looking at you in a not-quite-as-creepy fashion
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   Do the same thing to these guys as you did to their neighbors.
 Bust up the small eyes before bursting open the large ones, and make
 good use of the Item Pods that spawn out from the reinforcements.

NAME: "bat glider"
APPEARS IN: Corridor 6, Area 10 (12,0)
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: a creepy-looking flying metallic bat
ATTACKS: dives and shoots at you
MOVEMENT: flies around the screen, stopping periodically
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   This robotic bat will fly all over the screen. Don't let it collide
 with you as you run away and blast it. When it stops, it will shoot
 missiles at you. You fight this boss only twice in the game, once in
 a Tundra Corridor and once in the Desert Labyrinth. If you're in
 Flight Mode, use the Hyper Laser Cannon to kill it and its missiles.
 In Walk Mode, run up next to it when it stops and stick a Saber
 into it.

NAME: Bombarder
APPEARS IN: Corridor 13 (blue), Corridor 19 (red), Corridor 21 (red)
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: a ship of a somewhat square shape
ATTACKS: waves of homing missiles
MOVEMENT: teleports to random locations
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   (Hey look! It's Intruder's cousin from Konami's Life Force! Just
 kidding....) Bombarder is the alien version of our own bomber craft.
 Firing barrages of missiles and then sneaking away, this guy may
 seem like a pain, but it really isn't much of a bully. Its missiles
 can be shot down, and Bombarder doesn't move when it appears.
 Side Wave Cannons or Side Saber Lasers are ideal for destroying
 its missiles while you sit under it and fire away.
   I've got a very, very effective plan that requires a bit of
 precision flying. Jam the Forward Saber Laser into the middle of
 Bombarder. Not only will you cut Bombarder down in no time, you
 will also destroy all of its missiles, since they originate from
 the central canopy-like structure. The Guardian must get very
 close to it, but it can be done (the Forward Saber should reach
 across the entire canopy). Just remember to stop wasting ammo
 when it begins teleporting, since it can't be hurt while fading
 in or out.

NAME: Clawbot
APPEARS IN: Corridor 14 (blue), Corridor 15 (green),
            Corridor 20 (red), Corridor 21 (blue)
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: a slender ship with mandibles that slide open
ATTACKS: large deathray cannon and homing missiles
MOVEMENT: matches your horizontal position from the top of the screen
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   If unprepared, Clawbot can be the last boss you'll fight.
 Thankfully, the Guardian has her nifty equipment and this
 walkthrough. Clawbot floats along the screen's top edge, firing
 its terrifying lasers when its claw-like mandibles open up.
 Any player knows what to do: get the hell out of the way!
 Stay below Clawbot and a bit to its side, inching away bit by
 bit so you can still blast it while avoiding the big deathrays.
   When the mandibles fall off, they will float uselessly towards
 the screen bottom. Avoid them or blow them to pieces.
 Meanwhile, the clawless Clawbot will fire its deathrays
 like a machinegun, so keep sliding to the side. When you reach
 the edge of the screen, you have no choice but to charge against
 the beams and go back towards the other side. Be sure to have ample
 Shielding. The Level 3 Fusion Cannon works best; otherwise you'll
 have to stick with the Hyper Laser Cannon or the Forward Wave Cannon.

NAME: "crabbot"
APPEARS IN: Area 0 (8,13) (green), Area 1 (0,6) (blue),
            Area 2 (1,14) (blue), Area 4 (16,3) (blue),
            Area 5 (19,8) (blue), Area 8 (13,19) (regular enemies),
            Area 8 (12,22) (red), Area 9 (5,3) (red)
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: a cybernetic crab
ATTACKS: spits shots aimed at you
MOVEMENT: follows you in straight lines and turns in right angles
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   The most common miniboss, this robot crab likes to chase you
 around. The best trick is to run away while equipping the Plasma
 Shield. The crab will get knocked down by your revolving energy
 orb soon enough.

NAME: Crawdaddy
APPEARS IN: Corridor 2
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: a giant lobster with claws
ATTACKS: tosses a constant stream of small claws towards you
MOVEMENT: bobs up and down across the screen
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   Keep moving when blasting this one-time boss (it only shows up
 in Corridor 2) with your Hyper Laser or Forward Wave Cannon. Since
 its claw shots are aimed at you, move to the side of the screen
 first to draw them off. When the underside of Crawdaddy is open,
 quickly fly back down to the bottom of the screen and fire away.
   However, if you think you're powerful enough, you can sit
 directly below Crawdaddy, in the middle of the screen bottom, and
 trade blows with it. While you will get hit a lot more, you should
 be able to kill it before things get too hot. Whatever you do, keep
 shooting until you get one toasted lobster stuffed with the Hook Key.

NAME: Entrance Defense System
APPEARS IN: "Corridor 0"
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: a group of turrets, both large and small
ATTACKS: lots of bullets
MOVEMENT: none, except for opening up when firing
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   Sweep left and right, shooting the turrets as they open up. Take
 care not to get trapped against the screen edges. Kill the turrets
 in the center first, since they're closer to you and are larger,
 which makes them easier to hit. Break open the Item Pods left
 behind by the destroyed bullets to recharge your Shields.

NAME: Eyegore
APPEARS IN: Corridor 18 (blue), Corridor 8 (red), Corridor 21 (blue)
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: a big skull with many eyes (including a big one)
ATTACKS: bubble bullets and little eyeballs aimed at you
MOVEMENT: boomerangs back and forth across the entire screen
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   Some say Eyegore is one grotesque bastard. It's hard to disagree -
 it bleeds tiny eyeballs on you as it gets ripped apart. Eyegore is
 huge, so keep moving. It's also tough, so expect to rely on the big
 guns, like the Hyper Laser Cannon, the Fusion Cannon, and maybe even
 the Forward Wave Cannon. The Repeller is effective as long as
 Eyegore runs through it.
   Eyegore loses the 2 main eyes at 3/4 life. At 1/2, the top eyes are
 shredded and the eyeball shots stop. After 1/4 of its life is left,
 the big eye is ruptured, spewing forth endless streams of mini-eyes.
 Wait for the eyes to collect on the screen before using an EE charge
 to destroy them for Item Pods.

NAME: "final boss" (Christopher Emirzian calls this guy "IT")
APPEARS IN: "Corridor 22" (in space after the destruction of Naju)
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: one ugly mofo with 2 really big claws
ATTACKS: bubble bullets, rockets, and clawing at you
MOVEMENT: flies left and right across the screen
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   Shooting down the rockets and avoiding the bullets and claws,
 you should launch your most powerful weapons right into this guy's
 face whenever you have the chance. As it gets beaten, it becomes
 bloodier and fires more rapidly. The battle is a war of attrition,
 so use some EE charges to destroy the projectiles for Item Pods.
 You can recharge yourself and clear out the screen this way.
 Trust your Fusion Cannon (or whatever your favorite weapon is),
 and you'll win the day.

NAME: Fleepa
APPEARS IN: Corridor 1 (blue), Corridor 12 (red), Corridor 21 (blue)
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: an overgrown, one-eyed fish
ATTACKS: spews tiny jellyfish shots from its mouth
MOVEMENT: bounces up and down the screen, chasing you horizontally
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   Stay under it when you can to fire the Forward Wave Cannon,
 Hyper Laser Cannon, or the Fusion Cannon. Be sure to swoop away
 before it rams into you. You can also fly alongside it and burn it
 with the Plasma Shield. Be sure to destroy those pesky jellyfish too.

NAME: "flying skull"
APPEARS IN: Area 10 (11,3)
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: a horned skull from the Desert Corridors
ATTACKS: shoots high-damage semi-homing shots
MOVEMENT: flies around
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   This is a super-charged Labyrinth version of those Corridor
 punching bags. It's really fast and its shots do hella damage.
 Use Level 3 Sprites if you have 4000 Chips. Otherwise, run
 away and shoot it with fast weapons like the Forward Wave Cannon.

NAME: Grimgrin
APPEARS IN: Corridor 9 (blue), Corridor 10 (red)
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: a demonic skull with several horns and eyes
ATTACKS: lasers and skulls / homing claws
MOVEMENT: slides up and down vertically along the middle of the screen
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   Grimgrin is grim, but it isn't too smart. It only slides upwards
 and downwards mid-screen, leaving its sides open for a serious
 pounding. As long as you stay away from the front of Grimgrin,
 you'll avoid its laser beams, but you still have to handle the
 little shots that are aimed at you. Toss Grenades towards Grimgrin
 to kill it and its projectiles, including the lasers! To get
 Item Pods, let some of its shots fly out to the sides of the
 screen and then blast 'em with the EE.

NAME: "ice crystal"
APPEARS IN: Area 5 (21,4)
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: a bigger version of the Tundra ice clusters
ATTACKS: aims shots at you
MOVEMENT: chases you at right angles
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   Run like hell and then turn to fire from time to time. Power up
 the Plasma Turret to Level 3 so you can easily destroy its shots.
 Whatever you do, don't let it touch you. A Plasma Shield might help,
 although this guy is much tougher than a crabbot.

NAME: "lobstercrab"
APPEARS IN: Area 1 (4,11) (green), Area 2 (5,17) (blue),
            Area 6 (17,16) (red), Area 7 (22,20) (red)
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: a lobster-and-crab hybrid
ATTACKS: lobs bubbles out from its big claw
MOVEMENT: teleports and then tracks your vertical position
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   You can always beat this boss without a hit if you know what
 you're doing. Stay to the right of it (or technically its left side,
 if you're thinking from its point of view) and thrust a Saber Laser
 into it. The big claw on the other side will have to throw the
 bubble shots out farther, causing them to miss all the time. (If
 you stay on the wrong side, the bubbles will hurt you bad.) If you
 still aren't comfortable, sweep at the bubbles with the Saber Laser.

NAME: Optomon
APPEARS IN: Corridor 11 (green), Corridor 3 (blue),
            Corridor 16 (red), Corridor 21 (red)
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: a huge floating eyeball covered with tentacles
ATTACKS: super-deadly seaweed and bubble shots
MOVEMENT: shifts back and forth along the top of the screen
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   Optomon is perhaps the most dangerous boss of all. Its attacks
 include lengthy seaweed, which are made of a material the
 Guardian's flight-armor can't defend well against. As a result,
 Optomon can wreck havoc on her Shields. Even worse is these
 weeds sometimes linger on in the air, making it very difficult
 for her to avoid them. When fighting Optomon, you should stay on
 the defensive and give first priority to avoiding the seaweed. By
 staying near the screen bottom, you will have more time to see the
 weeds coming. Never stay at the far edges of the screen or else the
 weeds will trap you. Look at Optomon's eye too - seaweed comes out
 only when its eye is open.
   Since Optomon moves horizontally back and forth, you can just
 shoot it whenever it passes in front of you. The Forward Wave Cannon
 is an effective weapon since it can be aimed slightly to the sides,
 improving your chances of hitting Optomon. Later on, use the Hyper
 Laser Cannon or the Fusion Cannon. NEVER charge Optomon with the
 Saber Laser, unless you're out to commit ritual suicide or are
 using the Game Genie. If you have a Level 3 Fusion Cannon, use it.
 Not only will it crush Optomon, it'll also destroy the seaweed!

NAME: "spiderworm"
APPEARS IN: Area 0 (14,9), Area 3 (1,20) (red), Area 6 (18,10) (red),
            Area 7 (16,18) (blue), Area 9 (2,0) (green)
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: a big worm that burrows in and out of the ground
ATTACKS: releases spiders
MOVEMENT: burrows up at random locations and then hides after awhile
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   This guy is so sad that you'd be wasting your time to read this
 and I'd be wasting mine to write it. But just to make this guide
 complete, I have to give you an attack strategy. Just sit nearby
 when it exposes itself and gut it with the Saber Laser. Waste the
 spiders and repeat until you've stepped on this worm for good.

NAME: "tentacleleech"
APPEARS IN: Area 3 (6,23) (green), Area 4 (18,1) (blue),
            Area 8 (12,18) (red)
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: tentacles growing around a sharp-teethed mouth
ATTACKS: touching you, groping you, molesting you, raping you, etc.
MOVEMENT: bounces towards you at a high speed
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   Meeting this monstrosity early on is a terrifying experience.
 Since the Guardian has little chance of running away without
 suffering serious consequences, she'll have to make a good defense
 by making a strong offense. Before meeting it, stock up on Shields
 and then confront it directly with your Forward Saber Laser. Usually
 you will win, even if you simply stand in one spot and trade blows
 with it. Read the guide and the map carefully to avoid being
 caught off guard by this dry-humping sucker.

NAME: Teramute
APPEARS IN: Corridor 4
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: a giant fire-breathing dragon
ATTACKS: spurts of fire from its mouth
MOVEMENT: teleports to random locations
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   Teramute - its name and appearance strike fear into the hearts
 of men. But for such an awesome-looking being, Teramute is a
 pathetic boss. Using only a flame breath that can be squelched
 easily, Teramute is about as dangerous as the lowly spiderworm.
   Simply sit in front of it and shoot at its mouth. If your shots
 aren't cooling the flames, they'll be nailing holes into Teramute's
 noggin. When it teleports, reposition yourself and line up with its
 head again. The Plasma Turret, Forward Wave Cannon, or Forward Saber
 Laser is the best choice here. Teramute's hide isn't thick enough to
 withstand the Guardian's high-powered weaponry for long. (Doesn't
 this guy remind you of Cruiser Tetron from Konami's Life Force?)

NAME: Zibzub
APPEARS IN: Corridor 5, Corridor 21
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: a giant squid with 6 bug-like tentacles
ATTACKS: missiles fired from the tentacles
MOVEMENT: bounces up and down, following you horizontally
BATTLE STRATEGY:
   Zibzub isn't too tough. Keep up a constant stream of gunfire
 to hurt it and destroy its missiles, so don't let up on the B
 Button. Just be sure to move left and right to line up with
 its movements. The Forward Wave Cannon is a good choice here.

-------------
LABYRINTH MAP
-------------

For those who want everything in a single guide, here's a free map
to boot. If you don't want to read through all the stuff above, you
can just refer to this to see where all the items are. While this
is not as pretty as a real graphics file, it works (plus it's cheap
on your ink if you ever decide to print it).

Legend:
 _______________________________________________________________
|                               |                               |
|  ?? = Message Terminal        |  01 = Corridor Gate           |
|  PW = Password Room           |  MB = Miniboss                |
|  $$ = Shop                    |  XX = NOT a room (black space)|
|  !! = Item                    |                               |
|_______________________________|_______________________________|

    00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
   |--|--|--|--|XXXXXXXXXXX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|XXXXXXXXX
00 |  |!!|MB|  |XXXXXXXXXXX|??|  |  |10|MB|  |  |XX|!!|  |$$|  | 4|XXXXXXXXX
   |--|--|--|--|XXXXXXXXXXX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|XXXXXXXXX
01 |  |XX|  |  |XXXXXXXXXXX|PW|  |  |  |  |  |  |XX|  |  |MB|PC|XXXXXXXXXXXX
   |--|--|--|--|XXXXXXXXXXX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|
02 |  |  |09|  |XXXXXXXXXXX|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |XX|  |!!|  |  |XX|  |  |  |
   |--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|
03 |  |  |  |!!|  |  |!!|XX|  |XX|  |MB|  |XX|  |XX|MB|  |XXXXXXXX|  |  |!!|
   |--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|
04 XXXXXXXXX|  |19|  |  |XX|  |  |PC|  |!!|  |  |XXXXX|14|  |  |XX|MB|  | 5|
   XXXXXXXXX|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XXXXX|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|
05 XXXXXXXXX|  |??|  |  |XXXXXXXXXXX|20|$$|XXXXXXXXXXX|??|  |  |XX|  |  |  |
   |--|XXXXX|--|--|--|--|--|--|XXXXX|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|
06 |MB|XXXXX|!!|  |  |  |  |  |XXXXX|  |XXXXX|  |  |  |  |  |!!|XX|  |  |!!|
   |--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|
07 |  |  |XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX|PC|PW|XX|PW|XX|PW|  |XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX|  |  |??|
   |--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|XX|--|XX|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|
08 |  |11|XX|  |  |  |PC|XXXXX|PC|XX|  |XX|PC|XXXXX|PC|  |  |MB|  |15|  |!!|
   |--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|
09 |!!|  |PW|  |XXXXX|PC|XX|!!|  |  |  |  |  |MB|PC|PW|XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
   |--|--|--|--|XXXXX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|XX|--|XXXXXXXXX
10 |  |PC|  |!!|XXXXX| 1|  |  |  |$$|  |$$|$$|  |XXXXXXXX|MB|XX|!!|XXXXXXXXX
   |--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XXXXXX
11 |  |  |XX|  |MB|XXXXXXXX|!!|21|$$|  |??|$$|  |  |06|PC|  |  |  |  |XXXXXX
   |--|--|--|--|--|XXXXXXXX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XXXXXX
12 |  |  |  |  |!!|XXXXXXXX|  |  |  |??|!!|  |  |$$|!!|  |!!|XX|  |XXXXXXXXX
   |--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XXXXXX
13 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX|PW|  |MB|??|??|  |PW|PC|  |XXXXX|  |16|  |  |!!|XXXXXX
   |--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|XXXXXX
14 |  |MB|  |!!|  |  |PC|XX|PC|!!|  |  |  |  |PC|PW|XXXXX|  |XX|  |XXXXXXXXX
   |--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|XXXXXX
15 |  |  |  |  |12|  |  |XX|PW|XX|  |XX|  |??|XX|PC|XX|  |  |  |  |  |XXXXXX
   |--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|XX|--|XX|--|--|XX|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|XXXXXX
16 |  |XX| 2|XX|  |XXXXXXXX|PC|XX| 8|XXXXX|??|XX|  |XX|MB|  |XX|  |XXXXXXXXX
   |--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|XX|--|XXXXX|--|XX|--|XX|--|--|XX|--|XXXXXXXXX
17 |  |  |!!|  |  |MB|XX|  |  |XX|PC|XXXXXXXXXXX|  |XXXXX|PW|XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
   |--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|XX|--|--|--|XXXXX|--|--|--|--|--|--|XXXXXXXXX
18 XXX|$$|XXXXXXXX|??|XX|  |XXXXX|!!|  |MB|XXXXX|  |MB|  |  |  |  |XXXXXXXXX
   XXX|--|XXXXXXXX|--|XX|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XXX
19 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX|PC|XX|!!|  |18|  |  |XXXXXXXX|  |17|!!|  |  |  |XXX
   |--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XXX
20 |  |MB|  |  | 3|13|  |  |XX|  |  |XX|  |  |!!|XX|  |  |  |  |  |??|MB|XXX
   |--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|XX|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|
21 |  |  |  |  |  |  |XX|  |XX|  |  |XX|  |PC|PW|XX|  |PW|  |  |  |XX|  |  |
   |--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|
22 |!!|  |  |  |  |  |!!|  |XX|  |  |  |MB|  |XXXXX|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |XXX
   |--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|--|XXXXX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XXX
23 |  |??|XXXXX|PW|XX|MB|  |XX|  |  |  |!!|XXXXXXXX|  |!!|  |07|  |  |!!|XXX
   |--|--|XXXXX|--|XX|--|--|XX|--|--|--|--|XXXXXXXX|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|XXX
    00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

----------------
GAME GENIE CODES
----------------

Still need help? Say hello to the Game Genie. Technically, the
Guardian only needs the "Never lose Shields" code to finish the
game, but there are a few other effects you can screw around with
too. I need you to understand 2 things: First, I did not use this
"Game Enhancer" or any other form of cheating (other than previous
playing experience) when I was writing this guide. I don't like
using cheat devices if I can help it, and the strategies presented
are crafted without the Game Genie in mind. Second, do not blame
me if you screw up your game with the Game Genie. Videogames are
supposedly designed without requiring players to cheat, and TGL
is one of those exceptionally balanced titles that succeed in that
respect. Cheating and then complaining even more about it is not good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Code      Effect(s)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Concerning Shields)
  AAXTIUNY    Never lose Shields.
  AXVAIAAG    Start a New Game with  4 Shield Units.
  EEVAIAAG    Start a New Game with 16 Shield Units.
  ENVAIAAK    Start a New Game with 31 Shield Units.
  NNVAIAAK    Start a New Game with 32 Shield Units.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Concerning Chips)
  GXOAKLST    Never use up Shots.
            (I heard this code can screw up your game if you're not
             careful. Before entering Area 6, record your progress
             and then continue your game without using this code. Get
             another Password inside Area 6 and then continue your
             game with this code again. If you don't, you won't
             be able to finish your game. Exactly why, I'm not
             sure. It might have to do with the coordination of the
             game's events, such as the appearance of new enemies in
             Area 0. This code probably screws around with those
             important values, and this only reaffirms my argument for
             not using cheat devices until you absolutely have to.)
  OVOAKLSV
  + PEOASLAP  Use up minimal Shots.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Concerning starting locations)
  PAKVELAA    Start a New Game at Area 1.
  ZAKVELAA    Start a New Game at Area 2.
  LAKVELAA    Start a New Game at Area 3.
  GAKVELAA    Start a New Game at Area 4.
  IAKVELAA    Start a New Game at Area 5.
  TAKVELAA    Start a New Game at Area 6.
  YAKVELAA    Start a New Game at Area 7.
  AAKVELAE    Start a New Game at Area 8.
  PAKVELAE    Start a New Game at Area 9.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Concerning other effects, ie. crazy shit)
  AEISSX__    Speed up the gameplay action (but not the audio).
  TNZVVO__    No enemies on the screen (and screws up the game later).
  EOZYYY__    No airborne enemies in Corridors.
  YUGAEK__    When you enter "Corridor 0," enemies and other nasty
              objects will pass through the Guardian harmlessly.
              The Title and Password Screens will be messed up too.
  YNZNVP__    Enemies do minimal damage to your Shields,
              as though your Shield Defense Level is on steroids.
              You can use Passwords with this Code, but your
              subscreen will be messed up.
  YNLVOG__    Instantly finish Corridors (you can't start a New Game).
  NZPISL__    Press A and B on Controller 1 to fly away.
              (In the Corridors, doing this will finish the stage, but
               in the Labyrinth, doing this will screw up the game!!)
              Controller 1's D-Pad, A, and B Buttons will mess up the
              Guardian's graphics. Use Controller 2 to play normally,
              but you still must use Controller 1's Start and Select
              to pause and to call up the subscreen.
  ZSTEKP__    Press Select to get 12 Shield Units and 9999990 Points.
              (This screws up your subscreen and the Score is fake.)
  ZUTEKP__    Press Select to get 32 Shield Units and a Blue Lander.
              (This screws up your subscreen.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------------
REALLY SMALL DETAILS NO BLUE LANDER CARES ABOUT
-----------------------------------------------

Sucker Scores
 Have you noticed that constant 0 in the ones digit of your Score?
 Apparently you can never earn less than 10 Points at a time, and
 that extra 0 only serves to make you feel big. I guess "10" Points
 is better than 1. (This also means that you shouldn't score more
 than 9999990 Points, not 9999999!)

Afterburner Afterthought
 The Guardian Legend is flush with details, like the Guardian's
 blinking lights and the smooth transformation between the Walk
 and the Flight Modes. But have you noticed her jet thrusters
 during the Corridor scenes? At slow speeds, there are 2 small
 flames. At high speeds, there's one big flame. At intermediate
 speeds, the tiny twin flames alternate with the big one.

Glaring Glitches
 With a game as big as TGL, a few bugs here and there are expected.
 But perhaps the most annoying one of all is that fluctuating "bar"
 on the lower left corner of the playing field, just above the status
 bar. During the Corridors, that glitch flickers up and down, very
 much like an electronic meter gone mad, and at first I thought it
 was an indicator of some sort. Perhaps it has to do with the rapid
 screen-scrolling during those scenes.

Camouflaging Containers
 Did you ever see an Item Pod spawn over a part of an active large
 turret in the Entrance Defense System? When the turret opens, the
 graphic of the Item Pod disappears, and the part of the turret
 that was covered turns into a brighter blue! The Item Pod is still
 there, as it's the light blue patch! Shoot it to get its goods.

Lucid Linguistics
 Hmmm, that's funny. How can those aliens write their messages
 in an Earth language (Japanese or English) if they've never made
 contact with humans before? And how does the Guardian understand
 the Blue Lander? Either it's an alien language decoder or it must
 be that special universal tongue that everyone on this side of
 the galaxy's been talking about....
 "Bwah-anht-nha-whaat-uaanhn-nha-whaat-meen-neeh-bahn." Really? Well,
 "Bwah-anht-nha-whaat-uaanhn-nha-whaat-meen-neeh-bahn" to you too!

Depressing Demos
 Have you stuck around for the demos? Man, the Guardian must be
 wondering who the hell is controlling her. In the demos for
 Areas 5, 8, and 10, she gets wasted midway through. In an Area
 3 demo, she doesn't even meet the boss. (Just for fun, you can
 use the Game Genie code that gives her invincibility. Sometimes
 after the part where she's supposed to die, she will stop moving,
 because there are no more commands recorded in the demo!)

Practical Passwords
 Do you notice how the Password Input Screen arranges its characters
 in a really strange fashion? I noticed that it's set up so if you
 highlight an upper-case character, you can find the lower-case
 version just by pressing Down 3 times! Likewise, pressing Up thrice
 brings you from a lower-case letter to its upper-case counterpart!
 How convenient!

Sticky Shadows
 As great as TGL is, it's still an early game, and some unintended
 graphics tend to slip by detection. You've jumped into Gates as much
 as the Golden Knights have jumped off from their planes, and you've
 probably already noticed this. The Guardian's shadow jumps down with
 her! Of course, this can be attributed to the fact that the shadow
 is only a part of her graphics, so it appears to be stuck to her feet
 all the time. If it'll make things feel better, you can jump into
 a Gate from the bottom side, where the black pit will conceal her
 shadow. Who knows, a few psychological tidbits can always help....

Space Sound
 Have you noticed why there's sound in space when there's no air to
 carry sound waves? In "Corridor 0," you're in space, full-time.
 After Corridor 21, when Naju blows up, I guess there can be a little
 sound due to the air from the remains, but even that shouldn't be
 long-lasting. You're just not supposed to hear anything other than
 your own flight-armor working in these situations. Of course, if
 that happened, we'd have one sound-dull cartridge.

Physics Fallacy
 Maybe it's the big Blue Lander, but something is awefully wrong in
 the Guardian Legend. During the ending in the Japanese version, she
 stays motionless in space, even when her jets are clearly thrusting
 away. The American ending, despite minor changes, is even worse.
 Any person who successfully attended and understood a physics course
 will know that constant force DOES NOT equal zero acceleration. But
 that doesn't seem to explain why the Guardian isn't getting any
 faster. We know she's moving, but her speed should be increasing,
 not staying the same!! (If you have difficulty understanding this,
 imagine that you have a toy sailboat floating on a small pool of
 water. If you constantly blow on it, its speed will increase. The
 same thing can be applied to the Guardian's jets in space. Yep, the
 Blue Lander can do some really weird things....)

Blue Lander Blues
 And speaking of the big Blue Lander, what the hell happened to it?!?!
 Did it escape from Naju?!?!?!?! Or did the unthinkable happen?!?!?!?!
 NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, wait, maybe it hitched a ride
 on the Guardian's flight-armor somehow....

Ethereal Eyes
 Here's an easy question for those who either are really observant
 or are very careful thinkers: What is the color of the Guardian's
 eyes? Is that your final answer? Of course you're right - they're
 Earth Blue! (You can check for yourself; look closely at her
 during the ending....) And it's great for once to have a photo
 that concentrates on a person's face rather than on her body.

Crap Cuts
 While we're on the subject of endings, damn, I didn't think they
 would be this cheap. The last guy, if you look closely, seems to
 be split down in the middle. Apparently its left and right sides
 are just mirror images of each other, actually being 2 separate
 sprites (this explains why each arm can reach out independently
 of each other).

Stiff Seat
 It's a good thing the effects of gravity are much lower on Naju. With
 all that stuff on her back, the Guardian will find it impossible to
 sit down comfortably. And how does she go to the bathroom with all
 that stuff on?!?! Oh yeah, there's that full life-support system....

Bouncin' Big Blue Landers
 More Big B-Lander stuff: how exactly does the Blue Lander unlock
 the Gate to Corridor 4? It doesn't have any hands! Maybe it uses
 some eerie Najuan powers to break the Seal. And how do the little
 Landers upgrade the flight-armor anyway? Again, it's probably some
 creepy, secret power they utilize when they bounce along behind
 the Guardian.

Crazy Comparisons
 What the hell - after doing that Jay VS Richard Miller thing back in
 the Rolling Thunder 3 strategy guide, I figure I'd do another one.
 Just for the fun of it, here's another silly "face-off" between
 the Guardian and some other sci-fi videogame personae:

 Character                       Guardian     Terri      Samus Aran   Moby
 Game appearing in                 TGL     MUSHA Aleste   Metroid     Wurm
 Always works alone                                          x
 Works alone because
     she leaves her buddies                     x                      x
 Uses martial arts                                                     x
 Uses high-tech weapons             x           x            x         x
 Uses high-tech weapons of
     unbelievable destruction       x                        x
 Finds new friends                  x                        x         x
 Sees her friends get wasted                    x                      x
 Has actual plot development                                           x
 Doesn't hide behind a mask         x           x                      x
 Wears some form of armor           x           x            x
 Wears something revealing          x                                  x
 Takes off her armor at the end     x           x            x
 Reveals more when she
     takes it off at the end                    x            x
 Rips off the work of
     the makers of Zelda            x
 Is made by the makers of Zelda                              x
 Gets screamed at by her boss                   x
 Winner                                              Tie!

 All of these people are cool. Samus tears serious ass in some very
 nice action-adventures, so check out Nintendo's "Metroid" series if
 you haven't already. Moby from Asmik's "Wurm: Journey to the Center
 of the Earth" (also for the NES) sports multiple gaming genres in
 a single cartridge. While it pales in comparison to TGL, Wurm is
 still worth your while. Learn more about Terri and MUSHA below in
 the Credits section.

---------------
GAME EVALUATION
---------------

Why did I write this walkthrough? Because I really, really like
the Guardian Legend!! I am honored to help others on a game I enjoy
a lot. But to provide an even richer experience, it would be helpful
to explore the strengths and weaknesses of this wonderful game. (I
guess you can tell by now that I'm very heavily biased in favor of
TGL. Still, I'll try to be fair and objective. Yeah, right.)

Scoring:
 Poor -> Below Average -> Average -> Above Average -> Excellent

Story: Above Average
   The thought of something the size of Naju colliding into Earth is
 indeed terrifying. The thought of disgusting mutant inhabitants makes
 things even cooler. While the story is the usual "save-the-world"
 plot at heart, the whole idea of Naju gives it a fresh feel.
   The 2 types of interaction is also a neat effect. One is with the
 big Blue Lander (Who doesn't like that guy?), and the other, more
 passive one, is through the Message Terminals. The sad fate of the
 Naju crew doesn't prevent them from leaving behind helpful messages.
 Writing is truly a way of passing on ourselves, even beyond death.
   If there's one thing Compile could have added to make the game
 more interesting, it would be to let the Guardian meet up with a
 surviving crew member. The clash between 2 very different worlds
 would have made for some rather interesting interactions. I wonder
 what the crew would have thought of the Guardian.... The Blue
 Lander already likes her a lot!

Gameplay: Excellent
   No other game seems to have done what TGL did - blend the action-
 adventure genre with the space-shooter genre. Doing so required a
 special hero and an equally special setting, which lead to more
 interesting characters, items, and other elements that contribute
 to a great videogame. The hefty weapons system and the mix of
 exploration, boss battles, and puzzles are all laid out well.
   Small things are somtimes the most important. I personally like
 the item spawning system, where Item Pods have a greater chance
 of appearing if you're low on energy. Not only does this come in
 handy during Shield emergencies, it also keeps the screen from
 being cluttered by power-ups when they're not needed. The Password
 characters are another favorite, where each character is clearly
 drawn out and the lower-case letters are differentiated from
 the upper-case ones with a set of 2 dots on the top (just like
 certain German letters). All of this adds up to create a very
 player-friendly gaming experience, which is lacking in many
 shallow games today.

Replay: Average
   Unfortunately, a great adventure has its limits. The ending never
 changes, and the path to reaching it, despite some variation, is
 pretty much the same. TGL has many items and secrets for the player
 to find, but once they're all discovered, there is little reason to
 come back again and again. Well, you can always go on to the next
 level and do something like writing a strategy guide or two... er,
 ah-hem....

Control: Excellent
   Can't complain here. The control is very fluid and the
 ability to move around in 8 directions is superb. The menu
 interfaces are flawless, and everything is easy to read. If
 there's 1 problem that could've be fixed, it would be to assign
 the B Button to a backspace function on the Password Screen.
 It'd be faster than scrolling down to the "Back" function
 everytime you screw up. Otherwise, I like how TGL utilizes
 the NES controller (and the NES itself) to the fullest.

Graphics: Excellent
   Brilliant, just brilliant! The visuals are clear and colorful,
 and every object can be recognized immediately. I've rarely seen
 any other NES game throw so much crap onto the screen with so
 little slow-down, and that means a lot. I also like how each weapon
 has its own unique appearance, and the same goes for the bosses.
 Who can forget Eyegore's gushing wounds? Everyone remembers seeing
 Clawbot's fearsome-looking deathray for the first time. And don't
 forget about Naju's alien architecture either. I can never get that
 creepy outer surface out of my head.
   As with the gameplay, small things matter. I like the blinking
 lights on the Guardian's headgear, how her jet flames change in
 intensity depending on her speed, and the smooth transitions
 between the Walk and Flight Modes. You can actually make out the
 different parts of her folding armor! And yes, I believe the
 Guardian is the most beautiful person on this blue planet.
 And no, I don't need to see a doctor.

Sound Effects: Excellent
   Just as good as the graphics. All sound effects are distinct,
 and everything is sharp and runs in sync with the on-screen action.
 Each special weapon type has its own effect, from the vibrations
 of the Wave Cannons to the emissions of the Saber Lasers. The same
 goes for item sounds, such as the effects for grabbing a Life Heart,
 a Chip, or an Energy Tank. Bosses blow up with a loud bang (and so
 too does the Guardian if she gets whacked for good!).

Voice: N/A
   While it would be really, really nice to hear what the Guardian
 sounds like, the NES just doesn't have the power to produce clear
 voice and run a decent game simultaneously. If a title isn't
 designed with a certain element in mind, I just can't rate it
 in that respect. (For those who are looking for clear voices
 in NES games, I can suggest Dance Aerobics, Gauntlet 2, and
 M.U.L.E. For those who are looking for a Compile game with voice
 acting, check out Kirby's Avalanche. Maybe the female voice there
 would have been the Guardian's. Or some other Aleste pilot's.)

Music: Average
   Too bad the music doesn't always live up to the sound effects.
 While some tunes are inspired and are very memorable (like the Area
 0 theme and a few Marine and Floral themes), most of it is generic
 audio. A few Corridor themes dip below average and just sound
 horrible when you're forced to listen to them over and over again,
 especially during the lengthy TGL Mode.
   But I won't end this on a bad note. If you've noticed, the Blue
 Lander is Compile's Aleste mascot and shows up in several of their
 shooters. It even has its own tune (which you hear when you pick one
 up - Sound Effect #49 in the Sound Test). I've gotta say this tune
 is dangerously catchy, and the big Blue Lander's room theme is
 already starting to etch itself into my brains....

Overall: Excellent
   As a gamer and a living being of this universe, you must understand
 that nothing is flawless. I give this game a 10 out of 10 because it
 strives to be perfect. TGL, like other super-high-caliber NES games,
 conveys its greatness through the only means back then - truly fun
 and worthy gameplay, spotless graphics that are pretty to look at,
 and incredible sound effects everyone enjoys listening to. All of
 this is made even more astonishing by the fact that TGL was created
 in 1988 (though its first debut was during the April of 1989).
 Having so many carefully thought-out features back then, TGL, like
 its flight-armor, was something completely ahead of its time.

 In short, it's a kick-ass videogame.

 Remember that, and keep the Legend alive.

======================================================================
VI. WALKTHROUGH CREDITS - This wouldn't be here if it weren't for...
======================================================================

"Thank you for the important thing!"
                - Princess Sarasa of Deerzar, from "Cadash" (Taito)


Compile (www.compile.co.jp)
 For the actual development of The Guardian Legend, my favorite NES
 game of all time. These guys, I admit, should move beyond the realms
 of space-shooters and puzzlers more often and try their hands on
 other genres, but when you want a vertical shooter, dammit, you have
 to come to Compile. The problem is they bring their work out through
 different publishers, so tracking down their games can be a tad
 difficult. With the help of the Blue Lander, here's a list of some
 Compile games along with brief descriptions of them. Call it
 shameless suck-up promotion if you will:
 -> Zanac (NES) (FCI Pony 1986)
     This is the earliest game made by Compile that I've found.
   The bad guy is referred to only as "The System," an abstract but
   powerful being of alien origin that can adapt and grow. Of course,
   it becomes too powerful, starts destroying things, and then puts
   Earth down as next on its to-do list. You are the ace pilot of
   the 256th Riot Fleet's AFX-6502 Zanac Fighter (I just love the
   ring of that), and the strategy is this: "The System" is designed
   to handle things on a large scale, and it cannot cope as
   effectively with a single, super-powered unit. The main highlight
   of Zanac is the unique psuedo-AI system, where the game's
   difficulty level changes constantly depending on how you play,
   reflecting the ever-learning "System."
     Zanac seems to be the origin of the later shooter games. Many
   elements, like the Plasma Turret, can be found here. Even the
   Guardian's flight-armor resembles the Zanac Fighter! However,
   despite its creative AI system, this game is very primitive
   compared to the others and can bore you out during the lengthy
   12 stages.
     At the time of writing this, a new Zanac is emerging. Look
   for it soon on the PSX. Damn, it looks awesome!!
 -> Aleste / Power Strike (SMS) (Sega 1988)
     You'll only be able to play this on the Sega Master System,
   the NES' ill-fated 8-bit rival. This one was released in the
   same year as TGL, but it's pure shooter action only. TGL comes
   out on top due to its greater depth, but for a high-quality
   game this doesn't disappoint.
     Gameplay-wise, Aleste closely resembles Zanac. The weapon
   system is improved, but it works in the same way. This SMS
   game is one of the few titles in the series that stars a lone
   male protagonist. Hey, I thought the Guardian was the best....
 -> The Guardian Legend (NES) (Irem and Broderbund 1988)
     What this strategy guide is all about - besides having a nice
   story and great shooter action, adventure elements have been
   blended in to create an incredible gaming experience. The Blue
   Lander also gets to play a bigger role. Unlike most other Compile
   shooters, TGL doesn't associate the special weapons with number
   codes. Rather, they're identified by unique graphics icons. And
   if Zanac has the AI system, TGL has the varying item appearance
   system. Truly a successful leap taken towards the less-trodden
   path - not bad at all for a puny 128 KB program!
 -> Blazing Lazers (TG16) (Hudson Soft 1989)
     Shooting action with lots of levels for you to power up to.
 -> Gun-Nac (NES) (Tokyo Shoseki & Nexsoft 1990)
     Practically an updated version of Zanac and Aleste, this game
   isn't anything different. It's kinda sad that Compile took
   a step back in creating complex games, but Gun-Nac isn't crap.
   Besides improved weapons and a new mega-bomb feature, Gun-Nac
   offers a wacky plot, where you're trying to restore sanity
   to the universe. It's not every day when giant dollar bills try
   to kill you and you have to defend yourself with water droplets.
   Must be the Blue Lander at it again....
 -> M.U.S.H.A. Aleste (GEN) (Toaplan 1990 / Seismic 1990)
     With the arrival of the 16-bit platforms, Compile had the chance
   to expand on their games. Almost. You take on the role of Terri
   in this Sega Genesis (or Mega Drive) game, a young pilot who
   disobeys her orders and gets to save the world in a robotic
   battle suit. The robot suit still handles like a star fighter,
   but a scant selection of 3 special weapons makes this come
   short of being a total blast. And in case you're wondering,
   MUSHA (which means "warrior" in Japanese) stands here for
   "Metallic Uniframe Super Hybrid Armor." The MUSHA Terri
   pilots is the "Full Metal-Fighter Ellinor." Don't ask.
 -> Aleste (GG) (Sega 1991)
     Find this on the Game Gear. Gameplay has little changed.
   Some new features include bonus areas and the Defender weapon,
   which works similar to TGL's Plasma Shield but can also
   shoot! Your mission in this portable blaster is to stop a
   menace code-named "Moon Child," a freaky super-entity. The
   ending in this game is very similar to the one in MUSHA.
 -> Super Aleste / Space Megaforce (SNES) (Toho 1992)
     Known as Super Aleste in Japan and in Europe, Compile finally
   gets it together and pulls out a truly kick-ass space shooter.
   An evil alien force comes to invade Earth (the enemy mothership
   even looks like Naju!), and it's up to you and your ED-057
   of the Earth Defense Force to save the world. While this plays
   similar to the other Aleste titles, a new Shot-Control system
   has been integrated to give your special weapons at least 2
   unique modes. The 8 weapons you can find are actually more like
   16+. Lasers can be the standard, powerful beam shots or tracking
   streams, and the Circle (the Plasma Shield's equivalent here) can
   stop in mid-revolution to act as a stationary barrier. This game
   sports breath-taking visuals and is equaled only by Axelay from
   Konami (the same guys who made Sparkster, the Rocket Knight dude).
   The sound effects are a little weak though.
     One important note: the Japanese version is radically different
   from the European and American versions. For the Western audiences,
   a whole new ending is created, the voice-acting is changed, and
   one music theme is removed. The original version has something
   to do with Tei, a pilot with psionic powers who gets hooked up
   to the ED-057 like a living piece of circuitry and can directly
   handle the fighter. With her co-pilot, Razu (a normal guy who
   doesn't have sharp metal things jabbed into his back), Tei
   gets to kick serious alien ass. Probably deemed too weird for
   the non-Japanese audiences, parts of the intro in the English
   versions are cut out and the new ending just shows a faceless
   pilot (who's supposedly you, the player) enjoying a beautiful
   sunset. You gotta say that the Guardian resembles Tei a lot,
   though. Too bad the Guardian doesn't have a boyfriend to float
   around in front of....
 -> Power Strike 2 (SMS) (Sega 1993)
     This is one weird Aleste. Welcome to an alternate 1930s on
   Earth, where the Great Depression has forced some people to
   become sky pirates. As a "Pothunter," you must stop these poor
   thieves from ruining the already miserable lives of others in
   a world filled with old-age technology (the game takes place
   around the coasts of Italy). Your weapons, however, resemble
   those of the futuristic Aleste, so I say you stand a pretty
   good chance at kicking post-WWI ass.
      Like Gun-Nac, there are 8 Stages, plus you can use the
   Dragon Napalm weapon. The Plasma Turret, for once, isn't present.
   While the ending isn't as fantastic as the one in Super Aleste
   or the one in MUSHA Aleste, the intro movie is breath-taking - it's
   the equivalent of a freakin' 16-bit animated movie on a crappy
   8-bit system!! Ah, the wonderful, wonderful year of '93.
 -> Robo Aleste (SCD) (Sega)
     More Aleste action, this time on the Sega CD. As with MUSHA,
   you get to hack up bad guys in a robot suit.
 -> Puyo Puyo (Arcade, GEN, SNES) (Various publishers)
     If Compile aren't making shooters, they're making puzzlers.
   Or more specifically, puzzlers with cute, funny, multi-colored
   blobs known as Puyo. Instead of a hot pilot, we get a hot
   apprentice-sorceress named Arle (or Aruru), and instead of the
   Blue Lander, we get some weird thing called Carbuncle. Our
   heroes travel through a forest, beating whoever challenges them
   at a game of Puyo-matching. The gameplay looks suspiciously
   similar to that of Tetris or Dr. Mario at first, but as you play
   you can see a much wider depth. Since gravity causes unstacked
   Puyo to fall, obscenely humongous combos are possible, given
   the proper preparation. Also, the player is always facing off
   against another character, so it's a kill-them-or-be-killed
   situation. In addition to great action (for the puzzle fan,
   of course), hilarious characters make this a well-designed,
   if light-hearted, game. There is also a role-playing game
   starring the cast of Puyo Puyo.
 -> Pnickies (Arcade) (Capcom)
     This kinda resembles Puyo Puyo. In another blob-matching
   tournament between angels and devils, you rack up scores and
   defeat your opponent by combining more colored goo. The main
   difference is in the nature of the blobs. No matter how many
   blobs you match up, they won't go away until you connect 2
   star-studded blobs together. You can stick 40 blobs together;
   I don't care - you need at least 2 star-blobs of the same
   color among them to make 'em all disappear. This system makes
   krezzy combos ridiculously easy, providing you know what
   you're doing. Other features include the addition of a new,
   differently-colored type of blob as you progress and a 100-Level
   challenge for the single player game.
 -> Kirby's Ghost Trap / Kirby's Avalanche (SNES) (Banpresto 1995)
     Compile makes a bright and colorful adaptation of Puyo Puyo
   for Hal Laboratories and Nintendo. The pink fluff ball enters a
   tournament where every participant walks through the happy
   landscapes of Dream Land, meeting up to challenge one another
   to a game of "match the colored blobs." The game is essentially
   the same as Puyo Puyo, only Compile's characters have been
   replaced with Hal's Dreamlanders. Looks like Carbuncle's out
   to get Kirby....

Irem (www.irem.co.jp)
 For producing TGL. It's possible some parts of the game could have
 been suggested by these guys, who also have a long history of making
 space-shooters. If anything, Compile and Irem should get together
 again and make a game that will blow away today's competition.
 Hey, I like Irem too, so here are a few games made by them. Yep, the
 author just looooves sucking up:
 -> R-Type (Various platforms)
     Shooter fans are familiar with this long-running series and its
   ass-tearing challenge. Look for one of the latest installments,
   R-Type Delta, on the Sony Playstation.
 -> Kung-Fu (NES)
     3 words, "Chinese Action Theater." This is an early arcade
   game featuring very simple martial arts moves. You're some
   guy named Thomas who must rescue his girlfriend Silvia from
   5 hard-assed bosses. Also look for the sequel, Kung-Fu 2.
 -> Kickle Cubicle (NES)
     As Kickle, save the Fantasy Kingdom from the evil Wizard King
   (and then get it on with Princess Mira!!) by knocking around ice
   cubes in this action-puzzle game. Think of this as a jacked-up
   version of Hal Laboratories' Adventures of Lolo.
 -> Metal Storm: The Strike Mission (NES)
     If TGL rules in the adventure-shooter world, Metal Storm holds
   the same honor in the 2D platform action world. As the M-308 robot,
   your mission is to stop a mad computer that's trying to do the
   "Death Star" on Earth. Like the Guardian, the M-308 must enter
   enemy territory to destroy the threat. The core of the gameplay
   lies in the ability to manipulate gravity - by reversing it
   appropriately, you can reach otherwise inaccessible areas!
   The memorable bosses and intense action are also big pluses.
   Yours truly have authored a strategy guide for this game. If
   you're gonna check out Metal Storm, be sure to check out:
       Spherelander Videogame Strategy Guide Series #01
 -> Undercover Cops (Arcade, SNES)
     A knock-off on Capcom's Final Fight, but a decent one. The
   graphics get downright gritty as you go on a gangster-killing
   spree. "Undercover" is an exaggeration here.
 -> Gallop: Police Unit (Arcade)
     A shooter different from the regular R-Types. As a cop in a
   futuristic police craft, take down krezzy criminals in record
   time with your wide arsenal of weapons, including a fearsome
   homing laser cannon.
 -> Gun Force (Arcade, SNES)
     A cheap clone of Konami's Contra. While the controls are perfect
   and the gameplay is solid, the graphics are mediocre and the music
   is rather bland. Still, you get what the title implies: a lotta
   gunfire! There are several special weapons and some really cool
   vehicles you can use, from jeeps to helicopters to even unoccupied
   enemy gun emplacements! The SNES version is pretty faithful to the
   original arcade game, but certain details are left out, such as the
   tanks and the motorcycles. Boo.
 -> Mystic Riders (Arcade)
     An interesting horizontally-scrolling shooter where you take
   on the roles of the twin sister and brother, Zeal and Mark, who
   must fly across the land to stop some sort of evil sorceress,
   saving the princess of an underwater kingdom along the way.
   The kid mages can charge up their magic blasts and use their
   staves for both offensive and defensive purposes. They also
   have the ability to land on and run along surfaces, firing
   upwards to clear the bad guys out of the skies. This is a
   relaxing break from R-Type: Leo. Get a friend to play with you!
 -> Blade Master (Arcade)
     Irem don't make a lot of medieval fantasy games, do they?
   Well, you get some great hack-and-slash action here. Roy and
   Arnold (bring along your buddy for more fun) must save
   Princess Emina from the forces of evil and then help her stop
   the Master of Darkness. While this seems just like another
   Double Dragon or Final Fight clone with swords, the scenery
   and the concept of the downstab (which you must use to beat the
   later bosses) are pretty neat. There is a surprising amount of
   attention paid to the details in the animations, such as the one
   you see when you try to climb back up after falling into a pit.
 -> In the Hunt (Arcade, PSX)
     An interesting shooter that uses submarines instead of
   spacecraft. As the captains of the latest attack subs, the
   "Crimson Fire" and the "Azure Scourge," you and a friend must stop
   the Dark Anarchy Society from taking over the world. Destroy the
   enemy from the water with your massive arsenal, which includes
   3 different types of torpedoes, 2 kinds of surface-to-air
   machineguns, homing missiles, and a ton of depth charges. Think
   of this as R-Type in water, as some of the bosses you fight can
   get downright creepy. Your submarine maneuvers like a real one
   (ie. really slowly), but at least you don't have to restart from
   a Checkpoint whenever you die. The graphics are awesome. Though
   they have the heavy industrial feel from Undercover Cops, the
   superb animations are simply breath-taking. Visually speaking,
   this game did to the arcades what Metal Storm did to the NES.
   Also, the PSX version has EVERYTHING from the original arcade game
   (it's an excellent translation by Kokepeli!), plus it includes
   extra music and a secret code that gives you infinite credits!

Broderbund (www.broderbund.com)
 Who else would have distributed TGL in the States? This company sure
 does have a taste for spotting true gems. The only thing Broderbund
 probably did was to provide the English text translations, but just
 to be fair I'll put down a few other games brought over to the
 Western Hemisphere by these thoughtful guys:
 -> Choplifter (Arcade, SMS, NES)
     This arcade hit was a quarter-sucker back around during the early
   '80s and it's still somewhat popular today. Rescuing hostages has
   never been so fun as you fly them out from terrorist hot spots,
   firing your guns and rockets along the way. The sequels didn't
   do as well since they lacked the simple thrill of Dan Gorlin's
   original game. The chances of getting strapped into a suit of
   flight-armor during our life spans are nil, so the next best thing
   is to take helicopter lessons!
 -> Dragon Slayer 4 / Legacy of the Wizard (NES)
     Controlling the 5 members of a family of heroes, set out on a
   2D quest to collect a bunch of artifacts and stop the evil dragon,
   Keela. This Namco game offers loads of maze-like dungeons and
   plenty of bad guys.
 -> Myst ("Peee-Ceee")
     This made the guys at Broderbund the luckiest people in the
   world back then, when everyone who had a PC just had to buy a
   copy of this surreal graphic-adventure.
 -> The Battle of Olympus (NES)
     For once (and probably the only time), there's a videogame with
   somewhat accurate Greek mythology. Forget all that Kevin Sorbo as
   Hercules crap and all that Altered Beast crap (Zeus - God of
   Thunder my ass!). The adventure here deals with the story of
   Orpheus, the legendary bard, and his fiancee, Eurydice (who is
   mistakenly called Helene in the manual). Anyway, the original story
   goes like this: Eurydice dies from a poisonous snake bite sometime
   around their wedding, so Orpheus is one unhappy dude. He winds up
   visiting the Underworld, seeking to revive her, but in the end he
   fails Hades' challenge, gets screwed forever, and is torn to bloody
   chunks by some female spirits who were fed up with his mourning and
   his ignoring of their really hot offers. (You can read the original
   myth somewhere else.)
     But in this game, Orph ditches his lyre and practically says
   "F--- this shit" and goes on a murderous rampage to get his bride
   back. Setting out with a crude, blunt object, he starts on a
   journey that spans over all of Ancient Greece, gaining favors from
   the several Gods, slaying everything that looks at him wrong,
   enjoying plenty of Holy Nectar, and basically tearing ass.
     Okay, the game essentially plays like The Legend of Zelda 2:
   The Adventure of Link, and Nintendo should actually sue the hell
   out of Imagineer and Infinity. The 2D platform action (minus any
   real map mode) makes for a challenging game. At least there's no
   incest fun like with Namco's Phelios (Artemis & Apollo get it on
   in there!).  ;p

The Instructions Manual
 For providing names, especially for the bosses. And how to play the
 game, of course. But as you know by now, I've changed some names to
 make identifying bosses and items seem less like hell. At least the
 lousy translations didn't degenerate to the Taito/Toaplan level
 (I'm talking about Mega Blast and Zero Wing here, folks. Eeewww...).

Nintendo Entertainment System
 A videogame is useless if you can't play it. The NES, with its
 virtual monopoly on the home console market back in the mid 80s,
 supported all sorts of stuff that was important for the development
 of videogames. Most of the software floating around was (and still
 is) crap, but worthy titles like TGL make this 8-bit system a
 necessity for any avid gamer.

Nintendo Power (www.nintendo.com)
 For bringing me game info before the days of the internet and letting
 me set my eyes on TGL for the first time in my life. Come on, TGL
 only placed 9th on the Power Charts? Those readers of yours really
 didn't know what the hell they were playing. And quit calling the
 Guardian an android, dammit!

Galoob (www.galoob.com) (www.hasbro.com/home.html)
 Man, these guys definitely shouldn't have jumped out of the cheat
 device business. Just look at Interact's Game Shark today! Anyway,
 I got the basic TGL Game Genie codes from the original manual. Wow,
 my Game Genie package is still in one piece after all these years!

Walter F. Williams III (aka. "SiliconHero")
 While I did not take anything out from his text doc or his gif map,
 I still wanna thank him for providing something to compare my work
 against. The guide you see in front of you wouldn't have been so
 great if I didn't know that someone else has already done a possibly
 better job. Be sure to check out his walkthrough too - it's bound
 to cover something I missed!

Christopher Emirzian's The Guardian Legend Shrine
 (classicgaming.com/shmups/guardianlegend)
 For amassing loads of TGL info. While this strategy guide's
 material stems mostly from the author's own gaming experience,
 a couple of the specific tricks come from the contributors to
 this shrine. Thanks to Chris Bieniek for the Japanese version
 of the TGL password, the Paladin for the "multiplying Item Pod"
 trick, daNIL for the "view all messages" and "buy all items"
 tricks, and J. Jay Xiong, Calvin Wheitmann, and Horace Hawkins
 for the bugged-up Passwords. Of course, I did have to verify
 some of those tricks and clean up the explanations a bit....

Rick N. Bruns
 For some of the Game Genies Codes. Really weird ones, too.

Ben Siegfried
 For pointing out that my battle strategy for Crawdaddy is too
 conservative. Upon reading his reasons for a more direct and blunt
 approach, I agree that a frontal assault isn't such a bad idea.
 Really, people, I'm open to ideas. I hope Mr. Siegfried isn't the
 only one out there who thinks this guide can use some improvements.

F.X. Nine & Jeff Rovin
 For inspiring the author to write about videogames. Nine has the
 magic to turn any 8-bit game's six-sentence story into an exciting
 sixty-page adventure full of plot, surprises, and thrills. Rovin's
 pocket guides provided the fuel for my own drive to write about
 games, and his writings on videogame censorship added some nitro
 into the mix.

Kupp the Transformer
 For providing us with that universal greeting. Funny, the last time
 I used that on a Blue Lander, I got a pie thrown into my face....

The guys who are nice enough to put this on the web
 No matter how good a walkthrough is, it won't do crap if no one
 sees it. Thanks to the guys who run these sites for being kind
 enough to help me share my knowledge with the rest of the gaming
 community. And please excuse the occasional cursing.
 
My fellow Spherelanders & Faididis
 For helping me through the game and figuring out the best strategies.
 Besides, they make a great team with the Blue Lander, if I can keep
 the Fdds from killing it. Unfortunately, I can't boot off the big Fdd
 'cause he's the one who helped translate the Japanese version of the
 TGL Password into Hiragana.

The Guardian & the Blue Lander
 Are Guardian and Blue Lander figures sold anywhere in the world?
 I know they're fictional and all, but who gives a damn - they're the
 stars of an absolutely kick-ass game! And even if less than 1% of
 the entire videogaming population knows about them, it's really not
 that bad. Games that become wildly popular with the masses will
 become sold strictly for the profit and hype, and at that point
 they're no longer the one-of-a-kind games they used to be (just
 look at Tomb Raider). This may explain Compile's low-key marketing
 behavior. As for the rest of us, even if we are slowly dying off,
 we at least can consider ourselves to be lucky. We kinda form
 a little cult, the sole followers of this esoteric game.
 Let us lowly humans worship our guardian goddess!
 (On Compile's theme of the angelic figure: look at TGL, Pnickies,
  Super Aleste, and even Puyo Puyo. On one level or another, the
  protagonists represent some divine form. And a hot one, too.
  Sorry, this just sorta slipped out....)

Earth (Sol 3)
 And out of the blue, here's to the big round thing we've all
 been trying to save in this game. Some Earth facts:
  - name: Earth
  - order ranking: 3rd planet from the sun (I didn't know that... ;)
  - size ranking: 5th larget planet in the solar system
  - number of moons: 1 (well, duh)
  - direction of rotation: west to east (double duh)
  - time taken to rotate once: 24 hours (gasp - I didn't know that?!)
  - time taken to orbit the sun once: a little more than 365.25 days
  - angle of axis to the plane of orbit: 66.5 degrees
  - average distance from the sun: 150000000 km (93000000 miles),
     plus or minus 4.8 million km (3 million mi) since
     Earth's orbit resembles that of an ellipsoid (ie. not a circle)
  - average diameter: 12720 to 12760 km (7,900 to 7,926 mi),
     since Earth is not a perfect sphere (it's squished up a bit)
  - circumference at the equator: 40000 km (24830 mi)
  - average surface temperature: 288.15 degrees Kelvin
     (15 degrees Celsius) (59 degrees Fahrenheit)
  - estimate of the surface area covered by water: 70%
     (361.3 million km sq.) (139.5 million mi sq.)
  - estimate of the surface area covered by dry land: 30%
     (148.9 million km sq.) (57.5 million mi sq.)
  - very rough estimate of age: 4.5 to 5 billion years (wheee!)
  - does it look like the Blue Lander?: kinda

======================================================================
======================================================================

I hope you enjoy The Guardian Legend and this guide.

Got questions or comments? Got the itch to contribute? Wanna argue
about something I said that isn't quite true?! Wanna get a template
of the Guardian's in-game animation, frame by frame (and please
specify what format you want this graphics file to be in)? Wanna
tell me where they sell Guardian and Blue Lander figures? Wanna
challenge the Spherelanders and Blue Landers to a game of Spaceball?!

Feel free to e-mail me at

  faididi@hotmail.com

... or post something at TGL's message board
at GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com).

Also feel free to visit the staff's site.
Get your extra gaming info, fun pictures, and illegal goods down at

  www.geocities.com/ed057/index.html

Let us carry on the Golden Torch of Videogaming until the Guardian
goes off partying too much with the big Blue Lander and something else
just as bad as Naju comes along and collides into Earth and all of us
dies a horrible, horrible death.  :)
